Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

BMG Cabinet Pick ’em Game: Official Thread

By

RULES

1.) Post your top 3 guesses for each:

  • Secretary of State
  • Attorney General
  • Secretary of the Treasury
  • Secretary of Defense

2.) Pick any 5 of the following positions, and list your top 3 for each:

  • Secretary of the Interior

  • Secretary of Agriculture

  • Secretary of Commerce

  • Secretary of Labor

  • Secretary of Health and Human Services

  • Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

  • Secretary of Transportation

  • Secretary of Energy

  • Secretary of Education

  • Secretary of Veterans Affairs

  • Secretary of Homeland Security

3.) You should have a total of 9 Cabinet positions with three picks each.

4.) Each #1 pick must be unique; you may not use the same person as your #1 choice in more than one cabinet position. For instance, you can’t have Dick Durbin as your #1 Secratery of State pick and #1 for Health and Human Services.

5.) You may use a #1 as a #2 or #3 pick as often as you like. You may also duplicate as may #2 and #3 picks as often as you like.

6.) Try not to look at others’ picks before you post. Peeking could give a strategic advantage. It’s honor system and not that big of a deal if you see others’ picks, but try the best you can.

7.) Game closes when first Cabinet pick is announced.

SCORING

Each correct pick will earn points. The person with the highest total wins. Correct picks are awarded points as follows:

Secratary of State

#1 = 6 points

#2 = 5 points

#3 = 4 points

AG, Treasury, Defense

#1 = 5 points

#2 = 4 points

#3 = 3 points

Pick 5 (remaining Cabinet positions)

#1 = 3 points

#2 = 2 points

#3 = 1 points

————————————————-

EXAMPLE ENTRY

*Hypothetical correct picks in italic bold.

COMPULSORY

SOS:

1.) David Kravitz

2.) Charley Blandy (5 pts)

3.) Bob Neer

AG:

1.) AmmberPaw (5pts)

2.) sabutai

3.) Central Mass Dad

Treasury:

1.) JoeTS

2.) huh

3.) Ryan (3pts)

Defense

1.) Cambridge Paul

2.) lightiris (4pts)

3.) Eabo Clipper

PICK 5

Health and Human Services:

1.) Ryan

2.) Laurel (2 pts)

3.) KBusch

Education:

1.) sabutai (3 pts)

2.) lightiris

3.) GoldsteinGoneWild

Energy:

1.) Pablo

2.) johnk

3.) noternie

(0 pts)

Transportation:

1.) KBusch

2.) Mr. Lynne

3.) stomv (1 point)

Homeland Security:

1.) Justice4All (3 pts)

2.) Sharoney

3.) Peter Porcupine

TOTAL =  26 out of 36 points

Feedback welcome and good luck.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  2. but I’m willing to give it a shot, for the good of the nation.  I figure I’m good for about 20 miles a day if I don’t have to wear a suit.

    <

    p>By the time 2012 comes around, if I have my way we’ll have high speed rail from Boston to Miami, so I should be able to get to DC and back home in about 2 hours each way.  Combine internet access with tables and power cords, and I figure I can be in the office for 6 hours a day, work from the train for 4, and get to/from the train in about an hour a day.  11 hour days, getting the people’s work done in 10 of ’em, living in Boston, working in DC, and not flying nor driving a mile.

    <

    p>What a vision!

    <

    p>As for playing the actual game… too wonkish for me.

    • lol!

      <

      p>Wonk * noun

      <

      p>1. An overly studious or hard-working person
      2. A pernickety person who overly focuses on details
      3. A nerd or an expert

      <

      p>And that’s different from a Ph.D. candidate…how?

      <

      p>(I kid ’cause I love!)

  3. SoS
    #1 John Kerry
    #2 Chuck Hagel
    #3 Greg Craig

    <

    p>AG
    #1 Janet Napolitano
    #2 Arthur Davis
    #3 Deval Patrick

    <

    p>Treasury
    #1 Timothy Geithner
    #2 Larry Summers
    #3 Paul Volcker

    <

    p>Defense
    #1 Robert Gates
    #2 Chuck Hagel
    #3 Richard Danzig

    <

    p>Education
    #1 Joel Klein
    #2 Arne Duncan
    #3 Inez Tenenbaum

    <

    p>Energy
    #1 Kathleen Sebelius
    #2 Arnold Schwartzenegger
    #3 Philip Sharp

    <

    p>Interior
    #1 Ken Salazar
    #2 John Kitzhaber
    #3 Tom Vilsack

    <

    p>HUD
    #1 Valerie Jarrett
    #2 James Clyburn
    #3 Harold Ford

    <

    p>Homeland Security
    #1 Jane Harman
    #2 Tom Kean
    #3 Bill Bratton

  4. … so this is more of a ‘folks I’d like to see in there’ list, rather than a ‘folks who have a chance of being picked’ one. đŸ˜‰

    <

    p>Secretary of State:
    1. Wes Clark
    2. Bill Richardson
    3. John Kerry

    <

    p>Attorney General
    1. Deval Patrick
    2. Janet Napolitano

    <

    p>Secretary of the Treasury
    1. Robert Reich
    2. Paul Volker
    3. Paul Krugman

    <

    p>Secretary of Defense
    1. Jim Webb
    2. Colin Powell
    3. Chuck Hagel

    <

    p>Secretary of the Interior
    1. Brian Schwietzer
    2. Al Gore
    3. Tom Vilsack

    <

    p>Secretary of Veterans Affairs
    1. Tammy Duckworth
    2. Max Cleland
    3. Wes Clark

    <

    p>Secretary of EPA
    1. RFK Jr.
    2. Al Gore
    3. John H. Adams

    <

    p>Secretary of Agriculture
    1. Tom Vilsack
    2. Scott Kleeb

    <

    p>Secretary of Labor
    1. Van Jones

  5. SOS:

    <

    p>1.) John Kerry
    2.) Bill Richardson
    3.) Chuck Hagel

    <

    p>AG:

    <

    p>1.) Janet Napolitano
    2.) Deval Patrick
    3.) Tim Kaine

    <

    p>Defense:

    <

    p>1.) Robert Gates
    2.) Chuck Hagel
    3.) John Kerry

    <

    p>Treasury:

    <

    p>1.) Larry Summers
    2.) Paul Volker
    3.) Warren Buffett

    <

    p>Health and Human Services:

    <

    p>1.) Hillary Clinton
    2.) Tom Daschel
    3.) Howard Dean

    <

    p>Education:

    <

    p>1.) Joel Klein
    2.) Caroline Kennedy
    3.) Kathleen Sebelius

    <

    p>Veterans Affairs:

    <

    p>1.) Colin Powell
    2.) Max Cleland
    3.) Chuck Hagel

    <

    p>Energy:

    <

    p>1.) Ed Markey
    2.) Brian Schweitzer
    3.) Ed Rendell

    <

    p>Agriculture:

    <

    p>1.) Tom Vilsack
    2.) Kathleen Sebelius
    3.) Charles Stenholm
    Ed Rendell

  6. If the choice(s) were mine to make:

    <

    p>    — Secretary of State:  William Jefferson Clinton

    <

    p>    — Attorney General:  Hillary Clinton

    <

    p>    — Secretary of the Treasury: Barney Frank

    <

    p>    — Secretary of Defense: John Kerry

    <

    p>Alas, the choices aren’t mine… sigh.

    <

    p>Since the choice(s) belongs to Obama, here are the ones I think he’ll make:

    <

    p>     — Secretary of State:  Dick Lugar

    <

    p>     — Attorney General:  Patrick Fitzgerald

    <

    p>     — Secretary of the Treasury: Robert Rubin

    <

    p>    — Secretary of Defense: He’ll keep Gates.

    <

    p>I don’t know enough about the other positions, and who’s qualified (and interested) in them…  

  7. Secretary of State
    1)  Wesley Clark
    2)  John Kerry
    3)  Bill Richardson

    <

    p>Attorney General
    1)  David Iglesias
    2)  Deval Patrick
    3)  Gerald Fitzpatrick

    <

    p>Secretary of the Treasury
    1)  Tim Geithner
    2)  Paul Krugman
    3)  Warren Buffett

    <

    p>Secretary of Defense
    1)  Colin Powell
    2)  Chuck Hagel
    3)  Tony McPeak

    <

    p>2.) Pick any 5 of the following positions, and list your top 3 for each:

    <

    p>Secretary of Labor
    1)  Robert Reich
    2)  Paul Krugman
    3)  Dick Gephardt

    <

    p>Secretary of Health and Human Services
    1)  Howard Dean
    2)  Hillary Clinton
    3)  David Satcher

    <

    p>Secretary of Energy
    1)  George Church
    2)  Ray Kurzweil
    3)  Al Gore

    <

    p>Secretary of Education
    1)  Ted Sizer
    2)  Fernando Reimers
    3)  Sheldon Berman

    <

    p>Secretary of Veterans Affairs
    1)  Max Clelland
    2)  Chuck Hagel
    3)  Wesley Clark

  8. 1.) Post your top 3 guesses for each:

    <

    p>    * Secretary of State
    1. Bill Richardson
    2. John Kerry
    3. Richard Lugar
       * Attorney General
    1. Eric Holder
    2. Janet Napolitano
    3. Hillary Clinton
       * Secretary of the Treasury
    1. Paul Volcker
    2. Larry Summers
    3. That Geithner fellow
       * Secretary of Defense
    1. Robert Gates
    2. Bill Gates
    3. Gates McFadden (couldn’t resist!)

    <

    p>2.) Pick any 5 of the following positions, and list your top 3 for each:

    <

    p>Sorry, way too hard for my addled brain.  Colin Powell will get something, just not sure what (education?).  EPA will not be RFK Jr.  

    • It is a pain to make those deep picks, but I treated it like picking lottery numbers because chances are that any “thought” I put into the picks would be wrong anyway.  I suck at political prognostications. I used a cheat sheets of published lists of guesses from news outlets and shot from my gut.
      http://www.alertnet.org/thenew…

      <

      p>If I was on the ball, I would have had my friend throw together a website with drop down menus of 30 or so names (plus write-in option) to make the picking process quicker and therefore the game would be more accessible.

