DorobekInsider

We’re in the final hours of the 2008 vote — a campaign that seems to have gone on and on and on… Much of my family lives in California, and they often say, ‘It must be so exciting to be ground zero of this election.’ Of course, as DC people know, the election actually is an outside the beltway event — very little of it happens here. But come Wednesday, Nov. 5, that’s when it gets very busy here in DC and for months to come as all the preparations for “transition” come to fruition.

Federal News Radio has been “tracking the transition” for months — and we will for months more. And there are others who are now covering the transition more actively. DC journalism blog Fishbowl DC got their hands on a memo from the WP saying that the paper is going to step up its coverage of the transition and feds. It would be a thrilling change. That being said, the Washington Post used to own Government Computer News and, in my humble opinion, just never got it. That being said, I think it is a very important topic — it’s my career — so I welcome the Post stepping up its coverage.

Politico.com, the start-up Hill newspaper which has become one of my favorite reads, has done two pieces looking at who might be the big cheeses in the new administrations. I’ve picked the ones that I found interesting, but… I have links to Politico’s full lists for Obama and McCain.

The big seats to fill — and quickly — are the jobs of chief of staff, Treasury Secretary — there is a slight economic issue going on — and Defense Secretary — there are two wars going on.

An Obama administration

OK, I know there seems to be some push back with people feeling almost ticked that the projections seems to indicate that we’ll wake up Wednesday morning to President-elect Barack Obama. The fact is that McCain has a much more much more complex path to the White House then Obama does. To me, the fact that McCain is as close as he is… that is just remarkable. Polls won’t matter any more come Tuesday. We’ll know for sure.

So… what might the leadership of an Obama administration look like?

From Politico:

White House chief of staff: Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.); Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.); or dark horse candidate Bill Daley, commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton and now an executive with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Defense secretary : Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.); Richard Danzig, Navy secretary under Clinton; John Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS and former deputy secretary of defense; President Bush’s incumbent, Robert Gates — would be for at least a year so he wasn’t a lame duck

Treasury secretary: Former Clinton treasury secretaries Larry Summers and Robert Rubin; FDIC Chairwoman Sheila C. Bair; New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, former Treasury under secretary and assistant secretary; former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker

Homeland Security secretary: Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.); William Bratton, Los Angeles police chief and former New York police commissioner; former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), a member of the 9/11 Commission; Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.); Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

and one just fun one…

Secretary of Energy: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)… My comment — not theirs — the energy Terminator?

A McCain administration

Again, from Politico.com:

Previous reports have indicated that McCain’s transition team, headed by former Navy Secretary John Lehman

White House chief of staff: Lehman or longtime McCain aide and speechwriter Mark Salter

Treasury secretary: FedEx founder Fred Smith; former eBay CEO Meg Whitman; Bain Capital co-founder and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; John Thain, former Merrill Lynch CEO and now president of Global Banking, Securities and Wealth Management at Bank of America

Secretary of defense: Lehman; Lieberman; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); current Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Secretary of state: World Bank President and former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick; Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.); former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage

Office of Management and Budget: Former Congressional Budget Office director and campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin