Leadership test: President's team shouid reflect campaign promise

President-elect Barack Obama is busy looking over candidates and trying to decide who is going to join him as he sets up shop this coming January.

There are a lot of names being bandied about -- some of which might not really be contenders, but all of which say something about the kind of president we can expect to be sitting in the Oval Office next year.

Some of the names mentioned are familiar -- Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell -- and others might be people we have never even heard of before, but who have been active in Democratic policy-making.

And you never know, there might even be a few surprise appointments from across the aisle.

But as the president-elect reviews his options, there is something he needs to remember that will serve him well if he really is intent on creating a new administration that transcends traditional politics.

Americans want their leaders to think of their country first.

We want them to make the right decisions to make this country prosperous and to take care of those who cannot help themselves. We want them to stop waste and to use taxpayer money responsibly.

And we want them to remember that while the United States needs to be a world citizen, American interests are what we have charged them with safeguarding.

All that requires a bit more bipartisanship and a bit less politics.

Many people said they voted for what Sen. Barack Obama said he would bring to the table -- a change from the traditional view of how Washington operates.

Now is the first chance to show that good ideas -- and trusted advisers -- can come from many different places.

It will be interesting to see if the new president's Cabinet reflects that campaign promise of change.

Published in Editorials on November 14, 2008 11:29 AM