Is Critique of Obama’s “White Guy” Cabinet Justified?

Josh Feldman: “I have to ask why this has become the big controversy that it has been. Most people who voted for Obama, I would expect, care more about the qualifications of his political appointees than their race or gender.”

“With the exception of Hillary Clinton, all of Obama’s ‘guy’ nominees thus far will be replacing other white guys. And, if you’ll recall, Obama’s first choice for his second-term Secretary of State was a black woman … But if you’ve been paying attention to the news at all since September, you’ll remember exactly why Rice’s appointment didn’t exactly work out … We have two Asian Cabinet members: Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Attorney General Eric Holder, an African-American, is staying on for Obama’s second term. Also staying on are Kathleen Sebelius at Health and Human Services and Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security. Do these people not count? … There is, of course, one more reason why this whole thing is completely ridiculous. Obama still has Commerce and Labor secretaries to appoint.”

John Dickerson: “It’s unfair to charge Obama with a gender bias in his Cabinet picks. But if anyone is to blame, it’s the president himself … If people are now drawing grand conclusions based on a few staff picks, it’s because the Obama team helped train them to do so.”