My friend Scott Oppelt mentioned his complaint that the GOP has so many great candidates all at once. Why can’t they be spread out over 20 years?
Great question. History being what it is, we can’t spread them across time, only across government. So this week’s poll is a little fun.
The rules:
You must fill the next White House cabinet using only the current candidates for President. You do not know who the President or Vice President is, so assume it’s none of the current candidates. My choices are below. If you don’t want my votes to taint yours, take the survey before scrolling
Because this question is complicated, I can’t embed it into this page. But have fun.
There’s still a little left to take last week’s survey on candidate qualities that matter.
Here’s what you said about Donald Trump.
Here’s what you said about a service ethos.
Okay, here’s my cabinet:
| Secretary of State | Jeb Bush |
| Secretary of the Treasury | Rand Paul |
| Secretary of Defense | Lindsey Graham |
| Attorney General | Ted Cruz |
| Secretary of the Interior | Donald Trump |
| Secretary of Agriculture | George Gilmore |
| Secretary of Commerce | Carly Fiorina |
| Secretary of Labor | Scott Walker |
| Secretary of Health and Human Services | Dr. Ben Carson |
| Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Mike Huckabee |
| Secretary of Transportation | George Pataki |
| Secretary of Energy | John Kasich |
| Secretary of Education | Bobby Jindal |
| Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Chris Christie |
| Secretary of Homeland Security | Rick Perry |
Secretary of State Jeb Bush: The Bushes actually know how to handle jobs like this. Bush would restore credibility to a damaged office. He’ll be far away from education and immigration unable to do damage.
Secretary of Homeland Security Rick Perry: The border is secure.
Attorney General Ted Cruz: Do have to say why?
Secretary of Labor Scott Walker: [I’m laughing too hard to type.]
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Chris Christie: The VA is screwed up. Christie is the kind of leader needed. Heads will roll; stuff will get fixed.
Secretary of Defense Lindsey Graham: You might think I want a hawk running the military. Not really. I want a pro-defense secretary, but Graham is too hawkish. Working daily with generals and admirals might modulate his attitude a bit.
Secretary of Treasury Rand Paul: Audit the Fed.
Secretary of Education Bobby Jindal: Education is Jindal’s first love, and he has some great ideas. He will quickly fix the problems Arne Duncan has created. This might be the most important position, though its probably seem less urgent to many.
Secretary of Health and Human Service Dr. Ben Carson: Typecasting a bit, I know. I could also see Dr. Carson at HUD.
Secretary of the Interior Donald Trump: He will love the great outdoors. And the more time he spends out of cell phone coverage, the better.
Bottom Line #
The good news about the crowded field full of many people I could happily vote for is we have a stable of great cabinet officers ready to begin the work of undoing years of neglect.