Will Obama’s Team of Rivals Fare Better Than Lincoln’s?

Somehow I doubt much useful information can be drawn from this comparison, the times are enormously different and the people are as well.
About the farthest you can go with this comparision is the obvious fact that people who agree on everything make for easier relationships than people that disagree on things.
Beyond that, it is all shades of grey. Sometimes people with different views can open up the discussion and inject new ideas that would be missed if everyone is on the same page, and sometimes it can be divisive and obstructionist.
There is no way to tell in advance whether this particular group will tend more towards one direction or the other.

Mr. Obama is a serial liar. During the campaign, he gave us the impression that his cabinet will be bipartisan, but so far it’s all democrats.

I am very uncomfortable with this Hillary choice. First and foremost because she voted for the war and these crucial questions of aggression or diplomacy are what she will be dealing with as Secretary of State. I also find it curious that all during Hillary’s presidential run, Bill Clinton refused to release donor/income information. Why is he so forthcoming now? It all seems superficial and disingenuous and what lurks right below the surface has the potential to really harm Obama’s presidency. I hope I am wrong, but I think he is being ridiculously naive in this choice.

How come I come with the impression that Mr. Axelrod really knows what he is talking about and that he is in complete control of the situation?
Of course, our Greatest Smartest Changest Leader is in charge, with his cloths on, too!

Matthew Pinsker is wrong. The model succeeded because the alternative was to have these powerful, opportunistic rivals outside the cabinet where they were beyond Lincoln’s control.
The goal was not to remove all animosity but to curb it, as Doris Kearns Goodwin points out.

Our country hasn’t been in so much trouble since Herbert Hoover. We need intelligent, experienced, hard working people in our cabinet and I think that’s what we are getting.
Hillary Clinton is more than qualified to be Secretary of State. I bet she will do our country proud. Give her and the rest of the cabinet a fighting chance before condeming them.

Obama is not Abe Lincoln. Night and day in ideology. Lincoln stood for the principles America was founded on. Read these quotes from Lincoln.
* You cannot help the poor, by destroying the rich.
* You cannot strengthen the weak, by weakening the strong.
* You cannot bring about prosperity, by discouraging thrift.
* You cannot lift the wage earner up, by pulling the wage payer down.
* You cannot further the brotherhood of man, by inciting class hatred.
* You cannot build character and courage, by taking away men’s
initiative and independence.
* You cannot help men permanently, by doing for them what they could and
should, do for themselves .

Hyperbole, thy name is Andrew.
Since when did paying your fair share of taxes constitute destroying the wealthy?
When did wealth become synonymous with strength?
Want to see how thrifty the wealthy are? Check out Neiman-Marcus and/or Sotheby’s.
“You cannot lift the wage earner up, by pulling the wage payer down.” That hasn’t been a possiblity since Reagan took office and destroyed the unions.
“You cannot further the brotherhood of man, by inciting class hatred.” Lately, the only class hatred or disdain I’ve seen is from the wealthy directed toward the poor. I’m perfectly happy to let the wealthy enjoy their money as long as they pay their taxes and don’t keep trying to push us off the ladder.
When you push policies that enrich the wealthy and further impoverish the poor you destroy their independence, their initiative and their ability to feel anything but hopelessness. I’ve heard those who have already gained great wealth say that it’s not the money, it’s the game, it’s winning. The ability to make that statement is, in itself, a sign of privilege, wealth, and luxury that the poor and middle class cannot afford to make.

Is Obama gong to put Ted Kennedy in charge of the FDA’s alcohol section? He is a pro at testing Chivas Regal by the bottle. Ted could also be in charge of the homeland securities waterfront task force with his personal water survival skills. Just ask Mary Jo.

