Better Know a Presidential Administration: Mccain Style

I've already written about the four main candidates. Between Clinton, Obama, Guliani, and Romney, one of them will most likely elected to be the next president. However, there are still around 15 people running for president and I'm going to cover most, if not all of them.

Given that Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson have recently dropped out, and we are likely to see some combination of Chris Dodd, Duncan Hunter, Joe Biden, and Sam Brownback go in that direction, I probably will not be able to cover them.

A lot of my research had to do with elderly members of the House who may or may not retire after this term is up. I probably would have included Dennis Hastert in Romney's administration if I had known he was retiring at the end of his term.

President:

John Mccain: Mccain has faced a lot of setbacks in his campaign for president. Most of his senior campaign staff resigned, and he's fallen to 10-12% in the key primary states. His age, as well as his recent comments will all contribute to his downfall, but he also has the largest amount of support among the candidates.

Vice President:
Tim Pawlenty: There's no real reason I say this aside from the fact that him and Mccain are close to each other, and Mccain has already said he is likely to be his running mate. Pawlenty is from a region which would normally go democrat. Pawlenty could potentially bring in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin for the Republicans.

Jeb Bush: I HOPE Mccain realizes Jeb is NOT a positive in his campaign. It would be complete Bush fatigue and open the doors for an unneeded presidential run. Seeing as how they all view Jeb as the second coming of Christ, I'm terrified for the next three election cycles.

Secretary of State:

Zalmay Khalilizad or John Negroponte: Mccain is going to pack his administration with Iraq hawks from this administration and these two are the most qualified to take this position. With Negroponte you have an ex-ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, The Phillipines, The United Nations, and Iraq. He served as the Deputy Secretary of State under Reagan, Director of National Intelligence and now is the Deputy Secretary of State under Bush. Khalilzad on the other hand, worked in the state department under Reagan and has been the ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the UN under Bush. Yes, I am aware I copied this from Guliani's entry, but Mccain is more likely to pick these people than Guliani is.

Secretary of Defense:

Gordon England: England is the current Deputy Secretary of Defense and has served as Secretary of the Navy twice. Moving up in his role seems rather likely under a Mccain administration, if not under the current one. I doubt Gates will step down however. It is possible Gates would stay on as Secretary of Defense

Joe Lieberman: This man has managed to piss of the liberal elite to no end by voting his conscience and not his party. He was essentially disowned by the left, but he's not conservative enough for the right. He's been rumored to be Secretary of Defense no matter what party is elected president and he's prominent enough to make a huge splash. It might scare the Arab world to have a Jewish SecDef, but I do not think that we should take that into account.

Peter Pace: Really, any general currently involved in the Iraq situation and maybe even Jay Garner or Paul Bremer could be this choice. It would probably be Pace or Petraus, buy maybe Abizaid or Franks as well.

UN Ambassador: This position will be filled with an elderly person who was Seceretary of State in Nixon, Ford, or Reagans presidency. Seeing as though Henry Kissinger, George Schults, Lawrence Eagleberger, and Alexander Haig have all endorsed Mccain, this seems likely. Given Kissingers criminal status in some foreign countries, it won't be him though.

Attorney General:

Frank Keating: A former Governor, Keating was on Bush's short list for VP in 2000. He is rumored to want to be president, supports Mccain's efforts, and spent time in the FBI.

Dan Coats: A senator who defended Harriet Miers in her bid for the Supreme Court, he is solidly Republican and since he supports the presidential candidacy of John Mccain, he is likely to get rewarded.

Homeland Security:

Tom Ridge: Tom Ridge is an advisor to the Mccain campaign and he serves as the first Homeland Security Secretary. He quit to spend time with his family, but still did all sorts of major political things as an advisor to the Albanian Government.

Veterans Affairs -

Pete Geren: HE worked in the Department of Defense for twenty years, and served in the House for 8. He has been the Secretary of the Army, and Secretary of the Air Force. He is supporting Mccain, and this looks as though it would make a lot of sense to make. Either that or he is going to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a Rep administration.

White House Press Secretary:

Steve Schmidt: He is currently the Communications director for the Mccain campaign, and these two positions usually go hand in hand.

Chief of Staff:

John Sununu: If he loses the election in 2008, Sununu will go back to working on the White House Staff and will help whatever candidate gets elected as their CoS or Deputy CoS.

National Security Advisor -

Bill Clements: He is the former Governor of Texas, and a former Deputy Secretary of Defense. Appointing a former Texas Governor who happens to live in Texas to a position where he could have Mccain's ear on immigration is a strategic thing, and since Clements is Mccains biggest fundraiser in Texas, this makes sense.

Secretary of Labor:

Ray Lahood: He is supporting Mccain and like John Warner, he has decided to retire for 2008. He's on the labor committees in the House so this at least makes some strategic sense.

Secretary of Interior:

Duncan Hunter: Seeing as Hunter is the other candidate running with a similar view on the war on Iraq, it would make sense for Mccain to appoint him to this low-level cabinet position so that he may have more of an influence on issues he is trying to push in the house.

Secretary of Commerce -

Michael Castle: Just another example of political support being rewarded,

Secretary of Health and Human Services -

Mike Huckabee: Mike Huckabee is a good person for this position due to his personal achievements in life, his newfound popularity amongst his party and his overall charisma.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development -

John Warner: He is a World War 2/Korean war vet who served as Secretary of the Navy 35 years ago and has served as a Senator in Virginia for te proceeding 28 years. He is planning on retiring soon, and given his moderate stances, his willingness to work with the other side, and his opposition to torture, I see Mccain putting him in a powerful position.

Secretary of Transportation -

Gordon Smith: He is a Mccain friend, and part of an influential political family in the United States. If he loses his re-election bid, you can expect to see him in a a low level cabinet post (In this case, I'd say Agri, Education, Labor, Commerce, and Transportation are interchangeable.)
Secretary of Energy -

James Schlesinger: Old guy supporting Mccain who is a member of every major conspiracy group known to mankind. What better way to award him than to make him Secretary of Energy and continue to coddle up to the Saudis?

Secretary of Agriculture:

John Thune: He is the Junior US Senator from South Dakota, rumored to be on the short list for the Vice Presidency which seems to include a good ten people currently. He is endorsing John Mccain as of right now so Mccain would probably put him in a Cabinet Role to increase his national prominence.
Secretary of Education - John Mckernan: Mccain is extremely close to Senator Olympia Snowe. MCkernan is married to Snowe. He used to be the Governor of Maine. This would be a clear reward for her support of his candidacy. Sometimes I wish politicians would appoint qualified people to certain posts.