What Job Might Interest Earl Blumenauer in An Obama Administration

November 3rd 2008 2:59pm

Given the level of local attention on this Politico story positing Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) as a potential Secretary of Transportation in Barack Obama's administration (If Obama wins, of course), I found Blumenauer's response to a question I asked him recently very interesting.

The good folks at LiveWire had asked me to interview Blumenauer for their show airing Oct. 25. And one of the questions I asked was a silly throwaway about "if he could hypnotize Obama into giving him a Cabinet job, which post would appeal most to Blumenauer."

I'd figured Blumenauer — an early endorser of Obama — would talk about his interest in the Department of Transportation, a possibility that local politicos have been batting around for some time.

Instead, the east Portland congressman's response veered into something he said he'd lobbied Obama a little bit on – creating a new Cabinet position that served to link pieces of a "sustainable economy ... environmental protection and ways to involve the community."

"I would hope that the next administration thinks about how to tie those pieces together, create a portfolio for sustainability, for livability," Blumenauer said.

If you're killing time until the first election results on Tuesday, the interview is in the middle of this LiveWire segment.