Maybe the analogy of “team of rivals” is wrong. I suppose a team of equally qualified and opinionated might seem like rivals, but in the end, it is also a TEAM, meaning they want the same thing. I don’t see anyone in the current lineup for cabinet that anyone would particularly accuse of not being a “team player”, in the same way those examples were quoted. Sure, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but people, Hillary, Joe, Bill, and Barack are not enemies. Enemies are those people whos ideologies or personalities are so opposite from your own that you must block their moves. Rivals are those who have similar outlooks, but who want to get to the finish first. As Barack has already finished, maybe it is time to start calling his cabinet a “team of aptness” and not a “team of rivals” or a “team of enemies”. Quit making his team sound like a bickering crowd before they have even met.

Forget whether the team of rivals fairs better than Lincoln’s! With Obama fare better than Lincoln?

Let’s just hold judgment until his cabinet is seated and he actually begins to govern. At this point, it seems, he can’t blink without raising eyebrows.

So far, I’ve been extremely impressed. The Dems have a deep bench and he’s calling in all the best talent and assigning them to the roles they are uniquely fitted to succeed at. He will be in charge of a great team, a real Dream Team, that is truly dedicated to fixing America and restoring it to its former glory. Big, positive change is coming!

Jock…what Obama are you seeing? I’ve heard it from his own words

Obama is the smartest, most intelligent, most articulate president that we will ever have..sit back and watch! He will do a great job of turning this country around, because he will surround himself with smart people..he will seek their advice and he would make decision based on commonsense..quite unlike George W..God bless Barack Obama and his cabinet and God bless America!

Obama said that he will include a Republican in his cabinet..I am waiting to see who that could be! beside chuck hagel..he will be hard pressed to find a smart Republican..Republicans are rich but not too bright and Obama needs bright people..Haven’t you seen what the Republicans have done to our country? They believed that you grow the economy by fighting wars..even my 13 year old daughter know that does not make sense! Thank God the democrats are in to fix this economic problem(I am not even a democrat..Am an Independent voter) but experience has taught me that the democrats are the better of the two evils on the question of domestic policy and focusing on America rather than the outside world..I am an American not an Iraqi or Afghan..America ought to come first. Obama and him bright team will do a great job of turning this country around if they are not blocked by the Republic who are good at playing politics and who put party before country. God bless Barack Obama and his cabinet and God bless America!

Kennedy, you must be a Republican and Republicans are not too bright! You Republicans believe in voodoo economics(trickle down theory)and that you can grow the economy by fighting wars and messing in the internal affairs of other countries. I am an independent voter but democrats always make more sense than Republicans..I normally do not respond to Republicans because they don’t have a clue and the average Republican would look you in the eye and try to justify why its more important to spend 10 billion dollars a month to support a baseless,unjust war in Iraq than to invest that same money in Education, healthcare and in growing the economy..God bless Barack Obama and his cabinet and God bless America! The Republicans are about to go! What a sigh of relief! Thank you Lord!

The Clintons are capable people without all of the manipulation by media, surragates, and old timers.
I think the Clinton appointment was a bargning chip to get the support that the Obama campaign was convienced it needed to win. To really be “CHANG”, if the Clinton’s chose not to be involved they should have been left alone and the Obama campaign should have taken the risk. I think they would have been suprised.
If the truth was faced, Obama started to move up with women and the working man’s voters before the Clinton drama.
Yhis has the over tones of “calling in favors”.
With the push of the media and the oldtimers there was no trust that the new guy was capable of doing the job.
This is the unspoken evidence of the insidius racism in our country. AND THIS IS NOT THE RACE CARD.

Isn’t it refreshing to have a president who is bright,articulate,intelligent and one who does not hold grudges but is more interested in investing in America! Isn’t it refreshing to have a president who when he speaks you can feel proud to say “that is my president speaking”..you don’t have to worry about green verbs and sentences that do not make any sense! God bless Barack Obama and his cabinet and God bless America for making the right choice!

Barack Obama(bright, intelligent..loves his country)..Hillary Clinton(bright, intelligent..loves her country..Good start president elect..we are supporting you and your picks one hundred percent and more importantly..we are praying for you and your cabinet…God bless these United States of America!

