March 11, 2004 - The early resolution of the Democratic Nomination gives John Kerry the opportunity to arrive at the Democratic Convention with his Vice-Presidential selection fully vetted and working on the campaign. The chances are very good that it will be John Edwards. He would bring the regional balance that the ticket needs and, if anything, has slightly better liberal credentials than the apparent nominee.

It also gives him the opportunity to introduce into American Presidential political practice a concept long part of the British political scene – a shadow government. The incumbent has always enjoyed the advantage of having a ready made team of surrogates in his Cabinet, issue specific spokesmen to deflect attacks and permit the candidate for reelection to concentrate on feel-good appeals couched in generalities. By making his cabinet selections early and announcing them at the Convention he would return an importance and sense of suspense to that quadrennial rite that it lost in the move to an all primary nominating process.

It would also reflect the reality that indeed we are not electing an individual to govern us in November, we are putting our future in the hands of an individual who will select the team who will do the business of governing in the period between the election and inauguration day. It is the selection of the cabinet that tells us how a new President’s administration will function and only after the election is over. Announcing a putative cabinet at the nominating convention would provide the electorate an opportunity to judge the process before the election takes place. It could also function as a unifying force for the opposition party.

Assuming a Kerry-Edwards team at the top of the ticket a Kerry cabinet could take shape during the summer and look something like this: Wesley Clark would carry the defense portfolio and start by leading a fact-finding mission to Baghdad in late May. Senator Bob Graham would be part of the delegation – ready to step into the role as President Kerry’s CIA Director. New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson might be the selection for Attorney General, bringing an ethnic sensitivity to the Justice Department. Senator Kerry might call upon his close friend, Senator John McCain, to pick up the Homeland Security portfolio. McCain has already said that he would seriously consider any call that came from his friend. Howard Dean is an obvious choice to replace Tommy Thompson at HHS. With his focus on environmental issues Al Gore might return to government at Interior. Dick Gephardt is a natural for the Department of Labor.

Who should replace Colin Powell at the State Department? One choice makes sense – Bill Clinton. He would not be the first former President to return to government service. John Quincy Adams returned to the House of Representatives. William Howard Taft became Chief Justice following his Presidency. The Democrats most powerful campaigner sat out the 2000 election. Designating him at State would bring him back to the fray and harness his diplomatic skills in the national interest.

A new political tradition, creating a shadow government before the Nominating Convention would provide a more sound basis for the electorate to make judgments as to the promise of a new administration. It would also focus the electorate’s attention on the complex process of government in the 21st Century. From a political standpoint it would put a host of candidates for federal office on the campaign trail and change the face of Presidential politics in an increasingly complex world.