Obama appoints cabinet
Cameron Birch
Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: News
President-elect Barack Obama will assume the presidency and give his inaugural address Jan. 20. In the past months following the election, Obama has been working to establish his cabinet for his first term.
"I think [Obama] is mostly going to talk about the economy [in his inauguration speech]," Mike Hess, chairman of the College Republicans, said.
Hess added that Obama will be, "forced to talk about the whole Israel situation… [he] can't afford to neglect that."
Hess said the situation in Israel is an issue that Obama will need to address.
Giancarlo Stefanoni, president of the Drexel Democrats expects, "a lot of the elements that we have heard in [Obama's] acceptance speech in Denver and a lot of those themes reiterated."
He also said that the president-elect's speech would be geared to looking forward, in contrast to the reflective speeches during election night and previous milestones in Obama's campaign.
Obama's decision to have Rick Warren, a best-selling Christian author and pastor, give the invocation during the inauguration has caused some controversy in liberal communities. Many feel his conservative viewpoints on gay rights issues and abortion go against the ideals on which Obama campaigned.
"I can understand the outrage of it," Stefanoni said. "A huge majority of the LGBT community was behind Barack Obama …Warren is really completely against everything they stand for."
Stefanoni said the choice reinforces Obama's whole message of a more perfect union, accepting other people, and bringing everyone's views together.
He was unsure if it necessarily was a good choice but could see why Obama would have chosen Warren to speak.
According to Hess, the choice was a surprise.
"Obama is willing to go against more traditional liberal ideas," Hess said.
The College Republican added, "[I was] surprised [Obama] was willing to go that far against some of his base ... I think it was a good thing."
"I think [Obama] is mostly going to talk about the economy [in his inauguration speech]," Mike Hess, chairman of the College Republicans, said.
Hess added that Obama will be, "forced to talk about the whole Israel situation… [he] can't afford to neglect that."
Hess said the situation in Israel is an issue that Obama will need to address.
Giancarlo Stefanoni, president of the Drexel Democrats expects, "a lot of the elements that we have heard in [Obama's] acceptance speech in Denver and a lot of those themes reiterated."
He also said that the president-elect's speech would be geared to looking forward, in contrast to the reflective speeches during election night and previous milestones in Obama's campaign.
Obama's decision to have Rick Warren, a best-selling Christian author and pastor, give the invocation during the inauguration has caused some controversy in liberal communities. Many feel his conservative viewpoints on gay rights issues and abortion go against the ideals on which Obama campaigned.
"I can understand the outrage of it," Stefanoni said. "A huge majority of the LGBT community was behind Barack Obama …Warren is really completely against everything they stand for."
Stefanoni said the choice reinforces Obama's whole message of a more perfect union, accepting other people, and bringing everyone's views together.
He was unsure if it necessarily was a good choice but could see why Obama would have chosen Warren to speak.
According to Hess, the choice was a surprise.
"Obama is willing to go against more traditional liberal ideas," Hess said.
The College Republican added, "[I was] surprised [Obama] was willing to go that far against some of his base ... I think it was a good thing."
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