SFDanny Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, larrytheimp said: Would love to see Fetterman in the Senate He would be great. I'm also pretty sure that if Biden wants he could get Romney to join his cabinet he would with the offer of being Secretary of State. That obviously does nothing to alter the balance in the Senate because a new Republican would replace him. Here's hoping Biden doesn't make the offer. Rather, it makes much more sense for the Democrats to offer Romney and Murkowski leadership roles on committees if they choose to caucus with the Democrats. Not likely, and maybe not a good idea, but if they want to effect the Senate balance it is something that should be considered. How that would effect the Biden agenda seems to be the criitical question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 21 hours ago, DMC said: Notably, the post goes on to say Biden's aforementioned statement on his Treasury pick suggests the choice is Janet Yellen, which makes me question the veracity of this reporting and/or its sources. CNBC earlier this week had Steve Mnuchin on to explain his plan to return funds to the Treasury, a plan that has infuriated a lot of Democrats and is seen as yet another attempt to sabotage Biden. They asked him if he would cooperate with whomever is his successor (“naturally, of course”) and they then asked him to comment on the possibility of that being Janet Yellen. He got very silent after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 1 hour ago, larrytheimp said: Would love to see Fetterman in the Senate Me too. He's well loved around these parts - Braddock, where he was mayor, is..within walking distance of where I live. Been a fan of his since his appearance on Colbert, well before I moved to Pitt. Wolf and him are decidedly different politicians but they're from the same place, their families know each other, and they have a good relationship. I'd suspect if Toomey's seat opened up Wolf would appoint him as the replacement if he could. Still, that almost certainly is not gonna happen. Even if Biden offered Toomey a Cabinet post and he was inclined to accept I'm sure Toomey would work out a deal wherein Wolf appointed a Republican to fill his seat - albeit a Republican that would not run for a full term in 2022. The interesting thing about Toomey's open seat in 2022 is Wolf is term limited as governor, so he may wanna look at that himself, and of course Fetterman has to choose whether he wants to run for governor or senator. 1 hour ago, SFDanny said: Rather, it makes much more sense for the Democrats to offer Romney and Murkowski leadership roles on committees if they choose to caucus with the Democrats. Doesn't hurt to ask, a la Specter in 2009 or Jeffords in 2001, but Murkowski is running for reelection in 2022 and caucusing with the Dems would not be good for her chances in Alaska - especially if it turned over Senate control to the Dems. Romney, maybe, but I don't see it. Republican is pretty much in his DNA. 16 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: They asked him if he would cooperate with whomever is his successor (“naturally, of course”) and they then asked him to comment on the possibility of that being Janet Yellen. He got very silent after that. If you believe the rumblings it seems Yellen has jumped to the top just behind Brainard, but I really don't get that. If you're not gonna go with Brainard in an effort to please the leftists it makes far more sense to go with Sarah Bloom Raskin - who actually was Deputy Treasury Secretary under Obama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 1 hour ago, DMC said: Doesn't hurt to ask, a la Specter in 2009 or Jeffords in 2001, but Murkowski is running for reelection in 2022 and caucusing with the Dems would not be good for her chances in Alaska - especially if it turned over Senate control to the Dems. Romney, maybe, but I don't see it. Republican is pretty much in his DNA. Murkowski's run next time will be influenced by the new election law in Alaska just barely passed on the November 3rd ballot. Most commentators seem to think it will bolster her chances to hang on to her seat in 2022. I have to look more into the details, but it that is so, she maybe willing to caucus with the Democrats if they hold the Senate majority post the Georgia run offs. It's certainly something I think they should look into, depending on the price she wants. With Romney, it depends on how isolated he feels in the Republican caucus. The far right is going to look to punish those who have spoken up against Trump. His recent statements about the election and his vote on impeachment can't have won him many friends among the Tom Cottons or other lunatics in the Republican Senate. McConnell may need every vote, so he will try to keep the caucus together, but as you say, it doesn't hurt to ask. I just like this approach much better to trying to buy Republicans off with cabinet appointments. Mitt Romney as an independent who will caucus with the Democrats and helping to make them the majority party might be worth a leading role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I didn't know you were in Pennsylvania. Very much appreciate the insight into the Wolf/Fetterman dynamic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, SFDanny said: Murkowski's run next time will be influenced by the new election law in Alaska just barely passed on the November 3rd ballot. Most commentators seem to think it will bolster her chances to hang on to her seat in 2022. I have to look more into the details, but it that is so, she maybe willing to caucus with the Democrats if they hold the Senate majority post the Georgia run offs. It's certainly something I think they should look into, depending on the price she wants. The likely effect of Measure 2 - ranked choice voting - in Alaska is that the GOP will not run another candidate against Murkowski. Obviously, that would change if she switched to caucusing with the Dems, but you're right that she'd still likely be at worst the 2nd choice for both Republican and Democratic voters, so the change would help her. Still, all that seems really convoluted rather than simply having a pretty safe race (or at least it appears so now) if she just stands pat. In the event the Dems do win the Senate, I don't see being chair of the Energy & National Resources Committee (which she is now) rather than its ranking member motivating such a switch. As for Romney not having many friends in the Republican caucus, well, that was already the case. At least publicly. Romney is 73 and ranks very very low in seniority, thus is almost certainly never gonna be in line for a chairmanship. There's not much they can do to punish him. That being said, I definitely agree giving either a try is a much better and more realistic approach than the Cabinet nominee gambit - which never actually works. And yeah, lived in Pittsburgh since..August 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Biden to announce first Cabinet picks on Tuesday. That's considerably earlier than when picks are traditionally made, obviously prompted to counteract Trump's clown show. Hopefully everyone's been fully vetted. If it's just the big ones - State, Treasury, Defense - probably not much to worry about as most of the top candidates have went through the process one way or another already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Tony Blinken is the pick for Secretary of State. