appoint outgoing Pa. Governor and my former professor Ed Rendell to be Transportation Secretary. While Gov. Rendell admittedly has a big mouth that he likes to run, he has connected with white working class voters in Pa. While he is a phili native, he won convincingly across Pa in 2006. He knows how to connect with voters in the rust belt the same way that Joe Biden and Bill Clinton (now) do. He would be a great spokesman for the administration to the industrial midwest, which is something they need as they basically have no one left there. And certainly no one near as effective as him.
And as important, he has been a loud and repeated voice for infrastructure spending during the recession. Our road and bridges are in great disrepair. Infrastructure spending would solve that problem and put millions to work like in the New Deal. Additionally, it will stimulate (yes, I used that word) the manufacturing and raw materials sectors.
