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AZ-Sen: Napolitano in Obama's Cabinet, After All?

by: James L.

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 10:34 PM EST


CNN is reporting the following:

Barack Obama's top choice for secretary of homeland security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, multiple sources say

If Napolitano does indeed accept this job, that both removes her from contention for a 2010 Senate race, and also would move up Republican Jan Brewer, Arizona's Secretary of State, into the Governor's mansion. Brewer is already mentioned as a likely candidate for Governor in 2010, so this would obviously give her a big leg up for the entire field.

(Hat-tip: sulthernao)

UPDATE (David): Politico is saying it's a done deal. This is lame.
James L. :: AZ-Sen: Napolitano in Obama's Cabinet, After All?
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AZ-Sen: Napolitano in Obama's Cabinet, After All? | 44 comments
Let the losses begin
Im very bummed about this.  This means we lose a governorship and we also dont get the Arizona Senate seat.  Not a good choice for Obama.  
Bill, you need to chill the hell out.
In case you didn't notice we haven't lost a seat yet. Please, just wait and see what happens.

You going to get yourself in trouble if you keep up this hand wringing.

[ Parent ]
Says who?
Johanns served in the Bush cabinet before leaving the job early to run for Senate.  No reason Napolitano couldn't do the same.  In fact she'll probably be urged to do so.  This move also has the benefit of giving another Dem a couple years of incumbency as Govenror.
[ Parent ]
A Republican now gets appointed governor
The Secretary of State is a Republican and she gets appointed.  
[ Parent ]
Ehh...
Nevermind, I thought it was a Dem.  Stinks if that is the case.
[ Parent ]
As I said above in my post
If Napolitano does indeed accept this job, that both removes her from contention for a 2010 Senate race, and also would move up Republican Jan Brewer, Arizona's Secretary of State, into the Governor's mansion.

[ Parent ]
At least one bad thing
is that a Republican will now become Governor, which will make it tougher for us to win in 2010 plus giving Arizona two years of Republican control. I really wish she had run for the Senate seat.
[ Parent ]
Yep
We are right back down to a small 28-22 edge in governorships that could easily be wiped out in 2010.  
[ Parent ]
not really
dems have more targets than Repubs.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
Yes
If it's a republican that will fill the AZ Governor's office the move is not worth it.  There are plenty of highly capable people who can fill cabinet positions and won't cost us a seat.
[ Parent ]
This is a seriously unhelpful move
DHS is hardly a prestige job, though I guess horrible stewardship under Bush means this department needs as much help as it can get. But you don't need a "name" person like Napolitano to do it.

With AZ getting new seats after the 2010 census, this seems like a terrible move.

Arizona has indpendent redistricting
So I really doubt the Governorship effects the process.
[ Parent ]
Damn, I knew that
But I thought the Gov got to appoint some members. Apparently not:

One member is chosen by each of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Arizona, the Minority Leader of the Arizona House of Representatives, the President of the Arizona Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Arizona Senate.

Then these people pick a fifth member.

[ Parent ]
Funny thing is
Despite independent redistricting in 2002 Arizona has some of the most grotesquely drawn maps of any state.  From what I've seen independent redistricting has not really have the effect of causing more competitive elections.  
[ Parent ]
uh, why do you think
AZ-01 and Giffords district are both swingish, or AZ-05?

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
we'll see what happens in California
After Prop. 11's narrow passage, we'll see what happens.
I don't think it's going to have much impact.
And I don't think the district line will look any better.
[ Parent ]
Arent Arizona seats drawn by a bipartisan commission?
Thats what I thought.  
[ Parent ]
Yes
It is independent.  The Governor is irrelevant in the process from what I understand.
[ Parent ]
HoSec, as a whole, just needs to be disbanded.
It bleeds into so many other departments (Defense, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, even HUD) and basically serves no overall purpose.

Michael Chertoff can't even build a fence right.

I absolutely agree but
disband it, merge it into another department, absolutely, but during the President-elect's second term, not now. Make it unavailable as a campaign issue in 2012.

It would be good to shrink the size of the Cabinet, and the Department of Bogus Security may not be the only office that could be downsized, but let's not arm a "loyal" GOP opposition with campaign slogans about how 'Democrats don't care about the safety of yadda yadda yadda.'

In the mean time, Napolitano would be unnecessarily glamor casting for the secretaryship. It should be given to a career bureaucrat who can't make it into a platform for office, and quieted down to invisibility with a trimmed budget.

The idea of pulling Herseth out of elective office in SD also sounds like a disaster, to me. There's no bench in that state, as far as I know.

Besides, I thought the rumor mongers were telling us Vilsack for Ag was a done deal?

 

[ Parent ]
Mel Martinez Precedent
Was HUD Secretary from 2001-2003. Resigned to run for the open Senate seat.
Johanns also ran for NE Senate
after being Ag Secretary.
[ Parent ]
This could actually be better
If McCain doesn't retire, it's doubtful that Napolitano would've challenged him anyways. But, when we're low on Senate seats and a certain popular former governor runs against a certain Jon Kyl in 2012 when a certain someone is running for president where there isn't an Arizona native on the ballot...

Visit Election Inspection for first-rate political analysis.
If Napolitano wants to run for Senate
She's being smart by not challenging McCain. Weakened by the presidential race or not, he's still a stronger candidate than Jon Kyl. Assuming Obama remains popular, Arizona will become a swing state in 2012, so she's betting on a more favorable environment and a weaker opponent (minority whip or not) to take on.
Says who?
There's been polling that showed her leading McCain in a matchup.  Kyl, by contrast, is a more traditional conservative who doesn't piss off a large portion of his own party---a portion that would need to be motivated to get out and vote during a non-presidential year like 2010.  

