The Bulwark, the conservative anti-Trump news and opinion website, published an essay by political writer Jill Lawrence today titled ‘Harris Is Smart to Say She’d Tap a Republican for Her Cabinet.’
Lawrence wrote: “I strongly urged Biden to skip the quaint tradition of putting a Republican in his cabinet, and was relieved when he didn’t. But 4 years later it’s the right move for Harris. At Bulwark, I discuss what’s different now and why I’ve changed my mind.”
[NOTE: Lawrence portrays Harris’s promise of a Republican in her cabinet as “a reassuring move for people who don’t know much about her or who may be uncertain about voting for any Democrat.” Conversely, directly after Trump’s scorched earth departure from the White House, a similar move by Biden in 2020 would have seemed more like a “reward for the sins of the party following its outlaw leader.”]
Conservative anti-Trump political scientist Tom Nichols reposted the Lawrence article, as did 2020 Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh.
I strongly urged Biden to skip the quaint tradition of putting a Republican in his cabinet, and was relieved when he didn’t. But 4 years later it’s the right move for Harris. At @bulwarkonline, I discuss what’s different now and why I’ve changed my mind. https://t.co/xhEluZos4G
— Jill Lawrence (@JillDLawrence) September 3, 2024
More than one reader responded to Lawrence with the suggestion of former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) for Veterans Affairs. “A true Republican not a MAGA Trump vassal. Someone like a Kinzinger, or Geoff Duncan in an appropriate role.”
Fellow Trump critic Geoff Duncan is the former Lt. Governor of Georgia who in May wrote the op-ed article ‘Why I’m Voting for Biden and Other Republicans Should, Too.’ Both Duncan and Kinzinger are CNN commentators, have endorsed Harris for president, and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The name of former U.S. Representative and former vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Liz Cheney (R-WY) is being bandied about in the comments for Secretary of State and Deputy Attorney General, and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) was suggested for the job as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.