Although he looks like a minor member of Tony Soprano's gang, this is in fact Ray LaHood, former Republican congressman from Illinois and the man Obama appointed to be Secretary of Transportation (Ray The Hood, as he would be known in The Sopranos). This NYT profile makes clear that the transport job is only one reason LaHood's in the cabinet, and perhaps not even the main one. A close friend of Rahm's and an experienced political hand, he's there to help the administration liase with Republicans on the Hill and generally spread his Washington know-how around. In fact, he's amusingly candid about the thinness of his transportation CV:
“I don’t think they picked me because they thought I’d be that great a transportation person,” Mr. LaHood says with refreshing indifference as to how this admission might play if, say, he were ever to bungle a bridge collapse..."They picked me because of the bipartisan thing,” he explained, “and the Congressional thing, and the friendship thing.”
He may have just given his opponents some ammunition there. It's probably not that great to hear if you're one of the 56,000 who work for him, either. But I can't help but like LaHood for not pretending to be anything he isn't. Even better is this:
When asked if he could foresee disagreeing with the administration on anything, Mr. LaHood shrugged, and eventually shook his head. “I’ve never been passionate about any particular issue,” he said. “I’m not going to sit around agonizing. The answer is, probably not.”
In age when politicians feel the need to constantly boast of their lifelong passion for this or that, and to beat their chests about their integrity, LaHood's answer is rather refreshing.
(Photo: Seth Perlman/AP)
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