It's time to continue our look at the Cabinet in the upcoming Obama administration. Second - Secretary of the Treasury, perhaps the most important appointment President-elect Obama will make, given the current economic circumstances.

There are several excellent options - some who served in the Clinton Administration - some outsiders - and even some paradigm breaking choices. For convenience, I've taken the list from a betting site (yes, it is in the order of the oddsmakers' favorite).

There were Republicans on the list, and I've left out the "I don't believe it" names still on the betting lines such as Phil Gramm and Bob Zoellick. There's also some chatter about keeping Paulson on, temporarily to administer the bailout. So as distasteful as it seems, I kept his name on the list.

Perhaps one key criteria (which you're free to throw to the side of the road) is whether the candidate would inspire confidence in the markets.

(X posted at OpenLeft - will X post at DK, as soon as the clock allows me to post another diary there)

It's time for a look at the Cabinet in the upcoming Obama administration. First up - Secretary of State, the point person - in repairing our alliances, in building on the goodwill that is already flowing in from around the world.

And it's time to choose your favorite for Secretary of State.

There are a number of excellent options - some who served in the Clinton Administration - some outsiders - and even a couple of Obamicans. For convenience, I've taken the list from a betting site (yes, it is in the order of the oddsmakers' favorite):

Richard Holbrooke
Anthony Lake
Richard Lugar
Bill Richardson
Chuck Hagel
John Kerry
Daniel Shapiro
Daniel Kurtzer
George Mitchell
Eric Lynn
Dennis Ross
Susan Rice
James Steinberg
Mara Rudman
Bill Clinton
Colin Powell
Hillary Clinton

I evaluate each option as best I can on the flip. (I had to research the credentials of a few.) I trust others will add more data. (Cross posted at OpenLeft.)

Folks,

I understand the need for advertising on a place like this. But this morning, I see an ad for Pat Robertson's Regent University. And yesterday, there was the ad for the identity theft company endorsed only by right wingers (Lifelock - ref Limbaugh, Hannity, Harvey).

They've been shown as a bunch of scam artists who can't even protect their own identities. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-06-2 1/news/slapstick-scammers

I suppose it's OK it they want to give MyDD money. But at best, it gives power over this site to - ah - undesirable elements.

Folks,

I like this bit from the Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/030 8/8920.html

It points out that there are now D's in both Delay's and Hastert's seats. It points out the current cash advantage ($30m) of the DCCC over the NRCC.

To me, this is the money quote:

"By itself, this would not be that big of a deal, but coupled with everything else it will just deflate the [House Republican] Conference," said an aide to one top GOP lawmaker. "And symbolically, losing Hastert's seat is like the toppling of the Saddam statue in Baghdad for Republicans."

Folks,

I found it a bit disconcerting this morning to read the Daily Kos (DK). For a moment, I wasn't sure if I had typed in the URL for RedState. Seems like DK is getting some funding from ads supporting Republicans.

I tried adding a diary to DK, but can't seem to get around the 300 word thing, no matter how much I write.

Specifically, there's a strip of Google Ads about half way down the center column, between the Join EFF icon and the DK Store ad. The Google Ads include bits such as:

Jim Inhofe in 2008
Courageous Conservative Leadership. Join Jim's campaign.

Well, perhaps we should be thankful that Wingnut Jim Inhofe is wasting his campaign cash recruiting on DK.

Civilian Contractor Jobs
High Paying Jobs in Iraq-Worldwide 50 to 300K a Year - Tax Free

But then again, many of us are looking at a way for more money. Somehow I don't think that becoming a mercenary in Iraq is consistent with the moral standards here.

Senator Susan Collins
Learn more about Susan Collins' bipartisan record of accomplishment

And of course, people at DK aren't into re-electing vulnerable Republicans to the Senate, are they?

Yeah, there are the good ads, such as this description of the real Republican Presidential ticket in 2008 -

Cheney-Satan '08
Jan 20 2009 -- The End of an Error Bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts.

and this bit on the Petraeus Report

The Petraeus Report Myth
The Petraeus Report's Real Benefactor: Big Oil. New Report.

But after reloading a few times, I don't see one ad supporting a Democratic candidate. Perhaps no Democratic candidates are using Google ads, but I'd find that surprising. I'd think it'd be one way to spread the word especially about some of our Senate challengers.

I can understand the need for revenue for a place like DK. It's harder to come by on the Web than most can imagine. But I do wish it could be done without resorting to ads supporting the opposition. If you're listening, Markos, and know of a way to fund this site without resorting to such ads, I think most of us would appreciate it.

After a bit of Google searching, there is chatter on the Democratic Underground about "offensive" Google ads, and I'm thankful that I don't see some of the ads described there here on DK. So perhaps there is some filtering software at work. If so, perhaps the site admins should just go a step further.

Yeah, I know, I should subscribe. But the ads are part of the public face that DK shows the world. And it's at least odd to see ads supporting Republicans on DK.

Just wondering who are in all of the pictures we see rotating in the upper left corner of the home page. I recognize probably most of them, but yesterday's (5/6) - was that Kim Dae Jung? (former Korean President, aka's Asia's Mandela)

It would be helpful to have a FAQ with a list of pics and names.

It seems like electoral-vote.com, the first mapping site linked via the Presidential Outlook page, is down.

I've tried pinging the site, and there is no response, which tells me that Andy Tannenbaum's (the votemaster) ISP's servers are down. I thought he had 6 servers. I forget the URLs (www addresses) of the alternate servers. Does anyone else know?

I'm having trouble connecting to dailykos.com - a similar site - is this just a local thing here in Oregon, or is there some sort of attack in progress?

For the techies, I've tried pinging dailykos.com, and it returns a good IP address. But putting the IP address in the browser (I have Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera - as well as Ephiphany on Linux) leads to the same result.