So President Obama went with a safe pick in naming Gary Locke his choice as commerce secretary.
I've known Locke since he was a King County Executive in the 1990s. He was probably the best Exec that King County has ever had -- exceedingly competent. However, Locke was less impressive as a governor; he lacked a lot of the leadership skills we needed on critical issues like the environment and infrastructure.
Still, he's a highly competent bureaucrat, and a capable spokesman for international trade -- which will probably make him an ideal pick for a position like Commerce.
The best thing, from a blogospheric perspective, about the Locke pick: It's going to drive Michelle Malkin crazy. She had what we in the journalistic biz call "a hard-on" for Locke when she was a columnist for the Seattle Times. It got to be a joke, because Locke has always been a squeaky clean guy.
