Since Ronald Reagan, the first Presidential candidate I voted for, casting that first vote when I was 21, the politics of who the Chief Executive surrounded himself with was at least as important as his own. Though I stress it’s still early, it looks like the far left, who thought they were electing an almost socialist radical got duped. President-Elect Obama is surrounding himself with a moderate to (shockingly) conservative cabinet and panel of advisors.

I have to admit, I’m intrigued and…OK…a little Impressed.

The left is…Well, pissed.

The appointment of Paul Volker to a panel of experts hoping to stabilize the economy is, though hopeless, a great choice. He should be the Chairman of the Fed again, but then any one of the cast of the television show Laverne and Shirley would be better than Ben Bernanke.

Retaining Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense is on the one hand an example of promise-keeping, as Obama said he’d have Republicans in his administration, but on a darker note, probably a reflection of what the President-Elect has learned since getting a big upgrade in the quality of his intelligence briefings. My gut tells me he’s heard things that rule out his changing horses at the Pentagon right now, and thought it could be as simple as the fact that we’re currently in two wars, it’s probably much more than that.

Making Hillary Clinton Secretary of State is, in my opinion, one of the boldest, most Machiavellian moves ever. Many wondered exactly why Obama would appoint such a bitter rival for the nomination that led to his election. What better way to eliminate Hillary from the game than to make her Secretary of State? To accept the job, which takes much, much more tact and finesse than Hillary possesses, she must give up her Senate seat. Hillary Clinton will fail at State. No one likes her, and that’s a problem. She’ll run, like a bull through a china shop, over allies and adversaries alike. To be Secretary of State, I would think you would need a huge reservoir of humility and empathy, traits that Hillary Clinton has famous shortages of. Once she’s gone from the State Department, she’s gone for good. Her Senate seat will have been filled. She’ll be out, unless the Governor of New York, David Paterson, replaces her with Bill. Nice.