Energy | EPA | Agriculture | Interior | Climate Czar
This position executes farming and ranching policy (obviously), promoting agricultural production and trade. But it also administers ethanol subsidies and handles food safety and hunger prevention, including the food-stamp and organic-food-labeling programs. And don't forget that the Forest Service falls under this department, overseeing nearly 300,000 square miles of national forests.
Calvin Dooley.
Calvin Dooley
Conservatives and industry representatives say if McCain is serious about appointing Democrats to high posts, this would be a good spot. They drool over Calvin Dooley, a former Democratic congressman from California's Central Valley who understands agribusiness issues. He was previously head of the Food Products Association and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, two major food-industry trade groups, and he's currently CEO of the American Chemistry Council. But he may be making too nice of a salary at his new job to be lured away for government service.
James Leach.
James Leach
Some environmentalists, on the other hand, see a Republican they like. Jim Leach, a 30-year Iowa congressman who was defeated in 2006, is now interim director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, on leave from Princeton where he's a professor of public and international affairs. He "was very much interested in reform and good government, and would not be susceptible to the kinds of political pressures brought to bear on farm policy," said Jim DiPeso, policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection. But that endorsement speech Leach gave for Obama at the Democratic National Convention might dim his chances, not to mention his current job as leader of the campaign finance reform group Common Cause.
Ben Nelson.
Ben Nelson
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson is another heartland Democrat who tends to be in line with McCain on a number of issues, particularly climate change. But they don't see eye to eye on ethanol subsidies, which McCain famously told Iowa voters he would cut. Taking a job in a McCain administration would give Nebraska's Republican governor the chance to appoint a GOP replacement, which could factor into Nelson's decision making, particularly if losing his seat would deny Senate Democrats the 60-vote supermajority needed to truly command the Senate.
Mark Sanford.
Mark Sanford
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) wins praise from some who note he shares McCain's views on farm subsidies, but others say South Carolina is too far from the nation's corn fields.
Terry Everett.
Terry Everett
Alabama Rep. Terry Everett (R) is from the South, not the Plains states or the West, but "he knows ag backwards and forwards" because of his long tenure on the House Agriculture Committee, said Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Edward Schafer.
Edward T. Schafer
"Why not keep the current guy [Schafer] in place?" suggested Maisano of Bracewell & Giuliani. "He just came into the job a year or two ago." Well, the current agriculture secretary's chances of holding onto his job might be harmed by those E. coli outbreaks.
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