Well, Governor Bill Richardson is back, baby -- Barack Obama today will nominate him to be the next secretary of commerce. (For a man who once broke the world record for number of hands shook in eight hours, it seems like he's now gunning for number of cabinet posts held in one lifetime). Obama tell us he's picking Richardson for his understanding of the global aspects of the economy, for his work building New Mexico's economy as governor, and the understanding of energy he developed as the head of that department under Bill Clinton. The decision is a nice change from the normal "insert-a-wealthy-crony-here" approach usually taken with the Commerce Department in recent years. Although by many accounts Richardson is not a very pleasant person to work with, he certainly has shown the ability to work well in whatever institution he's thrown into. Plus, he probably realizes that he's getting towards the end of his career path, so he has an extra, legacy-building incentive to do the job right. Obama's remarks after the jump.
--Tim Fernholz
