Obama, 60 minutes and the "mystery Republican"

Mr. Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that there would be at least one Republican in his cabinet; he would not say when he might announce his first cabinet nominations, except to say “soon.”

The above comment came today in the New York Times on the Day when Senator John McCain met with President-elect Obama in Chicago. Clearly there would be no job offer for the former competitor for the White House. However, who is the mystery Republican ?

It could be suggested that the two most obvious choices are either Colin Powell (Secretary for Defense ?) or Arnold Schwarzenegger (Governor of California).

The former (along with rumoured Secretary of State candidate Hilary Clinton) would transform the face of the US overseas overnight given their near universal name recognition.

More interestingly, what for Governor Schwarznegger ? He cannot run for President or Vice-President by virtue of being born abroad. His term of office in California is set to end on January 3rd, 2011.

Without US law being re-written (and why would the Democrats seek to aid a potential rival in the 2012 election ?) where can he go ? I would very much like to see a Senator Schwarzenegger or perhaps even Secretary for Homeland Security or Defense - his movie reputation alone must surely be worth a US Navy Carrier Battle Group...

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Obama, US Politics

The US election 2008: Final result

Looking out of the window this morning I noticed in the bright autumnal sunlight of New York a queue emerging at the polling station over the road - a portend that the sheer level of interest in the election would lead to a long day.

By this evening the polls were gradually confirming the election of Democrat Senator Barack Obama to the post of president of the United States.

Reflecting on the past 18 months I suspect analysts would note that the economic crash in mid-September played a major role in unwinding the gradual catch-up in the polls made by Republican Senator John McCain.

Undoubtedly the incumbent party faced challenge, though issues such as Iraq played a lesser role in the campaign.

The challenge now, for whomever might have run, is to address the major economic and foreign policy challenges - something that would handicap either candidate.

That said, the campaign was very well plotted out on the ground and clearly the titanic battle with Hilary Clinton pushing the Obama fundraising machine to a level which enabled blanket media coverage in the final two months.

On a personal note, I felt that John McCain's story was one which really deserved to be rewarded by the Post. "Political life rarely in any country, a wry observer once noted, matches effort with reward".