WASHINGTON — Barack Obama has wholeheartedly embraced experience in choosing his Cabinet.
That might seem at odds with the president-elect’s campaign theme of “change we can believe in.” But some Democratic activists and nonpartisan analysts say it makes sense, given the dire economy and public anxiety.
Obama has tapped senators and representatives, governors and veteran bureaucrats to help him confront the challenges of two wars, a crippled financial system and a deepening recession.
“In uncertain times, Americans find it much more comforting that the people who are going to be advising the president are steeped in experience,” said Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker. “A Cabinet of outsiders would have been very disquieting.”
To be sure, Obama’s inner circle includes far more veterans of elected office and federal agencies than government newcomers.
More so than his recent predecessors, he has drawn heavily from the Senate. His choices for secretary of state (Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York), interior secretary (Ken Salazar of Colorado) and vice president (Joe Biden of Delaware) were fellow senators. Tom Daschle, named health secretary, was the Senate Democratic leader from South Dakota until he lost his seat in 2004.
He also settled on House members and three current or former governors.
For the most part, Obama’s Cabinet has been well-received by both Democrats and Republicans, although some Democrats have complained that Obama’s team will not do enough to shake up the status quo.
By most counts, Obama has fulfilled his promise to have the most diverse Cabinet in history. Of his nominees for jobs generally considered “Cabinet level,” fewer than half are white men.
Three are Latino. Four are black. Two are Asian American. But Obama fell short, Baker said, in picking Republicans. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not confirmed that he is Republican, and transportation secretary pick Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois annoyed GOP leaders by rejecting party stances.