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 26 minutes ago, teej6 said: Tony Blinken is the pick for Secretary of State. Tony Blinken is rumored to be the pick. He’s not the pick until it’s announced. Unless you work for Biden and are leaking the news in a fantasy board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 38 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: Tony Blinken is rumored to be the pick. He’s not the pick until it’s announced. Unless you work for Biden and are leaking the news in a fantasy board? It's being reported by tons of outlets in the past couple hours, which means Biden's camp leaked it. Seems pretty solid to me. Also sounds like the leak includes Jake Sullivan as NSA and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN Ambassador. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 34 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: Tony Blinken is rumored to be the pick. He’s not the pick until it’s announced. Unless you work for Biden and are leaking the news in a fantasy board? Well, I doubt the NYT and the Post would be reporting that he is expected to be the pick if that’s not what their sources were telling them. It’s highly unlikely after their headline news stories that he’s not. Here’s the quote from the Post regarding their sources confirming it “Blinken’s appointment, first reported Sunday night by Bloomberg News, was confirmed by three people familiar with an announcement scheduled for Tuesday.” As to the bolded, there’s no need to be snarky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Anyway, I like Thomas-Greenfield as UN Ambassador. Almost certainly the best person for the job. The other two, meh. Really would've preferred Rice at State, but whatever. ETA: One thing I don't like about Blinken at State is if Flournoy is gonna be SecDef. The two are way too close to put them in those positions which ideally should contribute somewhat adversarial advice to the president on foreign policy. That's not gonna happen between two people that spent the past four years co-founding and running a security consulting firm together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 37 minutes ago, teej6 said: As to the bolded, there’s no need to be snarky. Bah, humbug! It’s the arrogance I can’t stand. You couldn’t say “major media outlets are reporting Blinken will be SoS, the Biden camp must be leaking if”? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 9 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: Bah, humbug! It’s the arrogance I can’t stand. You couldn’t say “major media outlets are reporting Blinken will be SoS, the Biden camp must be leaking if”? What in the hell are you talking about? What arrogance? The media reported he is the pick and I remarked he is the pick. No arrogance or whatever was intended. I’m sorry I offended your tender sensibilities by a harmless statement. Anyway, who made you the etiquette police? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 7 minutes ago, teej6 said: What in the hell are you talking about? What arrogance? The media reported he is the pick and I remarked he is the pick. No arrogance or whatever was intended. I’m sorry I offended your tender sensibilities by a harmless statement. Anyway, who made you the etiquette police? What, are you too good to attribute where you got the news? Biden has not made an announcement. If he had made an announcement, you can say “Blinken is going to be the next Secretary if State”. Go back and read DMC’s response to my comment, where he has the decency to name those who are breaking the story. Yes, it rubs me the wrong way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 8 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: What, are you too good to attribute where you got the news? Biden has not made an announcement. If he had made an announcement, you can say “Blinken is going to be the next Secretary if State”. Go back and read DMC’s response to my comment, where he has the decency to name those who are breaking the story. Yes, it rubs me the wrong way. So now you decide who has decency and who doesn’t. What a load of crap for a non offensive, innocuous comment. And I’m supposed to care how it rubs you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 48 minutes ago, teej6 said: So now you decide who has decency and who doesn’t. What a load of crap for a non offensive, innocuous comment. And I’m supposed to care how it rubs you? You asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindwalker Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Poor Susan Rice. First she doesn't get the VP position, now this... Maybe because the GOP senate already made noises they wouldn't confirm her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 57 minutes ago, Mindwalker said: Maybe because the GOP senate already made noises they wouldn't confirm her? While she was almost certainly good for 51 votes, it's quite possible Biden wanted to steer clear of a confirmation fight, yes. To that I say: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Ok after the flurry of picks the last couple hours I'm gonna compose a full list, pretty much for my own reference. Here's what I got, if anybody hears about anything different don't hesitate to speak up! Secretary of State: Tony Blinken Secretary of the Treasury: Janet Yellen Homeland Security Secretary: Alejandro Mayorkas Director of National Intelligence: Avril Haines UN Ambassador: Linda Thomas-Greenfield Climate Czar: John Kerry Chief of Staff: Ron Klein National Security Adviser: Jake Sullivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 @DMC if Blinken didn’t get SoS you had him for NSA. Who is Sullivan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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