Jim, I interpreted Barack Obama’s promise of change to mean “changing the direction the country is going”..Most Americans believed that the country is headed in the wrong direction. I interpreted his promise of change to mean..”Reinvest in America..invest in schools, healthcare,jobs the economy..not war and messing in other country’s internal affairs”. Bill Clinton was president during 8 prosperous years and if Obama seek to choose a few of the smart men and women who were instrumental in engineering the prosperity under Clinton..I think that is a smart move on Obama’a part..he’s not going to choose all of his cabinet and advisors from the Clinton era but choosing one or two is a brilliant move..I do not care who he chooses as long as this country’s economy begins to grow again to the point where Americans can experience feeling the difference and there are jobs, and access to affordable and accessible healthcare,we can provide the best education for our children, and people can afford to purchase homes etc. Obama is serious about working to those ends..and if we support him and his cabinet..I have no doubt that his government will be succesful.

Bill Clinton presided over a peiod of expansion and good times. After 9-11-01 Bush had to deal with economic slowdown and people wanted war! Remeber??? You can paint history to suit your own needs but realize that the economy is a cyclical thing and also that the first wave of baby boomers are retiring now and we are in contraction! People don’t have as many children so understand that there are not as many consumers!!
When you realize the messiah isn’t all you have him hyped to be perhaps you will have a better understanding. Clinton actually helped create the housing crisis before he left office.
Don’t be surprised when Obama continues to blame problems on the previous administration. It is what they do best! SPIN!!!!

Why the should the rich have to “share” anything with anyone? If you want want what the “rich” have then go out and earn it you leeches. Nobody “owes” you anything! Stop your jealousy and your free loading off sucessful people. You have the same shot at sucess as anyone else.

IM GETTING mad AT OBAMA WE VOTED THE REPUBS OUT AND ALL HE IS DOING IS TRYING TO MODEL HIS CABNET ON THE REPUBLICANS . HES DONE MOORE REACHING OUT TO THE GOP THAN HE HAS DONE TWO THOSE OF US WHO VOTED FOR HIM SO FAR . HE CAMPAIGNED AGAINST OLD WASHINGTON WHATS THIS CABNET OBAMA IS PUTTING TOGETHER ? ITS OLD WASHINGTON AGAIN .

Hey you democrats out there. How’s the knife feeling on your backs? We told ya so, but you wouldn’t listen. He’s not left of center or even center. He’s a good old Republican — to the right of center. He’s almost a Barry Goldwater Republican. Too bad!
By the way, the dude loves Ronald Reagan. Yikes!!!

President-elect Obama is choosing the best qualified experts to tackle these crisises we are in. These pros are being vetted for more than their credentials. There must be cohesion. The wise people surrounding Mr. Obama are helping him to make these critical decisions. He ran for president in these uncertain times because he believed he could give our country back to we the people. He is doing everything within his power to rescue our country from disastrous results of the past eight years. Have patience and watch and learn.

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The Bush administration demonstrated what can happen when a President surrounds himself with like-minded yes-men. A Bush-style cabinet frees the President to make stupid moves without a whisper of dissent from his own group-thinking team. So Obama is wise to include former rivals on his team. And his cabinet selection criteria clearly go beyond a willingness to dissent. So I certainly think the folks he is picking are adult enough to behave better than the historical figures that you discuss.

HELLO…. In order to have Unity in this country. You must start with Unity at the top. There must be Unity in the Cabinet, people!

Obama’s election merely provides the OPPORTUNITY for reform of the system. The more apt historical analogy here is not with the nineteenth century Lincoln but with the twentieth century Franklin Roosevelt. The great reforms that became the New Deal emerged largely from progressive in Congress and as a result of pushes from progressives from the general public. FDR merely accepted those reforms and embraced them (no small accomplishment to be sure). If we want change, we must elect Democrats to Congress who support or will accept progressive reform, and then we must push them to introduce and support those reforms. Obama will probably not stand in the way a Bush has done or that a McCain (or Palin) would have done, but Obama is NOT going to be the source of reform.
Let’s keep pushing him. Starting with the election in Georgia on Tuesday.