Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano “likely” choice for Homeland Security Secretary

 

Posted: Nov 20, 2008 06:01 PM

Updated: Nov 20, 2008 06:02 PM

 

 

According to several sources, including CNN and the New York Times Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano appears to be President-elect Barack Obama's primary choice to be Homeland Security Secretary.

 

A top Obama adviser is also saying that Napolitano is the likely choice for the job. However, that person cautioned no final decision has been made on the position.

 

Napolitano was an early supporter of Obama and even campaigned for him throughout the west. Currently she is serving on his Transition Team. Napolitano is not commenting on the speculation.

 

Several top cabinet positions have been filled. Former Senate Leader Tom Daschle has been chosen as Health and Human Services Secretary. Eric Holder, the Justice Department 2nd in command during the Clinton administration, will also serve as Attorney General, becoming the first African-American to take the position.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano Expected to Take Over Homeland Security

 

 

By Robert Dougherty, published Nov 20, 2008

 

Published Content: 719</SPAN> Total Views: 563,718 Favorited By: 56 CPs

 

Economic cabinet positions and the Secretary of State have dominated talk about Barack Obama's appointments. But terrorism and Homeland Security will still be important in an Obama administration. Therefore, Obama needed to make the choice of Homeland Security chief carefully, as reports now come in that is ready to make that choice. Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, from John McCain's home state, is looking likely to be that choice.

 

No official word has come in yet, but FOX News cites several media reports that say Janet Napolitano is Obama's choice as Homeland Security chief. Napolitano is in her second term as governor of Arizona, and was an early supporter in Obama's campaign.

 

Napolitano became well known for her handling of immigration as Arizona governor. She was thought of as a candidate for attorney general until Obama chose Eric Holder. But since Napolitano was on the short list of potential Obama cabinet members, she next became a top candidate for Homeland Security instead.

 

Napolitano made a national splash as the lawyer for Anita Hill in the famed Clarence Thomas sexual harassment case. This helped get her appointed as a U.S attorney in Arizona, a traditional Republican state. But Napolitano rose to become state attorney general in 1998, then governor in 2002.

 

No Democratic governor in Arizona had been re-elected for over 25 years until Napolitano did so in 2006. Napolitano was also a speaker in the last two Democratic conventions.

 

Napolitano would be yet another Obama cabinet member with Clinton ties, since Bill Clinton first appointed her as Arizona state attorney. But Napolitano quickly defected to Obama's camp and advised him as early as 2007.

 

Napolitano would be the fourth chief of Homeland Security since it was created in 2003. Tom Ridge acting chief James Loy, and Michael Chertoff have previously held the position.

 

Homeland Security is still best known for their infamous color coding system, and not for many accomplishments in it's six years of existence. Napolitano's experience in handling immigration issues and calling for plans to secure the border appear to give her credibility.

 

If Napolitano takes over at Homeland Security, Arizona Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer is likely to take over as state governor.

 

Sources

 

FOX News- "Obama To Tap Arizona Governor as Homeland Security Chief" www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/20/reports-obama-taps-ariona-gov-homeland-security-chief/

 

Washington Post- "Ariz. Governor Said to Be Pick For Homeland Security Post" www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112001567.html

The Long History of Janet Napolitano

 

Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:21 AM | By DanaGoldstein

 

 

It's heartening to hear that Janet Napolitano is most likely Obama's pick as secretary of Homeland Security. I profiled Napolitano for The American Prospect in July and spent some time with her in Phoenix. She's really smart, tough, and funny, dropping Monty Python lines in official meetings. A cabinet with both Napolitano and Hillary Clinton in it would be chock-full of female power. A former prosecutor, Napolitano is vocally pro-choice, pro-death penalty, and a moderate on immigration, which serves her well in Arizona's libertarian political climate. She was the first governor to dispatch the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, and the Bush administration followed her lead on the issue.

 

But what many don't know about Napolitano—or don't remember—is that she first came onto the national stage in 1991 as an attorney representing Anita Hill during the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on Clarence Thomas. (Joe Biden chaired the committee at that time and is remembered for his ham-handedness in dealing with the sensitive topic of sexual harassment.)

Napolitano was in charge of preparing the testimonies of Hill's supporting witnesses, and she credits her involvement in the case with deepening her commitment to electoral politics. "It really did bring home how issues of women really didn't have an avenue to be heard at that time," Napolitano told me during our May interview. "I think that from Professor Hill's standpoint, that experience cost her a lot personally. But I think she should have a satisfaction in knowing, but for that experience, the fact that women need to be treated fairly and are entitled to go to work without being harassed—when they're in the workplace trying to earn a living—would never have gained the prominence it did and all the protections we now have."

 

When Bill Clinton appointed Napolitano U.S. Attorney for Arizona in 1993,

Senate Republicans held up her nomination for more than a year, in large part because of lingering resentments over the Thomas-Hill case. So it'll be interesting to see if the issue resurfaces for Napolitano this time around—or if, 17 years later, the infamous episode has lost its power as a political and cultural touchstone.

Gates likely to stay as defense chief

 

By Peter Baker and Thom Shanker

 

New York Times

 

Posted: 11/25/2008 07:51:56 PM PST

 

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has decided to keep Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his post, a show of bipartisan continuity in wartime that will be the first instance that a Pentagon chief has been carried over from a president of a different party, Democrats close to the transition said Tuesday.

 

Obama's advisers were nearing a formal agreement for Gates to stay on for perhaps a year, the Democrats said, and they expected to announce the decision as early as next week, along with other choices for the national security team. The two sides have been working out details on how Gates would wield authority in a new administration.

 

The move will give the new president a defense secretary with support on both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as experience with foreign leaders around the world and respect among the senior military officer corps. But two years after President Bush picked him to lead the armed forces, Gates will now have to pivot from serving the commander in chief who started the Iraq war to serving one who has vowed to end it.

 

In deciding to ask Gates to stay, Obama put aside concerns that he would send a jarring signal after a campaign in which he made opposition to the war his signature issue in the early days.

 

Advisers argued that Gates was a pragmatic, apolitical choice who would carry out his president's instructions.

 

In addition to formally announcing his nomination of Clinton as secretary of state, Obama was expected to appoint Gen. James Jones, a retired Marine commandant and NATO supreme commander, as his national security adviser.

Obama Names Volcker to Head Panel on Reviving Economy

 

By Kim Chipman and Catherine Dodge

 

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new White House economic board that will propose ways to revive growth as the U.S. grapples with an “economic crisis of historic proportions.”

 

“At this defining moment for our nation, the old ways of thinking and acting just won’t do,” Obama said at a news conference in Chicago, his third in as many days.

 

Volcker, 81, will be chairman of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. The panel’s top staff official will be Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist who will also be a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.

 

The panel, which will include experts from outside government, will meet about once a month and periodically brief Obama with advice on how to shore up financial markets. Volcker’s position will be part-time.

 

“Sometimes policymaking in Washington can become too insular,” Obama said.

“The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking, and those who serve in Washington don’t always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working.”

Treasury Secretary

 

Volcker, who throttled the economy to crush inflation in the 1980s, was an adviser to Obama during the presidential campaign. He was a candidate for Treasury secretary, a job that went to Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner.

 

“He is one of the most independent-thinking guys you could find and brings massive reputation,” Ethan Harris, co- head of U.S. economic research at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, said before today’s announcement.

 

Volcker was appointed Fed chairman in August 1979 as the U.S. experienced what then-President Jimmy Carter called a “crisis of confidence.”

 

With Carter hobbled by a hostage crisis in Iran, long lines at gas stations and inflation of more than 10 percent, Volcker unleashed interest rates and began to clamp down on the quantity of money in the banking system.

 

Vilified at the time for causing one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, Volcker was later lauded for his assault on runaway prices and became an icon for a generation of central bankers from New Zealand to South Africa.

 

He resigned from the Fed chairmanship in 1987, before the stock market crash of that year, saying he hadn’t been fair to his family, could make more money outside public service and didn’t want a third term.

‘Pulls No Punches’

“Paul has served under both Republicans and Democrats and is held in the highest esteem for his sound and independent judgment,” Obama said. “He pulls no punches.”

 

Volcker has voiced his contempt for Wall Street’s risk- management and is likely to come to the job ready to impose tougher restrictions.

 

Banks have taken at least $685 billion in credit losses and write-downs in a crisis that began with soaring default rates on high-risk mortgages and ended up redrawing the entire U.S. financial landscape.

 

Obama is signaling he wants his economic team in close proximity. In the new administration, the offices of the Council of Economic Advisers, a three-person panel established in 1946 to provide the president with independent economic analysis, will move into the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter. Right now, only the chairman has an office there.

New Board

 

Volcker’s panel will be modeled on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which was set up in 1956 by then- President Dwight Eisenhower to track spying activities during the Cold War.

 

Volcker will play a key role in shaping the new economic board, which will report directly to Obama. The aim is to bring in leaders from business, academia and elsewhere to provide an independent perspective.

 

As top staff person, Goolsbee will act as a liaison between the panel and the administration. Obama said he will announce the remaining members of the economic board in the coming weeks.

Consumer Confidence

 

Among the board’s first concerns will be consumer confidence. A government report today showed consumer spending declined by the most since the 2001 recession.

 

Asked about advice he’d give to anxious shoppers as they head into the holiday season, Obama said they should rest assured “that my administration intends to get this economy back on track.”

 

Americans “understandably are nervous about their future,” Obama said. “It is important for the American people, though, to have confidence that we’ve gone through recessions before.”

 

The president-elect today also addressed criticism that his Cabinet picks so far suggest a recycling of the Clinton administration that calls into question the central theme of Obama’s candidacy, his commitment to change.

 

Obama rejected this idea, saying it’s only natural some people from the Clinton era would be part of his Cabinet and he’s seeking a combination of “experience with fresh thinking.”

Experience Needed

 

“The last Democratic administration that we had was the Clinton administration,” he said. “It would be surprising if I selected a Treasury secretary who had no connection with the last Democratic administration, because that would mean that the person had no experience in Washington whatsoever.”

 

Obama announced in a separate statement that Jonathan Favreau, his chief speechwriter during the campaign, will hold that post at the White House. For his director of intergovernmental affairs, Obama has picked Cecilia Munoz, currently a senior vice president at the Washington-based Latino advocacy group National Council of La Raza.

 

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Chicago at [email protected]; Catherine Dodge in Washington, at [email protected]

 

Last Updated: November 26, 2008 13:19 EST

Volcker has voiced his contempt for Wall Street’s risk- management and is likely to come to the job ready to impose tougher restrictions.

 

Because all the restrictions that were already in place really helped. So we'll need more.

 

Oh, and we'll also need another New Deal, because that last one didn't take.

 

:laugh3:

 

Oh, Maldini, your signature reminded me:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdJ4oVnujbA

Obama plans to name 4 more Cabinet posts on Monday

 

By NEDRA PICKLER

The Associated Press

Sunday, November 30, 2008; 3:39 PM

 

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce longtime advisers and political foes alike as his picks for top administration jobs at a Monday news conference, nominating one-time political nemesis Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

 

Obama's announcements include members of his national security team and beyond, completing the nominations for one-third of his Cabinet as he moves quickly to assemble the country's new leadership in times of war and a troubled economy.

 

His selections include some of his most loyal campaign advisers and notably some who were not, including Democratic primary rival Clinton and President Bush's defense secretary, Robert Gates, staying in his current post.

 

Obama also planned to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, according to Democratic officials. He also planned to announce two senior foreign policy positions outside the 15-member Cabinet: campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador and retired Marine General James L. Jones as national security adviser.

 

The Democratic officials disclosed the plans on a condition of anonymity Sunday because they were not authorized for public release ahead of the news conference.

 

Those names had been discussed before for those jobs, but the officials confirmed Sunday that Obama will make them official Monday in his hometown.

 

Last week, he named key members of his economic team, including Timothy

Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as treasury secretary. Obama is not yet ready to name his intelligence advisers, one Democratic official said.

 

Clinton's nomination is the latest chapter in what began as a bitter rivalry for the Democratic presidential nomination. After Obama defeated her, Clinton backed his general election campaign against Republican Sen. John McCain, and she now has agreed to give up her Senate seat to be his top diplomat.

 

To make it possible for his wife to become secretary of state, party officials said, former President Clinton agreed:

 

_to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its

inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.

 

_to refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference.

 

_to cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

 

_to volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is secretary of state.

 

_to submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel.

 

_to submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review.

 

Bill Clinton's business deals and global charitable endeavors had been expected to create problems for the former first lady's nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to those activities.

 

"It's a big step," said Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said he plans to vote to confirm Clinton.

 

Lugar said there would still be "legitimate questions" raised about the former president's extensive international involvement. "I don't know how, given all of our ethics standards now, anyone quite measures up to this who has such cosmic ties, but ... hopefully, this team of rivals will work," Lugar said.

 

Obama and Clinton clashed repeatedly on foreign affairs during the primary.

 

Obama criticized Clinton for her vote to authorize the Iraq war. Clinton said Obama lacked the experience to be president and she chided him for saying he would meet with leaders of nations such as Iran and Cuba without conditions.

 

Advisers said Obama had for several months envisioned Clinton as his top diplomat, and he invited her to Chicago to discuss the job just a week after the Nov. 4 election. The two met privately Nov. 13 in Obama's transition office in downtown Chicago.

 

Clinton was said to be interested and then to waver, concerned about relinquishing her Senate seat and the political independence it conferred.

 

Those concerns were largely resolved after Obama assured her she would be able to choose a staff and have direct access to him, advisers said.

 

Remaining in the Senate also may not have been an attractive choice for Clinton. Despite her political celebrity, she is a relatively junior senator without prospects for a leadership position or committee chairmanship anytime soon.

 

Clinton "is known throughout the world, very smart, a little harder line than Senator Obama took during the campaign," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close McCain friend and adviser who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

 

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said the Clintons will have to tread carefully to avoid the appearance of conflicts.

 

"The presumption will be that both Secretary of State Clinton and former President Clinton will be very judicious in what they take on because there's a new dimension here," Reed said. "I think they've put up a good framework. This disclosure, this transparency is the right way to go."

 

Lugar and Reed both spoke on ABC's "This Week." Graham was on "Fox News Sunday."

___

 

Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy contributed to this report.

Obama picks education secretary

 

Published: December 17, 2008

The Associated Press

 

CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama named the head of the Chicago school system as education secretary Tuesday and declared that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children."

 

His choice, Arne Duncan, a longtime friend of Obama and a former professional basketball player in Australia who has a reputation as a reformer, called education "the civil rights issue of our generation."

 

Also Tuesday, Democratic sources familiar with the selection process said Obama has selected former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary.

 

Obama will announce the appointment of Vilsack on Wednesday, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the selection before the announcement.

 

Vilsack will be the fourth former opponent of Obama in the 2008 Democratic primaries to join his new administration. Others include Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been tapped for secretary of state, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, selected to head the Commerce Department.

 

Vilsack positioned himself in the presidential campaign as a Washington outsider with heartland appeal, but he dropped out after poor showings in early primaries.

 

Obama combined his announcement of his choice of Duncan with a brief news conference in which he refused to say whether he supports the idea of a special election to fill the Senate seat he recently vacated.

 

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has the power to make the appointment, but he was arrested last week accused of trying to enrich himself by appointing a new senator who could help him financially or politically.

 

Some Democrats have called for a special election, while others prefer to wait for Blagojevich to resign, a step that would allow Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to appoint a new senator. The second alternative would ensure the seat remains in Democratic hands, and on a faster timetable than a special election would allow.

 

Duncan would take over a sprawling department that has focused during the Bush administration in winning passage and then implementing the president's signature education program, which focuses on measuring performance through standardized testing.

 

Obama praised Duncan for being flexible and practical as the Chicago press conference at a school that he said has made remarkable progress under Duncan's leadership.

 

Duncan has run the third-biggest U.S. school district since 2001, pushing to boost teacher quality and to improve struggling schools and closing those that fail.

 

"He's not beholden to any one ideology, and he's worked tirelessly to improve teacher quality," Obama said.

 

The appointment of Duncan leaves a handful of Cabinet appointments yet to be made public. In response to a question, Obama hinted broadly a Republican would be among them.

 

The posts yet to be filled include secretaries for the departments of Labor, Transportation, and Interior, where officials have said Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado has been tapped. Nor has Obama named leaders for the intelligence agencies, or a trade representative.

 

So far, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, is the only Republican member of the incoming Cabinet.

 

On the economy, the president-elect said the Federal Reserve was "running out of ammunition" in terms of lowering interest rates to combat the recession.

