Bay Area residents rejoicing over the historic inauguration of Barack
Obama might want to take heed of an assessment of their elected
representatives featured yesterday on Politico, the political news Web site.
Writer Glenn Thrush posted a top-ten list
of Democrats who pose a threat to Obama's agenda. As it turns out, this
elite group is stacked with legislators from the Golden State. Three
Californians are on Obama's potential "White House Frenemies List," including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (No. 2), Rep.
Henry A. Waxman (No. 4) of Los Angeles, and the East Bay's Rep. Barbara Lee
(No. 8). (Pictured are Feinstein, right, and Lee.) No other state offered more than one.
Whatever you make of Politico's assessment, there's no denying that California pols have been quite visible in the first days
of the Obama presidency. One of the principal dramas of the transition period was Feinstein's tantrum over Obama's selection of former Monterey Congressman Leon Panetta as CIA director.
On Tuesday, more West Coast pageantry was offered up on the national stage: Among the prominent attendees
at the inauguration in Washington, D.C., were state Attorney General
Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Needless to say,
Bill O'Reilly was thrilled.
