As the White House scrambles to push back on the narrative that Obama’s cabinet lacks diversity, National Journal reports that there are few jobs left for potential female appointments (h/t HotAir):
Say Obama wants to make a grand gesture; what jobs are left? If he names a female labor secretary to succeed Solis, that will keep him at the status quo. But it’s not a top job and it’s one many women have held. Plus Solis is Hispanic, so now there’s that to worry about as well.
The only immediate opening with stature roughly equivalent to secretary of State, Defense, or Treasury is Lew’s job as White House chief of staff. To name a woman, Obama would have to throw top mentionees Ron Klain (former chief of staff to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden) and Denis McDonough (currently deputy national-security adviser) under the bus. He does have some logical female options, starting with Nancy-Ann DeParle and Alyssa Mastromonaco. Both now hold the title of deputy chief of staff.
This is another reason why the Chuck Hagel defense secretary nomination was an odd choice. Michele Flournoy was arguably more qualified than Hagel for the role, yet she was passed over. Now, if Obama nominates a woman, it will look like a tokenism under external pressure. Worse, because all the roles he has left to fill are of lower standing, this makes it seem like he doesn’t trust a woman in a higher-ranking position.
There isn’t anything the left can do about this but complain, and I doubt this controversy will drag on much longer. Still, the extent of the backlash seems to have caught the White House off-guard, which only adds to the sense that Obama was unprepared for the second term transition.
Who cares about diversity? I am not a fan of Pres. Obama's picks, but the most qualified person should get the job regardless of race, sex, or religion.
Women are the core base of today's Democratic Party. nWith very long memories. n nThat aside, Obama seems intent on cabinet choices that will try to show ever more GOP obstructionism, which will no doubt inflame the overwhelming majority of Americans who are really, really tired of hyper-partisan conflict. n nI have been predicting since 2006 that a woman can not get elected president until there is a woman as SecDef and/or SecTreas. If not now, when? n nbtw, both Michelle Flournoy and her husband, #2 at VA, and the #2 at Def, Ash Carter, are more qualified than Hagel for SecDef. No one seems to have noticed that Hagel never sat on the Armed Services Committee. n nTina Brown for ambassador to the UK will solve all?
Women, Jews, Blacks, Trade Unionists (e.g. Plumbers) — all of these folk are the base of the Democratic Party and have been since the days of FDR. Please tell me why any of them would ever want to support this party — what, exactly, has it done for THEM? Not for their so-called leaders, not what has it said, and not what hysterical lies has it promulgated against the Republicans in the great tradition of Gebbels, but what — exactly — has the Democratic Party ever done to make the life of the average Woman, Jew, Black, or Union Guy any better? n nRonald Reagan did in the Dems 30+ years ago by simply asking "are you better off now than you were four years ago?" n nWomen, particularly those with families — husbands and children they love — are more stressed now than they ever were. Blacks — look at the unemployment levels of Black Males, particularly young ones. Jews — the party is outright antisemitic and goes downhill from there. And the trade unionists — the private sector union guys — they are hurting far worse now and all the stimulus money went to the public sector unions. n nSo why does the Democratic party even still exist????
What about the real HORROR of Obama's scorning of proper diversity? I refer, of course, to the total absence of high officials from the deaf Lesbian Eskimo midget community–how long will this abuse continue?
Why not his alter ego Jarrett as chief of staff. Heck why not his wife? Tyrants aren't all that concerned with organizational discipline anyhow.
What do you really expect from the party that not onlu put Chappaquiddick Island on the map, introduced us to the concept of both the "waitress sandwich" and what one can do with cigars & interns, but also treated us to a national discussion of "what the meaning of the word 'is' is." n nRepublicans hire women who are polite and pretty, but hire them because they work hard and are damn good at what they do — and not only respect them fort the latter but pay them on the basis of that. Evaluate and pay them on the basis of what they do and not which restroom they use… Democrats still consider women to be bimbos — cute toys for the guys – and the guys have to "talk the talk" about women's issues because heven knows they will never "walk the walk" and consider a woman to be their equal. n nWith the GOP, this goes all the way back to Margaret Chase Smith, who *earned* her Senate seat and defeated a GOP establishment in Maine that didn't want her. Sje was smart and worked hard — and I can think of a dozen members of Congress — folk in both houses — who are underrerstimated not because they are women, but because they both dress and act in a ladylike fashion — they are neither bullies nor man-hating feminists, in most cases they have husbands and children whom they love and make no secret of it. n nThey are also really smart, really hard working and if the GOP is to be saved, it is going to be these women and other women who do it. The Dems on the other hand — hand a lot of money to radical feminists to make the lives of working-class white men miserable — the whole VAWA nightmare -=- and don't realize that is their base.