The Political Diversity of the Obama Administration: Is In-Fighting Inevitable?

It's almost eerie how every single pick Barack Obama made for his cabinet has had almost universal approval across the political spectrum. Being a moderate Democrat myself, I've applauded the effort to show a move more to the middle as I've wished for in the White House since my voting life started voting for William Jefferson Clinton in 1993. While it feels like a third Clinton administration with many of Obama's picks, there isn't a doubt that some of the people Obama has hired from the other side of the political tracks could easily induce a nasty argument with the new President once a major issue comes up. In theory, goodwill is easily mustered when an emergency isn't underway. But theory doesn't always work, no matter when Obama gets in front of a podium and says that, ultimately, the buck will stop with him.

As of this writing, Obama only has two Republicans named to his cabinet--though speculation is arising he'll have as many as five to balance things out. A lot of Republicans (particularly at Republicansforobama.com) are taking bets on how many Republicans he'll ultimately bring in, with the consensus being it'll be at least five. One of those will likely be Colin Powell in a pivotal role, and who will likely agree with Obama more than he did in his miserable position as Secretary of State for the Bush Administration.

With that many Republicans and a good chunk of his cabinet being centrist Democrats, just how will any compromise be made once dire issues have to be implemented immediately? If the buck stops with Obama, then it wouldn't surprise me to see some of the Republicans in his cabinet resign before the end of his first term, assuming they'll be encountering issues that require an emergency meeting and immediate action. The only good news to possibly avoiding that scenario is Obama's tendencies to be persuaded to do something else if an argument is a logical one.

Whatever happens, we really can't base anything on history due to most Presidents of the past never having more than one or two people on their cabinet from an opposing party. One of the most important cabinet positions of an opposing party ever was Defense Secretary. That's when Bill Clinton chose Republican William Cohen to that role during Clinton's second term. Cohen reportedly always got along swimmingly with Bill, even though being Defense Secretary was almost a cakewalk then in comparison to what Donald Rumsfeld inherited less than a year after Cohen ended his run.

If 9/11 would have occurred during Clinton's Presidency, chances are good that Cohen and Clinton would have locked horns on every issue, from whether we should retaliate to how many troops should be deployed. That's why it's a bit concerning that true-blue Republican Robert Gates will stay in the job as Defense Secretary when that role will be working intensely with the President in the first year if not long beyond. You can almost count on Obama and Gates disagreeing on something in the first year. Most particularly, it may be with Iran or on the troop withdrawals out of Iraq, despite Obama's willingness to see things in both of those arenas from all perspectives. It may mean Gates stepping down as Defense Secretary before Obama's first term is over. With Gates' comments that he may not be there for Obama's entire term, you have to wonder if he knows they'll clash on something major in the very near future.

The rest of the more moderate cabinet are probably waiting to see if Obama will use his old prowess of letting other ideas form the ultimate decision on things...or if he'll stick to his own guns as he insinuated...

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Based on his adamant stance that all decisions will ultimately be final with him, Obama seems to be giving indications that he still has his own principles and won't allow them to be railroaded--politically diverse cabinet or not. That's part of the unknowns of Obama where he's given hints of compromising on virtually every issue--and yet still having a set agenda in mind that he intends on fulfilling, much like a polar opposite George W. Bush.

As I insinuated, this cabinet will have to be the ultimate precedent in how all future politically diverse cabinets operate. With five Republicans in a Democrat's administration during one of the most tumultuous times in American history, it seems inevitable we'll be hearing about major shouting matches across the desk during cabinet meetings. And the shouting likely won't come from Obama's mouth, mind you, unless his attempt to kick his cigarette habit gets to him during extremely stressful moments.

Should Obama work his magic and manages to make the Republicans in his cabinet feel useful and not make them feel as if they're there just as a symbolic gesture, then we'll probably see more Republicans in Democratic administrations, plus hopefully more Democrats in Republican administrations. The latter might be more of a reality anyway as part of the Republican Party attempting to ameliorate public dissatisfaction with how they've run things.

If there's screaming arguments and furniture being thrown around, then we'll see that it's business as usual in D.C.--if proof that gridlock between two polar opposite political parties will always be in our government until something profound happens to change it.

We'll have to keep it in mind, though, that when the most profound horrible things happen, a lot of partisan bickering (in theory) goes out the window. When the prospects of a major world war are on hand, solidarity goes on automatic pilot. Considering the Obama administration is likely going to see some of the most profound things happen in America's (if not world) history, agreements will probably be more often, with hopeful firings for those being overly adamant in times of extreme crisis...

Source:

http://www.republicansforobama.org/