Campaigns and Shadow Cabinets

My colleague Jonathan Rauch has yet another thought-provoking piece (subscription required) in the Atlantic this month, on the subject of the seemingly endless presidential campaigns. They're a good thing, Rauch argues: "They give U.S. politics an opportunity to mimic one of the best features of British-style parliamentary politics: the shadow government."

With the nomination process likely to be all but over early next year, candidates, he says, will be able to trot out prospective nominees for top administration positions: "If Giuliani and Clinton, or McCain and Obama, or whoever and whoever, stitched up the nomination in mid-February, they could easily vet and name slates of key appointees in time for the conventions."

It certainly would be intriguing if that actually happened, but I'm not holding my breath. Any candidate for a Cabinet position floated by a presumptive nominee would immediately become the subject of an intensive media vetting process that could turn up something embarrassing, costing the candidate dearly. It might be worth taking that chance with one or two names who could attract a few votes, but why run the risk with a whole slate of nominees if you didn't have to?