Bush boasted during the 2000 transition process that he’d acknowledge the closely divided nation by having a bi-partisan cabinet. This led to one Democrat — Norman Mineta — getting one post (Transportation). With Mineta reportedly planning to resign fairly soon, Bush may be looking for another token Dem that he can ignore.
Taegan Goddard noted today that he may need to look no further than one of the candidates who wanted to take him on this year.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) “respects the presidency and likes being wooed,” the Hartford Courant reports, so “he’s not ruling out a Bush Cabinet appointment.”
“There’s no opening the door a crack in Washington; you’re in the game or you’re not. And while there’s no firm – or even flimsy – signal from the Bush team with regard to Lieberman, there is talk among the connected class in Washington that he could be in the mix for several positions.”
My first instinct is to encourage him to pursue this. Lieberman has been on the wrong side of too many policy debates for too long, including school vouchers, “tort reform,” privitization of Social Security, and federal funding for Bush’s “faith-based” initiative. There was a reason he was booed at most of the Dem presidential debates.
The fact that he’d even consider a cabinet post with Bush is outrageous. If there’s nothing to these rumors, Liberman needs to say so — strongly and immediately.
But before anyone starts planning his good-bye party, there’s the small matter of his replacement. While I’d like nothing more than to see Lieberman replaced with a better Dem, the current governor of Connecticut, M. Jodi Rell, is a Republican, filling in for disgraced former Gov. John Rowland, who resigned in June. If Lieberman joined Bush’s cabinet, Rell would no doubt appoint a Republican and Dems would lose another Senate seat. Down 55-45, that’s not exactly good news.