Obama ag appointments not too bad

If I were a member of the Democratic Party's left wing fringe, I would be livid. Only a handful of President-elect Obama's appointments to his cabinet and senior executive positions so far could be considered friendly. The gauzy leftist intellectual named as Energy Secretary, Michael Chu, is the only certifiable radical in the bunch.

Extremely mainstream Democrats, and moderate to liberal Republicans, comprise the cast. It would hard to pick out an appointment that wouldn't have fit in well with a Hillary Clinton administraton. In fact, all but a handful come straight out of husband Bill's team.

The two appointments most closely affecting agriculture certainly fit that description. Agriculture Secretary nominee, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, is an old Clinton hand who backed Hillary all the way, after he dropped out of the presidential race himself in the early going. He was the first guess made about a possible Ag Secretary, and as Iowa Governor, was right down the middle. Coming from a row crop farming state, with livestock on the side, Vilsack at least has knowledge of the business and was considered quite friendly to farmers and agribusiness.

Compared to former President Jimmy Carter's appointment of Carol Tucker Foreman to USDA, a radical consumer activist with no knowledge of production agriculture, Vilsack should be very little different his immediate predecessors on the Bush team. With a slumping economy, terrorist attacks and many other controversies on his plate, Vilsack and USDA will probably be fairly anonymous and quiet in the early days of the Obama term.

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as the Interior Secretary nominee greatly disappoints radical environmentalists. Coming from a farming and ranching family, even though a career government lawyer and bureaucrat himself, Salazar has fairly practical views on the use of public lands and environmental regulations. I'd have preferred his brother John, the Colorado congressman rumored to have become Ag Secretary, who is an actual hands-on farmer and rancher and more conservative than brother Ken.

Still, Ken Salazar, despite his goofy, ill-fitting cowboy hat, western suits and boots (He should go to a good western wear store, and let them dress him), is a westerner who understands the multiple-use concept on public lands. Not as moderate and non-partisan as he styles himself, Salazar is still a far cry from the environmentalist radical Obama might well have appointed.

Compared to what could have happened, production agriculture has thus far dodged a bullet.