Matt Yglesias thinks Paul Weyrich would make a good transportation secretary in the Obama cabinet. The argument is that Weyrich wants a balance between urban transit and highways, and is a bona fide conservative, and he therefore helps satisfy Obama’s promise to appoint Republicans in his cabinet. The second part seems genuine enough, and Weyrich’s mass transit credientals are not in doubt, so I think he’s a good pick.
In the comments, AJ mentioned Earl Blumenauer as a good pick. Portlands US House Rep, Blumenauer is a fierce advocate for Light Rail, streetcars and bicycles. He doesn’t seem to be a strong supporter of highway expansion, so he might be unpopular with a good deal of the country.
More speculation here. Who else is there? What would you like to see in a transportation secretary?
Blumenauer isn’t anti-highways, and I’m pretty sure he’s about the only person to realize you have to work on the urban bottlenecks like the Rose Quarter in Portland (like our Mercer Mess).
The roadwarriors have been saying he is. But who really cares what they think anymore?
Primarily because he openly supports transit. They attacked Vice President Biden, for heaven’s sake!
If you want the freedom of the open roads, move to Montana.
Sims? (Ha! just kidding)
I agree with AJ, Blumenauer is not anti-highway. But he is pro-transit and pro-bike/ped like no Secretary of Transportation ever before. He would be a phenomenal choice, fitting of the first urban president. I first got to know of Blumenauer and meet him when I started attending the annual rail transit and land-use conference he organized - Rail-volution (http://www.railvolution.com/). To have someone who has organized an annual convention on “building livable communities through rail transit,” and organized the Congressional Bicycle Caucus directing federal transportation policy would be like a dream come true.
I really like the idea of Weyrich at Transportation, particularly because he’s a right-wing conservative and has credibility with people who reflexively oppose spending money on mass transit no matter the benefits. There’s no reason that paying for a good transit system should be a liberal idea, absent the radical anti-tax views of the current conservative movement. But Weyrich is one of those anti-tax people, yet he supports decent transportation policies. He’s much better than your typical centrist Democrat, honestly. He might be able to break through the current monolithic anti-transit sentiment among conservatives, which is something that can’t be said for a Democratic appointee.
It would really take the wind out of the sails of the anti-transit-by-principle folks if Weyrich were named Transportation Secretary. For him to talk about community building and all the new opportunities for growing wealth through transit would be very powerful.