Bye, Partisanship?

Okay, enough euphoria.

The first true test of whether President-elect Barack Obama will keep his promises to reach across the aisle will come long before he's sworn in. We'll know when we see how many Republicans he includes in his Cabinet.

The bar, it should be noted, is not all that high. Having one member of the other party in the 14 statutory Cabinet positions or the handful of Cabinet-rank slots -- such as U.S. trade representative or head of the Environmental Protection Agency -- has been the norm.

John F. Kennedy had a bona fide Republican, Douglas Dillon, as his Treasury secretary, and he had independent Robert McNamara as Pentagon chief. (And he had only 10 Cabinet positions to fill then.) But most presidents have gotten by with a token representative from the other party.

Lyndon B. Johnson had liberal Republican John Gardner at HEW. Richard M. Nixon had conservative Democrat John Connally as Treasury secretary and Democratic union official Peter Brennan at the Labor Department. Jimmy Carter named Republican James R. Schlesinger as the first energy secretary. Ronald Reagan had neocon Democrat Jeanne Kirkpatrick at the United Nations. George H.W. Bush had Reagan holdover Lauro Cavazos at Education. President Bill Clinton had liberal GOPer William Cohen as secretary of defense, and the current President Bush had Norman Y. Mineta at Transportation.

Obama insiders say he's serious about this bipartisan thing and about bringing in people from the high-tech world or some other business sector. If so, then he's going to have to do better than his predecessors, probably putting at least three non-D's in the Cabinet ranks, or it will look much like same-old, same-old.

One likely suspect, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), took himself out of the running a while back for secretary of state, though he keeps getting mentioned. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates are obvious picks for the Pentagon. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is mentioned for energy secretary.

There are numerous, relatively bipartisan places to put Republicans, such as at Transportation or Commerce. But the Democratic frenzy for these few posts is already at a fever pitch. Obama will be under intense pressure to find places for minority supporters as well, especially Latinos. (Think 46 electoral votes in battleground states Florida, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.)

We'll see how he fulfills his pledges by next month.

Camelot, the Sequel

As he assembles his new administration, Obama may tap some of the Kennedy clan. That should bring an extra dose of glamour to Washington.

Several Kennedy family members are said to be under consideration for positions in the Obama administration, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy and Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, a daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, could serve in a role advocating for women and people with special needs, a family member said.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president and an early Obama endorser, has been mentioned for several positions, including U.N. ambassador. But she has been mum about whether she is interested in an administration post.