Obama’s Picks

(Community Matters) From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann

FIRST THOUGHTS.
*** The Full Obama Cabinet: At his last press conference of the year before departing for Hawaii, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports, Obama will unveil his final cabinet picks (and maybe others!): Ray LaHood for Transportation secretary, Hilda Solis for Labor, and Ron Kirk for U.S. Trade Representative. As transition expert Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution tells First Read, this is the earliest an incoming president has assembled his entire cabinet since Richard Nixon announced his cabinet picks on Dec. 11, 1968. Also, we’ve learned that Obama has picked Dennis Blair, a former Navy admiral, to be his director of national intelligence. The next question is if — or when — Obama decides to replace the current CIA chief. The Washington Post has a new name for the list, but we should remind folks that Obama isn’t under any Jan. 20 pressure to name him/her. He could keep current chief Hayden in place for as long as he and Hayden want. The CIA director’s term doesn’t expire at end of a president’s term, but instead simply serves at pleasure of president. Hayden would stay if asked…

*** Updated Cabinet Census: Here’s our updated list after the Solis and Kirk picks:

— 8 State Schoolers (Daschle, Vilsack, Chu, Napolitano, Salazar, Gates, Solis, Kirk)

— 7 Ivy Leaguers (Clinton, Duncan, Geithner, Holder, Donovan, Orszag, Jackson)

— 6 Raised in the Midwest (Clinton, Daschle, Vilsack, Gates, Duncan, LaHood) Note: This doesn’t include Chu, who was born in Missouri but grew up in New York

— 5 Women (Clinton, Napolitano, Solis, Rice, Jackson)

— 4 Raised in New York (Holder, Donovan, Geithner, Chu — who grew up on Long Island) Note: This does not include Napolitano who was born in NYC or Clinton who currently lives there.

— 4 Basketball Players (Duncan, Rice, Holder, Kirk — who also was a cheerleader in college)
— 4 African Americans (Holder, Kirk, Rice, Jackson)

— 3 Hispanics (Salazar, Richardson, Solis)

— 3 Westerners (Salazar, Richardson, Napolitano — who was born in NYC but raised in Albuquerque) Note: Solis is from L.A., but is that really a Westerner?

— 2 Asian Americans (Shinseki, Chu)

— 2 Republicans (Gates, LaHood)

— 2 Sitting Senators (Clinton, Salazar)

— 2 Sitting Governors (Napolitano, Richardson)

— 2 Raised in the South (Kirk, Jackson — who was born in Philadelphia, but adopted a few weeks later and grew up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward)