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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: McCain: I Will Appoint Democrats to My Cabinet Republican John McCain said Sunday if he’s elected president, he will appoint Democrats to his Cabinet. Arguing Americans’ distrust of government doesn’t break down by party, McCain said he wants the best people to tackle the nation’s toughest problems regardless of partisanship. He continued to build on his nomination acceptance speech last week in which he faulted Democrats as well as Republicans for losing their way in Washington. “When we do all the town hall meetings and people, say I’ve lost all trust and confidence in government, they don’t say, I’ve lost confidence in Republicans, Democrats. They’ve lost confidence in everybody. The way you restore it is obviously to have a very bipartisan approach,” McCain told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview taped for air Sunday. Asked if that meant he will appoint Democrats to his Cabinet, McCain said, “Yes, of course.” The Arizona senator said he expects Congress to return to Washington this week and spend the next month in gridlock before handing off the budget for the next Congress to tackle. He said that will leave Americans even more disillusioned, “if that’s possible.” McCain did not say how many Democrats he would appoint to his Cabinet, but he wouldn’t be the first president to cross party lines. President Clinton chose former Republican Sen. William Cohen as his defense secretary. President Bush picked former Democratic Rep. Norm Mineta to be his transportation secretary. Mineta was in his position on Sept. 11, 2001, when all U.S. carriers in and outside the U.S. were grounded for nearly a week. “I don’t know how many (Democrats will serve),” McCain said of his Cabinet’s configuration. “But I can tell you, in all due respect to previous administrations, it’s not going to be a single, you know, well, we have a Democrat now; it’s going to be the best people in America, the smartest people in America.” McCain said the individuals he asks to join his Cabinet will be motivated by service over anything else. “And I’ll tell you, some of them I’ll ask them to work for a dollar a year. They’ve made enough money. But I’ll also ask people who have struggled out there in the trenches to help people, to volunteer in their communities, who understand these problems at that level, which obviously is lost on a lot of — a lot — a big segment of Washington,” he said. It’s believed that McCain closely considered Independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate despite reports he was warned off such a move by conservatives within his party. Continuing on his theme of shaking up Washington, McCain also defended his choice of Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The Alaska governor has helped McCain attract huge crowds since the Republican convention. But she hasn’t answered a single question from the national media yet, earning criticism that she is not prepared to be the second in command of the U.S. McCain said Palin is ready to give her first interview, in fact, she is scheduled to be interviewed by ABC this week. McCain advised voters and the media not to underestimate her. “This is the most popular governor in America. She has a clear record of doing what Americans want first and uppermost: Reform. Reform. She has not only talked about it, she has, she’s done it and she took on the people in her own party,” he said. But McCain opponent Barack Obama said Palin is “more of the same.” Driving home the theme throughout the Democrats’ campaign — that McCain would be tantamount to another four years of the unpopular President Bush — Obama suggested that Palin is even closer to Bush than the Arizona senator. McCain’s choice of Palin “tells me that he chose somebody who may be even more aligned with George Bush — or (Vice President) Dick Cheney, or the the politics we’ve seen over the last eight years — that John McCain himself is,” Obama said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. Palin has been praised as a maverick but criticized by Democrats as a social conservative who opposes abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, questioned whether she is a reformer, telling “FOX News Sunday” that she hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal funding for the city of Wasilla when she was mayor there, and gladly accepted federal earmarks while governor. McCain, however, continues to try to drive the message that he — and his running mate — are reformers. In his Sunday interview, he said he bucked his own party on the war in Iraq, global warming and campaign finance reform, to name a few. “Obviously, I was very unpopular in some parts of my own party, whether it be on the issue of climate change or against (former Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld’s strategy and the president’s strategy in Iraq, or whether it be on campaign finance reform or a number of other issues that I fought against the `special interests,”‘ McCain said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
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#18. To: christine (#0)
Well, all the popular names have been listed, but considering McCain's penchant for surprises, Zbig Brezinski (one of Obie's foreign policy advisers) would be peachy.
Take a look at McBomb's neocon-packed foreign policy team if you're losing sleep over Zbig.
Hell, no, I love this campaign. I'm looking for it to get down and dirty. Slinging Mud and drawing blood.
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