And what do I mean by that?
Well, when George W. Bush appointed John Ashcroft as Attorney General, it was insulting on several levels. After all, George W. Bush was not really elected President. Granting for the sake of argument that he was, he of all people should have appointed centrists instead of right-wing extremists. But worst of all, he appointed a man who, running for Senate in 2000, could not even pull more votes than Mel Carnahan, who happened to be dead at the time.
You might say that was a screw-you to the opposition. But if Ashcroft was an acceptable appointment, then why shouldn't President-elect Obama (I Love Writing That) appoint some Democrats who narrowly lost hard-fought races in 2008?
He won decisively. He ran on change. Let's have a little.
The first person who comes to mind is Darcy Burner, who lost a heartbreaker. Did you know that she was born in the largest state in the union? How about the Commerce Department for her? Or something in White House communications, given her support among the netroots?
How about Rick Noriega, who campaigned hard for Senator from Texas, for a Defense Department job?
Needless to say, if the recounts for very close races don't quite turn out the way one would hope, a person like Al Franken or Charlie Brown ought to get consideration.
I'm sure there are others. The list is hardly exhaustive. How about Bob Lord, who took on an uphill battle in AZ-03?
A step like this would be refreshing for a couple of reasons. Around the time of the first debate, I started to realize that Senator Obama knew what he was doing. Now, I am sure that President-elect Obama knows what he's doing. Yet ... there's a few too many Clintonistas on his list for my comfort. Not that I necessarily have anything against them.
But people voted for change, and one way to bring that about is new blood, new faces. Wouldn't it be great to seed the new administration with Democrats who have proved they are not afraid of Republicans? We have enough people in the Democratic Party who have been traumatized by them for decades.
Appointing some fresh faces would be a great way to thank some brave and underfunded candidates who took on tough races, and had the courage to come out against the war, warrantless wiretapping, and other Bush favorites.
Also, frankly, it would annoy exactly the right people.
What do you think? Got a favorite Darcy-esque candidate for just the right administration post?