Jon Chait's advice to Obama: avoid the social issues for now, and focus on the economy. It's not bad advice. Eventually, it's not going to be possible: when John Paul Stevens retires, social issues will come to the fore once again. Chait is further correct to state that the sort of identity/constituency politics that dominated Clinton's cabinet-picking is to be avoided. This being said...isn't that what the cabinet is for these days? It's not like most secretaries set policy--maybe Defense and Treasury do, but generally they implement plans laid down by the White House.
Basically, giving various constituencies a high-profile presence in the cabinet makes sense, but there has to be a minimum competency test at play here. I think Clinton passes that test, as does Janet Napolitano for Attorney General. They can do the job, and they make a key constituency happy. It's a two-fer. The problem we risk is picking someone who mollifies an interest group but can't do the job, or, even worse, passing over the best candidate (like Larry Summers) because an interest group doesn't like him.
All in all, though, I feel reasonably confident that Obama will make good appointments--look at the team he picked for the campaign!--and that he'll sidestep culture war landmines. I believe this because I believe that Barack Obama is way smarter than Bill Clinton, and way more politically savvy. Some might object to this statement. I challenge you all to find me some evidence of times during the Clinton years where the Administration actually was able to successfully move public opinion. We had a crime bill, but the Democrats didn't become "tough on crime" in peoples' minds. We had NAFTA, but a majority of Americans still consider themselves protectionists. And we all know how Clinton was able to sell health care reform. Obama has been much better at setting the agenda than Bill Clinton was, and Obama has done better at shaping public opinion so far.