Demographics are not destiny.  Louisiana is more Republican now than ever, but Landrieu just won by her largest margin ever.

John McCain: Healthcare for kids?  Not for a Bush-McCain America.

[ Parent ]
its not hard
to beat two percentage points. ;)

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
This is very poor form
What about Gary Hart or Warren Rudman? Bad move to throw away the Governorship of any state. More pissed about that than what it means for any future senate race.
What's Really Important
I know we all follow the political implications, but, to me, the most important thing for Obama is to govern wisely and effectively.  To do that, he needs the best people for his cabinet.  Sucks to lose a governorship for two years, but these are secondary considerations to what's really important.
Napolitano for President?
This goes beyond the Senate.  Homeland Security would give Napolitano "war" creds.  Add that "half" to her executive/domestic "half" and you get an ideally qualified candidate for President who will be only 59 in 2016.  I wonder if this is an Obama block on Hillary.
 
Napolitano will never run for President for one very big reason.

[ Parent ]
Is she really?
I've heard rumors back and forth on that one, but honestly don't know much about her to base a judgment.  
[ Parent ]
Well
Tyler doesn't "know" any better than you or I do.
But there are the rumors.  And then there's the breaking of my 'dar.
[ Parent ]
the best lesson ive ever learned
is that if all the kids are calling someone gay, they probably are.

and the breaking of your dar, is like 50% of this blog gay?  We really do over represent our community on this blog, which glbt's and political participation, that should be studied.  

And I think this is indicative of that in some point in the future, I think gays will be the most over-represented minority group in Congress (that title goes to the Jews currently).  When comparing our subgroup to the nation at large, we make more money, have a better and more education, have better jobs, and are downright ambitious.  

[ Parent ]
How about Mormons?
In the next Congress they will have 6 Senators (Both Udalls, Bennett, Crapo, Hatch and Reid).  And Reid is the Senate Majority Leader.  That's a lot more political power for their numbers.
[ Parent ]
Don't Cry for Me, Arizona
Text of Janet Napolitano's speech upon returning to Arizona in 2017 after serving 8 years protecting our beloved homeland:

"It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done

You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen, I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun

So I chose freedom
Running around, trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to

[Chorus:]

Don't cry for me Arizona
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired

They are illusions
They are not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me

Don't cry for me Arizona

[chorus]

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you.
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true"

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics...

The Senate seat is gone
However, I wouldn't be so certain about the Governorship.  AG Terry Goddard (Dem) is wildly popular.  If anything, this turns a race with Goddard heavily favored into a tossup between him and Brewer.

However, it's gonna be a crap two years for Arizonans, what with the Republicans extending their control over the state legislature and now a Republican governor to help them screw over the state.

ProgressiveHistorians: History For Our Future

No, the Senate seat is NOT gone
An appointment to a cabinet position changes NOTHING.  If anything I could see both the DNSC AND President Obama urging Napolitano to leave her cabinet job in 2010 to run for Senate, be it against McCain or for an open seat.
[ Parent ]
How long then
Does she serve as Sec. of Homeland Security? 5 months, 6 months. You really think her appointment would be that short?
[ Parent ]
Probably one year
Served from early 2009 to early 2010 then leaves the job for a Senate run.  It's happened before.  This is nothing new.  Mel Martinez (FL) left early in 2004 and Johanns (NE) did the same last year.
[ Parent ]
Johanns served
32 months, and Martinez served a shade less than 3 years.

I think your really grasping at straws here. A 2012 race against Kyl I can see, but I just can't see here serving 9-12 months and then running for Senate.

[ Parent ]
Doubt it
Everyone cites Johanns and Martinez as examples of people who left the Cabinet to run for Senate, but they served in the Cabinet for what? 3 years each? I can't see Janet stepping down from DHS after 12 scant months. She could run against Kyl in 2012, though.
[ Parent ]
Well, okay
I'll say that the Senate seat is gone IF Napolitano doesn't run for it.

As for the Governor's race, I'm a little surprised that some of the national pundits seem to think Giffords is going to run for it.  She isn't.  Everyone in Arizona (and some of us who no longer are) knows that Goddard is running for Governor.  He's been running in all but name for the past two years.  His only significant potential opponent, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon (a DINO if ever there was one), announced earlier this year that he won't run after a BRC poll showed Goddard crushing him by double digits.  That nomination is a done deal for Goddard, and Giffords would have to be crazy to run against him -- which her record clearly shows she's not.  And while Brewer's elevation to Governor does make Goddard's race tougher in two years, my guess is that Napolitano and Obama decided he could still handle it.  If nothing else, Napolitano's move makes Brewer, who's relatively unknown statewide, the Republican frontrunner, and cuts off at the knees people like the millionaire self-funder State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, corrupt County Attorney Andrew Thomas, and the wildly popular Congressman Jeff Flake -- all of whom might be more formidable opponents for Goddard than Brewer will be.

ProgressiveHistorians: History For Our Future

[ Parent ]
On immigration
Does anyone know what her position is on immigration?  I'd like to know how she governed Arizona on that issue.  She isn't one of those hardasses who will support building a border fence and deporting people is she?
Pretty sure she isn't
I seem to recall her getting into clashes with the GOP legislature over the issue. You might want to check El Google though.
[ Parent ]
AZ-Sen: Napolitano in Obama's Cabinet, After All? | 44 comments

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