 

He said it was "absolutely critical" that his economic recovery program be put into place to deal with what he called the toughest time economically since the Great Depression.

 

The central bank later said it had reduced the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to a range of zero to 0.25 percent. That is the lowest level on record.

_______

 

Associated Press Writer Mike Glover contributed to this report from Des Moines, Iowa

Maldini, would you like to be picked to head one of our intelligence agencies?;)

Yes Sir :policeman:

Obama Chooses Ultra-Conservative Rev. Rick Warren to Give Invocation

by Catherine J. Member since:

December 15, 2008

 

Barack Obama has been accused of being "ultra-liberal". Heck the entire Fox network scheduled and coached its talking heads around this basic idea.

 

Obama has also been accused of being "black" then not "black enough", "American" but not "American" enough, and talented but not experienced enough. So what do you say about this LIBERAL President-elect asking an ultra-conservative Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration?

I say "Hoorah ! I am so proud of our new President."

 

Barack Obama said throughout his campaign he wanted to bring the country together. He stressed our needs to communicate, work, and respect each other's views. What better way to exemplify that than to bring the voice of Christian conservatives in the body of a brilliant speaker from Saddleback Church which hosted the election's town hall on "faith". (I am disappointed that it wasn't a Catholic Bishop but then I understand the Church.) I also understand the view of the gay community.

 

Gay activists worked hard and donated alot to get Obama elected. They presumed he would be their knight in shining armor and their mouthpiece.

 

With this one bold stroke he has said "You don't own me." and "Yes, I meant it when I said everyone will be called to participate in the renewal of America."

That, is worth far more than worrying about any hurt feelings of one zealous minority group.

 

Christians have been screaming that their voices are not being heard. I hope Rev. Warren realizes the opportunity he has been given, not to divide but to unite and lead America on a spiritual journey to "Love One Another".

 

As for the gay community...get over it. This is a small thing. Don't throw a tantrum. It would be so unbecoming.

Obama defends choice of evangelical pastor

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday defended his choice of a popular evangelical minister to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, rejecting criticism that it slights gays.

 

The selection of Pastor Rick Warren brought objections from gay rights advocates, who strongly supported Obama during the election campaign. The advocates are angry over Warren's backing of a California ballot initiative banning gay marriage. That measure was approved by voters last month.

 

But Obama told reporters in Chicago that America needs to "come together," even when there's disagreement on social issues. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all about," he said.

 

Obama also said he's known to be a "fierce advocate for equality" for gays and lesbians, and will remain so.

 

Warren, a best-selling author and leader of a Southern California megachurch, is one of a new breed of evangelicals who stress the need for action on social issues such as reducing poverty and protecting the environment, alongside traditional theological themes.

 

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, said Warren's opposition to gay marriage is a sign of intolerance.

 

"We feel a deep level of disrespect when one of the architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination," the group said in a letter to Obama, asking him to reconsider.

 

Obama's selection of Warren is seen as a signal to religious conservatives that the president-elect will listen to their views. During the campaign, Warren interviewed Obama and Republican John McCain in a widely watched television program that focused on religious concerns.

 

Gay rights advocates say they are troubled that Obama would give Warren such a visible role at his swearing-in. "By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table," the letter said.

 

Obama, however, pointed out that a couple of years ago, he was invited to speak at Warren's church, despite their disagreements on a number of issues.

 

The president-elect said a "wide range of viewpoints" will be presented during the inaugural ceremonies.

Inviting pro-Prop 8 Rev. Rick Warren to inauguration "disrespects" gays

 

There's trouble on the inaugural podium for P-E Obama. And, no it's not about Yo-Yo Ma. Some gay folks and those who are gay-friendly are ticked that the Rev. Rick Warren, the conservative evangelical pastor of Saddleback Church, is giving the invocation. That's the same Warren who supported Prop 8, and opposes gay marriage and abortion rights ... and who has been a serious friend of President Bush.

 

In a chat last week with the Wall Street Journal, Pastor Rick compared "gay marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy and repeated the inaccurate charge that without Prop 8, conservative preachers could be prosecuted for hate crimes. He described 'social gospel' Christians of the 20th century as closet Marxists."

