A first bit of bother for President-elect Obama as Richardson withdraws
James Forsyth 11:55pm
Until today the transition had gone pretty much perfectly for Obama. His appointments were impressive and warmly received, his poll numbers have risen to record levels and the scandal about Governor Blagojevich allegedly trying to sell off Obama’s Senate seat has not hurt Obama or any of his staff. But today the transition hit a bump in the road: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had to withdraw from consideration to be Commerce Secretary. It was decided that a grand jury investigation into allegations of corruption in the awarding of state contracts in New Mexico would make his confirmation too difficult and distracting.
Commerce is a second-tier post, though its importance has been heightened by the current economic crisis, and having to find a new Commerce Secretary will hardly delay the work of the incoming administration. But Richardson was the most senior Hispanic that Obama had appointed. The perceived importance of ethnic balance in Democratic party circles means that Obama will now be under pressure to appoint a Hispanic to a high-profile post as soon as possible.
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Ken Livingston supporter
January 5th, 2009 2:56am Report this commentLOL, he cant even get his appointments right. What a cretin, what a buffoon, I suspect he even has trouble tying his shoelaces! I bet that Bori..I mean Obama will be the worst Mayo...I mean President ever!
Roger Thornhill
January 5th, 2009 7:58am Report this commentThe best way to reduce corruption is reduce the amount and times when the State spends other peoples' money - i.e. when it spends, period, for even printing money is, in effect, watering our beer without permission.
p.s. I loathe quotas, and this is the kind of mess you get into when you go down that road to hell.
Susan Hill
January 5th, 2009 3:25pm Report this commentObama is about to spend ALL America`s money and when it`s gone he`ll print more. It will go on public sector non-jobs ( often called 'green jobs' now by the way) and an army of facilitators. By the time there is another Presidential election the US will be where we are now. And they won`t like it one little bit.
Jane
January 5th, 2009 4:08pm Report this commentGreat. Polling numbers on handling the transition. A time when you're not expected to do anything. Let's hope there's plenty more journalism redundancies in the recession if that's supposed to be insightful.
THX1138
January 5th, 2009 5:31pm Report this commentI'm not bovvered Obama has 82% approval rating higher even than Ronnie Raygun, all the new approval is coming from Republicans who have seen the light.
Fifteen more days and we see the end to the most unpopular & most disastrous Presidency in US history. Can't come fast enough.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is our new president. And I think I speak for most Americans when I say, anybody mind if he starts a little early?" --David Letterman. If only he could
TGF UKIP
January 5th, 2009 7:35pm Report this commentSusan Hill gets it exactly right and THX, how I'm going to enjoy hosing you down as the months and years roll by. Unmerciful and without compunction it's gonna be!
Oh! and Happy New Year.
THX1138
January 5th, 2009 9:32pm Report this commentTGF - It's gonna be a fun year for us political junkies, new President, possible GE & all that doom & gloom recession stuff to rummage around in & argue about I can't wait
BTW I thought you might be one of the misguided 18%.
"Unmerciful and without compunction it's gonna be!"
Bring it on, just how I like it but just as long as you're prepared to give credit when it's due.
What I like about you TGF is you always play the ball not the man we need a bit more good manners like yours on this blog. Happy New Year to you too.
Fergus Pickering
January 5th, 2009 11:52pm Report this commentI thought President Truman was pretty unpopular after he had sacked the dumb sonofabitch. And it seemed to me that President Nixon had few friends in the bunker. Hoover? Grant? Come on now. To say someone is the WORST is always going out on a limb. Why even Brown might not be the worst. Heath? Chamberlain? Lord Liverpool?
THX1138
January 6th, 2009 10:49am Report this commentFergus - Randy Newman agrees with me.
A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country
http://tinyurl.com/97fds8
Great song & spot on.
Conservative Cabbie
January 6th, 2009 6:13pm Report this commentTHX
"most disastrous Presidency in US history"
You're not really a student of American History are you?
THX1138
January 6th, 2009 6:57pm Report this commentCabbie happy new year. Of course it's a subjective call as to the worst President but judging by his approval ratings the US public has judged him the worst President ever. I'm not going to disagree with them.
Conservative Cabbie
January 6th, 2009 8:45pm Report this commentTHX
Happy new year to you too.
I think, if you want a serious contender for worst President ever, check out Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP. He tried to completely undo the civil rights gains for African -American slaves following the civil war in his attempts to be conciliatory towards the south. Also, as I know how you feel about Sarah Palin, Johnson was also responsible for buying Alaska from the Russians. No Andrew Johnson, maybe no Sarah Palin. Maybe he's not so bad after all.
THX1138
January 7th, 2009 9:08am Report this commentCabbie- I'll look up Andrew Johnson. I found this and thought of you.
In a virtual Senate race for 2010 your heroine Sarah " I can see Russia from my house" Palin trails incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski 57 to 33.
Doesn't exactly bode well for 2012 does it?
Conservative Cabbie
January 7th, 2009 4:09pm Report this commentTHX
I'm just going to assume you didn't see the other poll that said the exact opposite, with Palin substantially beating Murkowski.
You should be hoping Palin doesn't run in 2012. I would think, the only circumstance in which she will, is if Obama does poorly and is seen as being beatable. She and Jindal will hold their horses and let the has-beens, Romney and Huckabee bash their heads against that brick wall.
THX1138
January 7th, 2009 5:46pm Report this commentCabbie- You're right I didn't see the other poll.
This is mine from 05 Jan
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9622031.
I hope she does run in 2012 if only to give Tina Fey, Jon Stewart & David Letterman such great material again & Obama will thrash her.
My guess though is that her flush is bust & once she stops handing out free money in Alaska. We will see her popularity as Governor plummet along with the oil price.
Conservative Cabbie
January 8th, 2009 8:05am Report this commentTHX
It also seems that poll you mentioned was done by a company who donate money to....da da! Frank and Lisa Murkowski.
Who knows what the future holds for Sarah Palin. My hope is that she does her eight years as Governor and then spends a couple of years heading an international Christian charity and is all ready to go in 2016. I still maintain that you've underestimated her, she's a very talented politician.
But if you want to play fantasy politics, how about the one where Obama spends a trillion on a stimulus package and nothing gets stimulated. Or the one where, Obama appoints a CIA Director with absolutely no intelligence experience and the U.S. suffers an horrendous terrorist attack. I'm not saying they'll happen, but if either of them do, he's not even beating Mr Blobby in 2012.
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