Controversy Looming Over Obama's Picks?

Matt Lewis | November 22, 2008 2:29 PM

... I'm not saying the honeymoon is over or anything, but I do think that as Obama is forced to actually make more and more governing decisions, we will begin to see more criticism of him.

Here are just a couple of examples I've noted:

... Writing in the NYT, George Lardner, Jr. has great concerns about Obama's AG pick, Eric Holder. Of course, the concerns spring from his efforts to pardon Marc Rich. Might we be seeing the unfolding of the first scandal of the Obama Admin? ... It seems to me that the arguments Lardner lays out against Holder are clearly worse than having employed a illegal immigrant nanny or something -- issues which have doomed past nominees.

... Also, a few weeks ago, Jim Cramer wrote this:

"If Tim Geithner, the New York Fed chairman, gets a top spot in the Barack Obama's cabinet, we are done, finished, kaput. It is that simple."

Of course, Larry Summers may have gotten the gig, had it not been for Hillary Clinton. If Obama picked both Summers and Hillary Clinton, the criticism that he was picking too many Clinton folks would have been confirmed. And so he picked Geithner.

No doubt, Obama's selection of Hillary as SoS will be well-received by the establishment press. Yet, this decision will potentially anger loyalists like Kerry and Richardson. Leaks will eventually happen, and it will be interesting to see if he is still called "No Drama Obama" in a year or so.

To be sure, every pick is sure to anger some constituency...