It’s difficult to be someone who spends much time thinking about transportation policy in the country and not nurse some level of fascination with Ray LaHood. The guy is just so damn… well, let’s review the evidence.
The New York Times ran a profile of him today that expanded our knowledge base a bit and might safely be characterized as “gently mocking.” From the story, several factoids about the Secretary:
> He doesn’t really know anything about transportation.
> He doesn’t pretend otherwise.
> If he’d been named Secretary of Agriculture, that would have been a-okay with him.
> By his own estimation the reasons he got the job are that he was a House Republican and that he’s chummy with Rahm Emanuel.
> When things get hairy he asks Emanuel to crack skulls for him.
> He is something of a social coach for twitchy, smart, high strung guys in the cabinet like Steven Chu and Tim Geithner. His advice to them is: Just sit still for the long boring ceremonial stuff.
> With regard to transportation or anything else, he admits he’s “never been passionate about any particular issue.”
> He used to be a junior high school social studies teacher.
All of this would seem to stand as confirmation of the abyssmal feelings of disappointment many transportationally minded people had four months ago when his nomination was announced.
But the weird thing is–he’s actually done a very solid job. His priorities have thus far been good. He seems to have handled the political and administrative demands of stimulus bill rather well. The partnership he announced with Shaun Donovan for more livable communities with integrated planning for housing and transportation was forward looking and sane. He’s been respectfully engaged with the advocacy community. He writes a snappy little blog.
The whole situation is strange but also rather hopeful. LaHood seems like a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, and in this position in this administration, perhaps that is not at all a bad quality.
May 6th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Here’s my take:
First of all, better to have a dispassionate “yes” man in the Administration than a passionate idiot (Administrations past have had their fair share). So in that respect, I agree with Jeb’s overall sunny outlook.
So why did the President fill his cabinet with people that have a demonstrated expertise in their respective departments (Chu for Energy, Geithner for Treasury), but did not do the same for DOT? I think it has to do with strategy.
I honestly think LaHood is warming the seat for someone else. With an economy in recession and two wars abroad, Obama had to prioritize, and I think he made a decision long ago that he wasn’t going to go full steam ahead on transportation issues until at least a year or two into his first term. As such, he picked a go-with-the-flow guy like LaHood, as opposed to a well-known expert like Jane Garvey or Mortimer Downey. Obama knows that we need a higher gas tax to keep the federal surface transportation program going, but he wants to pick that fight later on down the road (no pun intended!), and he knew a guy like Downey could not keep quiet on the issue.
So the question isn’t why Obama picked a largely dispassionate department head like LaHood, it’s who is going to replace him when the Administration feels the time is ripe to get serious on transportation?
May 6th, 2009 at 11:47 am
[...] The NYT runs a profile on Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Infratstructurist [...]
May 6th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Thanks, Ken.
Your version seems plausible. Clearly to some large extent the explanation for his appointment is that things were crazy, Emanuel was running the show, they needed a Republican, transportation wasn’t at the top of the priority list, and so they punched his ticket. A preexisting or subsequently developing idea of appointing more of a visionary in that role wouldn’t surprise me though.
This question about how far ahead Obama is strategizing seems to come up frequently, I’m noticing.
-Jebediah
May 7th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
One rumor I’ve heard is that his new deputy, Maryland DOT Sec John Porcari, might be in line to move into the seat. Regardless, IMO staff picks like that one are the another gauge that LaHood is doing a fine job. Others include Roy Kienitz as Under Secretary, David Matsuda and Beth Osborne as Deputy Assistant Secretaries and Peter Rogoff as Federal Transit Administrator. He is surrounding himself with smart, innovative people interested in reforming the current program. A very good sign indeed.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
[...] published a must-read profile of new transportation secretary Ray LaHood, and the Infrastructurist has responded with an excellent analysis of what this means for the future of the transportation department and [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 10:23 am
[...] agency with 56,000 employees. And when La(possible douche)Hood confesses that he would have been just as happy to be named head of the agriculture department, you have to wonder if he has the vision to develop [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
[...] a fair question for a president who promised during his campaign to increase funding for bike and pedestrian projects, and right now there seems to be reason for [...]