A while back I was goofing on Bill Richardson and - as is even more apparent today - the Obama administration's staggering ineptitude when it comes to vetting cabinet appointments. One of the riffs I threw in was that naming a new Commerce Secretary would be delayed as Team Obama scrambled to find another Hispanic to nominate for the post. In the comments I said I'd put up a post stating I was wrong if a Hispanic wasn't nominated for Commerce.
Well, I was wrong.
President Obama extended a political olive branch to the GOP on Tuesday, nominating Sen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, to head the Commerce Department.Despite a surname just as Hispanic as Richardson, former Senator Gregg looks about as white bread as you can get. Beyond that, he's a Republican. Could it be that Republicans now outnumber Hispanics in Obama's cabinet?
While the initial post was pretty tongue-in-cheek, I am surprised that another Hispanic wasn't nominated. My professional background is in Human Resources (recruiting, which falls under HR...) and no club is swung more freely in the HR world than the "diversity" club. To the point recruiting agencies specializing in "diversity" candidates get substantially larger fees and positions that are otherwise subjected to a hiring freeze will magically thaw when a "diversity" candidate is queued for an offer.
I figure either Obama assumes he's golden with Hispanics already or he's planning to grease them with so much pork and an amnesty bill that he will be able to walk on stage at a LULAC rally and urinate on the crowd without affecting his share of Hispanic votes. Because if they didn't turn out for Amnesty John in 2008 they won't turn out for the Republican in 2012 either.
Then again, with the vetting failures endemic to so many of Obama's high-level appointments he has several more opportunities to slip a Latino into the deck. Or not.
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Comments (12)
Maybe he'll try for a two-f... (Below threshold)1. Posted by GarandFan | February 3, 2009 9:10 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Maybe he'll try for a two-fer, any Hispanic senators available? Thin out the Republican ranks and get a minority in there at the same time. Three-fer if it's a female senator.
1. Posted by GarandFan | February 3, 2009 9:10 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on February 3, 2009 21:10
2. Posted by Joe | February 3, 2009 11:12 PM | Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
He is just trying offer it to a Republican to empty a seat so the democratic governor will appoint another Dem to replace him. Since it looks like Franken isn't a sure thing right now. That will give the dems the magic number.
2. Posted by Joe | February 3, 2009 11:12 PM |
Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on February 3, 2009 23:12
3. Posted by fustian | February 3, 2009 11:18 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
The infamous Baron von Ottomatic is in HR?
I never would have dreamt it. How can this be?
3. Posted by fustian | February 3, 2009 11:18 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on February 3, 2009 23:18
4. Posted by Jason | February 3, 2009 11:44 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Strategically this is much smarter than going for a Hispanic person just for the sake of diversity. This will help increase the probability of putting a democrat in Gregg's seat. Sure they'll put a Republican in the seat now, but a Democrat can take the seat next year without having to run against an incumbent. That brings the Dems one step closer to a filibuster-proof majority.
http://www.rightklik.net/
4. Posted by Jason | February 3, 2009 11:44 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 3, 2009 23:44
5. Posted by acai berry diet | February 4, 2009 12:10 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I don't think you are sorry for that. You know every one has to be sorry atleast once in his/her lifetime.
5. Posted by acai berry diet | February 4, 2009 12:10 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 00:10
6. Posted by bryanD | February 4, 2009 12:36 AM | Score: -6 (8 votes cast)
A refreshingly self-effacing post, a'la John Cole. And here I thought Wizbang was a robo-site.
Or at least, robots plus DJ Drummond. I stand approximately 1/4 corrected. You and DJ are safe this week.
As for Gregg's Democrat-assigned Republican replacement: I expect Olympia Snowe will look like Marie de Medici in comparison on the political conserva-scale.
6. Posted by bryanD | February 4, 2009 12:36 AM |
Score: -6 (8 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 00:36
7. Posted by Bruce Henry | February 4, 2009 7:57 AM | Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
Well done, Baron. You're a mensch.
7. Posted by Bruce Henry | February 4, 2009 7:57 AM |
Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 07:57
8. Posted by tyree | February 4, 2009 9:58 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Thanks for that.
And beware the "forced diversity" crowd. In my area they discriminate far more than any other group.
8. Posted by tyree | February 4, 2009 9:58 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 09:58
9. Posted by Bruce Henry | February 4, 2009 10:39 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I notice I got a negative vote for my comment commending the Baron for doing as he promised. Why would that garner a negative vote?
BTW, "mensch" is a compliment, nameless negative vote-caster!
9. Posted by Bruce Henry | February 4, 2009 10:39 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 10:39
10. Posted by Aye Chihuahua | February 4, 2009 12:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, Baron, everyone is entitled to be wrong once per year.
Will you apply this error toward 2008 or 2009?
10. Posted by Aye Chihuahua | February 4, 2009 12:40 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 12:40
11. Posted by Linoge
| February 4, 2009 5:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Joe beat me to it.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Obama is choosing R's to be seated in various portions of the government... it gets them out of the Legislative branch, where they can be replaced with D's. And considering just how few R's are actual conservatives, they really are not that much of a threat...
11. Posted by Linoge
| February 4, 2009 5:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 17:04
12. Posted by Anon Y. Mous | February 4, 2009 10:45 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You were and are wrong in more ways than one.
This is a deliberate myth propagated by the amnesty crowd, and I hate to see anyone taken in by it. The fact is that a majority of Hispanics voters, i.e. legal citizens of the USA, are opposed to amnesty:
The following are findings of the 2005 National Latino Survey of 1,000 Hispanic adults (margin of error +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval) from mid-December 2005.
* A majority of Hispanic voters (52.4% to 38.2%) support ". . . legislation stating that any person living in this country illegally cannot become a United States citizen unless they reapply for citizenship legally from their country of origin."
* A plurality of Hispanic voters (49.6% to 41%) support ". . . increasing the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents on the border between the U.S. and Mexico."
* A plurality of Hispanic voters (49.9% to 41.2%) support new laws to make sure that employers can only hire workers who are in the U.S. legally."
* A large majority of Hispanic voters (81.9% to 14%) support immigration reform " . . . to create a temporary worker program for illegal immigrants that would legalize their status . . . "
* 42% of Hispanics consider U.S. immigration "too open." (Wall Street Journal, March 2000)
* 75% of California Latinos think that illegal immigration from Mexico to California has been a "big problem" or "somewhat of a problem." (Public Policy Institute of California, Jan. 1999)
* Two-thirds of likely Latino voters in California support the governor's veto of a bill that would have allowed illegal aliens to get driver's licenses. (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 2002)
* 89% of Hispanics strongly support an immediate moratorium on immigration. (Hispanic USA Research Group, June 1993)
* 75% of Mexican-Americans, 79% of Puerto Ricans, and 65% of Cuban-Americans agree that there are too many immigrants in this country. (Latino National Political Survey, Dec. 1992)
* 61% of Hispanics favor increasing money spent on patrolling the border. (The Tarrance Group, August 1983)
12. Posted by Anon Y. Mous | February 4, 2009 10:45 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 4, 2009 22:45