 

Yes, as we've noted, this is an example of The O trying to reach out to evangelicals of the conservative variety. Yes, he could have played it safe with a Rev. Jim Wallis type, but no. During the campaign, folks liked how Obama tried to connect with people who disagreed with him -- and now he's doing it... and seriously feeling the heat some of his most fervent supporters. Equality California is circulating a petition asking Obama to take back his invite..

 

"By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table," Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign said in a letter to Obama. "We feel a deep level of disrespect when one of the architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination."

 

Sarah Posner in The Nation wrote that "Warren represents the absolute worst of the Democrats' religious outreach, a right-winger masquerading as a do-gooder anointed as the arbiter of what it means to be faithful," she added.

The O responded Thursday saying "I'm a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans," but said it was also "important for Americans to come together despite disagreements on certain social issues."

 

And Warren's Saddleback community has reached out to folks with AIDS, both in the U.S. and internationally. It's a hate the sin, not the sinner kinda thing.

Here's Beliefnet.com's Steven Waldman's interview with Warren from last week, and his defense of Pastor Rick. Check out the video.

Obama: Choice of Warren reflects diversity of ideas

 

(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday defended his pick of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration next month as one of "a wide range of viewpoints that are presented."

 

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.

 

"And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about," Obama said responding to a question at a news conference about his and Warren's differences on social issues. "That's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

 

Liberal groups and gay rights proponents had criticized the president-elect on Wednesday for choosing Warren, who opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

 

Those socially conservative stances put him at odds with many in Obama's Democratic Party, especially the party's most liberal wing.

 

"[it's] shrewd politics, but if anyone is under any illusion that Obama is interested in advancing gay equality, they should probably sober up now," Andrew Sullivan wrote on the Atlantic Web site Wednesday.

 

Obama in the news conference also defended his record on equality for gays.

"I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans," he said. "It is something that I have been consistent on, and I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency."

 

People for the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert told CNN she is "deeply disappointed" with the choice of Warren and said the powerful platform at the inauguration should instead have been given to someone who has "consistent mainstream American values." iReport.com: What do you think of the pick?

 

"There is no substantive difference between Rick Warren and James Dobson," Kolbert said. "The only difference is tone. His tone is moderate, but his ideas are radical."

 

Dobson, a social conservative leader, is founder and chairman of Focus on the Family.

 

Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for Obama, defended the choice of Warren, saying, "This is going to be the most inclusive, open, accessible inauguration in American history."

 

"The president-elect certainly disagrees with him on [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] issues," Douglass said. "But it has always been his goal to find common ground with people with whom you may disagree on some issues."

 

Douglass also noted that Obama and Warren agree on several issues, including advocating on behalf of the poor, the disadvantaged and people who suffer from HIV/AIDS. Watch CNN's Anderson Cooper and his panel discuss the selection »

 

Obama pointed out that Warren had invited him to speak at his Saddleback Church two years ago even though Warren knew that he had views "that were entirely contrary to his."

 

"We're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere when we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans."

 

Obama also pointed out that Southern Christian Leadership Conference co-founder the Rev. Joseph Lowery, "who has deeply contrasting views to Rick Warren on a whole host of issues," is also speaking.

 

Warren's support of California's Proposition 8, a measure that outlaws same-sex marriage in the state, sparked the ire of many gay rights proponents earlier this fall.

 

Warren, who has made it a practice not to endorse candidates or political parties, wrote in October that the issue of gay marriage is not a political issue, but instead "a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about."

 

"For 5,000 years, every culture and every religion -- not just Christianity -- has defined marriage as a contract between men and women," Warren wrote in a newsletter to his congregation. "There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population."

 

Warren also stirred controversy earlier this week when he told Beliefnet.com his grounds for opposing same-sex marriage lie primarily on his right of free speech.

 

"There were all kinds of threats that if [Proposition 8] did not pass, then any pastor could be considered doing hate speech if he shared his views that he didn't think homosexuality was the most natural way for relationships, and that would be hate speech." In the 2008 election, Warren hosted Obama and Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, at a candidate forum held in his church.

 

His book "The Purpose Driven Life" has sold more than 20 million copies since it was first published five years ago, and Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in 2005.

 

"Many believe that Warren ... is the successor to the [Rev. Billy Graham] for the role of America's minister," Time wrote in 2005.