With Richardson’s appointment, some are upset that he didn’t get picked for Secretary of State or that Obama didn’t name a Latino until halfway through his cabinet.  Other advocacy groups (representing gays, Asians, and others) are pushing for representation in the cabinet as well.  But what I think is most notable for Obama’s picks so far, is that he has put an emphasis on qualifications and expertise and has built a diverse, experienced, pragmatic, centrist cabinet.  Obama’s focus has not been on theatrically appealing to interest group expectations, like Clinton (a cabinet that looks like America!) and Bush (especially trying to reach out to Hispanic voters with the genius appointment of Alberto Gonzalez…).

Maybe I’m being insensitive, but a lot of the advocacy groups that are pushing for more diversity come off as whining and/or self-serving.  Considering the diversity of the cabinet so far, the fact that the President himself is black, and the crisis environment that the new government will be operating in, clinging to the old gripes about diversity seem out of touch.  Obama has shown that his focus is getting the best people for the jobs.  As evident in the cabinet so far, the best people and diversity aren’t mutually exclusive.

Of course, there’s not anything left for him in New Mexico politics (after being a representative in Congress and governor), which is a probably a good thing since he seems a little too eager to get out of New Mexico and back to DC. The locals might not take to kindly to their own governor being so ready to take the next train out of town. I’ve never been to New Mexico, but I hear Albuquerque is nice…maybe Bill Richardson disagrees. Or maybe managing a state with one of the highest poverty rates, especially concentrated on Native American reservations, is kind of depressing and heading to DC seems a lot more appealing, especially considering Commerce doesn’t really do that much and the position traditionally goes to a top political fundraiser/supporter while the actual work gets done by the managers and bureaucrats below him.

UPDATE:  Sneaky is correct.  As far as his political future, Richardson is getting term limited soon.  But that is still 2 years away and doesn’t change the slightly unseemly manner in which he has shown his willingness to leave New Mexico.