Q&A #3 -- Locals Heading To DC?

 "Jeffrey McNary" asks:

daley, kennedy, kerry, daschel, biden, hillary etc., all have "guys"..."guys" needing to be "taken care of" should mr. obama win the presidency. are there any obama, "guy's", and if so where would they land in his administration? some, e.g., samantha power have already fallen (stumbled) on their swords. any more out there hungry fo 24-7 extreme-government?

The short answer is: lot of 'em. Not nearly as many as four years ago, when half of Boston's political players had mentally picked out their DC homes before John Kerry lost.

This is actually a topic I've just started to have conversations with folks about. Remember, Obama had a lot of early fundraising support here in the Boston area -- including a lot of folks from Harvard Law circles, who could fit nicely into any number of mid-level appointments. (See this article I wrote in March 2007 about locals who lined up early with Obama and other Democratic candidates.)

But also don't forget that Joe Biden has a lot of "guys" here as well. Larry Rasky in particular is very close to Biden.

Here's one high-level job to keep your eye on: US Attorney for the Massachusetts District. This plum appointment has been held in limbo by odd circumstances; current occupant Michael Sullivan was named acting ATF Director two years ago, but has been unable to get confirmed for that new post -- he's been blocked not by Democrats, but by hard-right conservative Senators over their ideological dispute with the ATF's role per se. Sullivan has been doing both jobs, and once Obama comes in will probably not be doing either one for very long. (He is certainly a potential Senate candidate if a seat opens up.)