Obama Administration: Progressive, Centrist, or Right Leaning?

Is the President-elect, centrist? leftist? or a fairly hawkish right-leaning centrist?

Though personnel is not necessarily policy, personnel is a strong indicator of it most of the time. With that in mind, let us turn to Obama's latest pick.


President Elect Obama has picked one Shaun Donovan to be his secretary of housing and urban development.

Here is a basic Profile of Mr. Donovan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/politics/13web-donovan.html

He is well respected and appears to have done excellent work on housing in New York. This appears to be another good pick.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/13/shaun-donovan-named-secre_n_150748.html?page=3&show_comment_id=18770758#comment_18770758

Obama's picks on energy impressed me - see my earlier posts about it - which is good as his picks on the economy have caused me some skepticism and his picks on national security have been even worse. But the pick of Donovan seems a good one, and together with the earlier pick of Melody Barnes for Domestic Policy, my optimism about "Obamanomics" is increasing.

Here is the announcement of the pick from Obama's office today:



With Obama it is becoming more and more clear that we likely have a Center-right incoming administration with regard to foreign policy, a center-left economic policy, and a fairly progressive attitude on the environment, education, health care, and . . . perhaps social welfare and housing.

All and all we have the makings of a good presidency . . . albeit one that is undoubtedly going to be flawed and far from perfect.