Compilation: The Obama Administration
Interview
Notes from Evan Smith
"Barack Obama's nascent cabinet has been called a Team of Rivals, a Team of Heavyweights, a Team of Egos. Around these parts, we refer to the collection of men and women who'll govern our country for the next four years as a Team of Interviewees. No fewer than four of the folks installed by the president-elect in positions of great power and influence have subjected themselves to scrunity more rigorous and daunting than any confirmation hearing: They've been guests on this show, answering questions good, bad, and downright goofy. We interviewed Vice President-Elect Joe Biden more than two years ago, when he parachuted into Austin to speak on the University of Texas campus. He was, back then, still the senior senator from Delaware -; and every bit as garrulous as his reputation would suggest. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, slated to be Agriculture Secretary, was still running for president when he stopped by our studio in early 2007 -; and not long after, he dropped out of the Democratic primary campaign and endorsed his friend Hillary Clinton. The New York Senator, soon to be Secretary of State, gave us thirty precious minutes in late February of 2008, just a few days before our now-infamous primacaucus. And former South Dakota senator and likely Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Daschle was with us in early 2008 in Dallas; he's likely to be the first of Obama's nominees to be okayed by the Senate." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 01.08.09