      <

      p>————————-

      <

      p>Bill Gates for SecDef? The man is responsible for “The Blue Screen of Death” and can’t even defend Windows from basic viruses and spyware, lol. Steve Jobs all the way.

      <

      p>He’ll merge Apple’s design sophistication and user-friendliness to the next generation of weaponry. Imagine combat rifles getting smaller and smaller with the same functionality and capacity; non-leathal weapons that are as simple and elegant to use as the iPod; and touch-screen two-way radios that also download music, play favorite TV shows, and provide Google Maps to enemy hideouts and strongholds (imagine that commercial)? Bringing Jobs’s innovation to the Defense Department would cut down on training time and make the military a lot hipper and attractive to a new section of the younger generation.

      <

      p>Perhaps instead of moving to Allston and Brooklyn, hipsters will join the military? If Jobs gets in, perhaps all those recruitment ads should start using music from bands like The Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie. Hell, if I had talent and time, I’d make a recruitment ad that looked like one of those iPhone commercials.  

  9. Secretary of Agriculture – Gus Schumacher, former Mass Ag Commissioner and Undersecretary to Dan Glickman.

    <

    p>Secretary of HUD – 3 Mayors – Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, Michael Coleman of Columbus and R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis.

  10. Mind you, I don’t really know much about who’s who, so these are pretty much straight out of my assertions. This is a combo between my personal wish-list and what I think will actually happen. Probably more of the former than the latter. * for wishlist, + for actual guess, both for both.

    <

    p>

    Secretary of State:
    1) Bill Richardson*+
    2) Bill Clinton*
    3) John Kerry+

    Attorney General
    1) Patrick Fitzgerald*+
    2) Deval Patrick+
    3) Janet Napolitano+

    Secretary of the Treasury
    1) Sheila Bair+
    2) Paul Krugman*
    3) Robert Reich*

    Secretary of Defense
    1) Robert Gates+
    2) Chuck Hagel+
    3) Sarah Sewall+

    Secretary of the Interior
    1) Al Gore*
    2) Susan Williams+
    3) Brian Schweitzer*+

    Secretary of Agriculture
    1) Tom Vilsack+
    2) Tom Daschle+
    3) Tom Buis+

    Secretary of Transportation
    1) Jane Garvey+
    2) Ed Rendell+
    3) Tim Murray*

    Secretary of Energy
    1) Brian Schweitzer*+
    2) Al Gore*
    3) Jeff Bingaman+

    Secretary of Homeland Security
    1) Tom Kean*+
    2) Richard Clarke*
    3) Jane Harman+

    • …beyond the people in the news/blogs every day.

      <

      p>The whole game is all in fun, like a lottery or a bingo. When a name is announced, you can say “Ah, I had her! 3pts for me.” or “Damn, I was gonna put him on the list but chose Schweitzer instead”. It might be for fun if there was something at stake but I don’t have any cool prizes, lol.

      <

      p>Bottom line, the game is just a device to make tracking the cabinet picks a little more interesting the same way fantasy football makes Sundays more interesting and Debate Bingo/Debate Drinking Games make those more fun to watch. That, and to waste time, lol. So I hope no one sweats the picks too seriously.

      <

      p>BTW, nice organization of your list with the 3×3 and the + and *.

  11. SOS: John Kerry, Bill Richardson, Bill Clinton

    <

    p>AG: Deval Patrick, Eric Holder, Charles Ogletree

    <

    p>Treasury: Larry Summers, Paul Volcker, Michael Bloomberg

    <

    p>Defense: Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, Wes Clark

    <

    p>Transportation: Ed Rendell, Ted Strickland, Deval Patrick

    <

    p>Vets: Max Cleland, Bob Kerrey, Tammy Duckworth

    <

    p>Labor: David Bonior, Dick Gephart, Robert Reich

    <

    p>Agriculture: Jim Leach, Tom Vilsack, Charlie Stenholm

    <

    p>HUD: Jim Clyburn, Ed Rendell, Bill Daley

  12. So here’s the current leader board for as of Dec 7, 2008.

    <

    p>(13) points for David, despite his incomplete ballot. Way to go David! It’s kind of like what Milton Berle used to say: only take out enough to win.

    <

    p>(10) points for purplemouse
    (9)   points for borky
    (7)   points for tblade ( 4th place? This game is rigged!)
    (5)   points for petr, lightiris, and dcsohl
    (0)   and the goose egg for Mr. John O’Brien.

    <

    p>There are still chances for those chasing David to pick up points, but this could be the final score. We’ll see as the next round of picks come in.

    <

    p>——————–
    Points based on these known picks:

    <

    p>SOS: Clinton
    Treasury: Geithner
    Def: Gates
    AG: Holder

    <

    p>Homeland: Napolitano
    Commerce: Richardson
    HHS: Daschele
    Vets: Shinseki (tentative as of this morning).  

Archives