Obama puts premium on competence: "point by point refutation of Bush's handling of the White House"

[DeepModem Mom]

WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
Barack Obama and the Cult of Competency

Barack Obama won the White House last month in large part by running against George W. Bush and tapping into the public perception that his administration has been ineffectual in handling important policy questions. So it's not surprise that in the first month of his transition to the presidency, the president-elect is putting a premium on competence above all else.

From his decisions to bring in former rivals (is everyone sick of the "Team of Rivals" references yet?) to his repeated emphasis on the qualifications of each of his nominees for the Cabinet, Obama's first month as the president-elect seems designed to serve as a point by point refutation of the way Bush handled the White House over the past eight years.

Where John McCain was marginalized/punished following his 2000 primary challenge to Bush, Obama put his main primary rival -- Hillary Rodham Clinton -- into one of the most important spots in his Cabinet. Where Bush was seen as installing his Texas team into the White House, Obama has purposely avoided putting his closest Chicago confidantes (with the exception of Valerie Jarrett) into high-ranking positions.

Looking at the last month then, that cult of competency (not bad, eh?) -- more so than any grand ideological vision -- is the common thread that ties together all of Obama's picks for his Cabinet and White House senior staff to date.

Obama seems far more focused on ensuring that his nominees have impeccable credentials and a readiness for the job rather than that they fit into a specific ideological box or share a particular vision on the issue (or issues) they will oversee in his Administration....

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/12/polling_the_transition_obama_s.html?hpid=topnews

[riqster]

1. "Cult of Competency"

Finally, a cult I can let my kids join! :D