Change is happening
Toolbox
Published: December 4, 2008
Purists on the left have criticized Barack Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton and other establishment figures to serve in his administration as a betrayal of his promise to bring change to Washington. They are falling into the trap of those who saw no difference between George Bush and Al Gore in 2000 and so voted for Ralph Nader. Soon, in tragic fashion, the nation learned the difference between George Bush and Al Gore.
Certainly, the prospect that Obama will be trapped by the power centers of Washington into perpetuating damaging policies is a worry to keep in mind. But it does not require vast imagination to understand that an administration led by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Eric Holder as attorney general, James Jones as national security adviser, Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador, Bill Richardson as commerce secretary, Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Larry Summers as economic adviser is a far different thing from the Bush administration.
It is worth noting, as well, that even while serving as defense secretary under President Bush, Bill Gates has given voice to views wholly rejecting the skewed priorities and misguided policies of the Bush administration. He has urged a foreign policy geared more toward diplomacy and economic development than military power. He has urged openness toward Iran. Keeping him as defense secretary suggests that Obama is mindful of the importance of stability in managing the Iraq war, particularly as the government shifts gears and moves toward a withdrawal of troops, which everyone now seems to want.
Change is happening. The Obama administration will need to make clear that it abhors the torture, illegal imprisonment and other abuses approved of and practiced by the Bush administration. But his reliance on Jones and Gates suggests that Obama intends to make these changes carefully, not by mounting a crusade to vilify the military but by working with the military to effect changes that even many in the military will welcome.
Obama's appointment of Holder as attorney general will spark questions about Holder's role in the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich in the waning days of the Clinton administration. It was a blot on Clinton's record. One of Holder's principal jobs at the Justice Department will be to restore professionalism and to guarantee that the department is not subject to political abuse, as it was under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. The Rich pardon was the kind of abuse that Holder ought to be ready to disavow.
The presence of so many former Clinton administration officials in Obama's lineup is due, in part, to the fact that Clinton was able to draw into his administration many able, highly professional public servants. Clinton's personality, his indiscipline and indiscretions, undermined what could have been a more accomplished administration.
Obama's personality, rather than getting in the way, may be well suited to bringing out the best in those he appoints. All will not be sweetness and light as the Obama administration takes on the many challenges facing the nation. But so far, it appears that real change is on the way.
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