On election night, President elect Obama talked about unifying and reaching out to Republicans, so he could be everyone’s president. I knew we had heard it before - I have been around politics a while now. But, on that night, and since, I have been willing to give hope and change a chance. For me, it was hope that the Clinton legacy related to the White House was over. As President elect Obama makes those tough choices for cabinet positions and other appointments, two things become clear:

1) There is no indication in any of the prominent posts of anything resembling “crossing the aisle”.

2) President elect Obama is either taking over the Clinton oligarchy or becoming a victim of it.

In any case, change is not yet apparent in an Obama administration. The folks being considered as top of the list for cabinet posts are part of the very means by which the current state of divisive, highly polarized politicking has gone down since the Clintons came to town.

Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago ties. While a bulldog of the Democratic Party, was a pretty good choice for WH Chief of Staff. That job requires a tenacious, kick-ass temperament and utter loyalty to the President, while knowing how to get things done in the inner-circle.

Peter Orszag - this makes a lot of sense for an Obama administration. Orszag seems competent and he is being awarded a post well within his sphere of experience - gifted in this area even.

Penny Pritzker - Commerce Secretary. Chicago ties.  Well, she knows how to make money, but she was also involved in the sub-prime mortgage mess and a bank she chaired was seized by the FDIC in 2001 because the over-extended themselves in sub-prime lending.

Tom Daschel - Health and Human Services. Puting former Senator Daschel in charge of the $650 Billion/year (and likely to grow) HHS budget, well that seems logical. HHS is all about spending money and Daschel is god at that.

Eric Holder - This is Janet Reno 2.0

Janet Napolitano - Homeland Security Secretary. I didn’t see this coming at all. Napolitcano was appointed by Bill Clinton to a Federal attorney position in Arizona. She ran for State Attorney General and won. Then she ran for Governor and won. She owes a lot to the Clintons. I figured she got tapped for the transition team as a concession because of her support for Obama, when it was expected she would support Hillary. HSS? I don’t see it. She can’t even secure her own state’s border with Mexico. On the other hand, she has claimed that securing that southern border is a federal issue, so now she has the power to do something. Will she?

Tim Roemer - National Intelligence Director - it was his idea to create this department and he has a lot of skin in the game as far as the way this should be run. He is a social conservative and a political liberal. I honestly don’t know a lot about the guy, but I don’t have a beef with him because of that. This seems a good posting, but it certainly is not reaching across any aisles.

James B. Steinberg - Deputy NSA under Clinton.

Here is the complete list from the AP of possible personalities for these posts. The trend is clear - nothing is changing. These are all well entrenched members of the Democratic Party political machine that has been involved in the polarization and lack of accomplishment in Washington for more that a decade. Knowing many of these folks’ policy stances and records, I understand exactly the type of political battles that are going to be occurring in the next term.

President elect Obama, the honeymoon is already over.