Liberal backlash forming against Obama

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Some of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's liberal supporters say they're disappointed with the political pedigrees of his Cabinet choices.

They point to the choices of Iraq war supporters U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as secretary of state and Robert Gates as defense secretary as signs of backsliding on promises made to liberals, the Washington publication Politico reported Monday.

Progressive labor organizations are also disappointed Obama didn't name a new labor secretary to be a key part of his economic recovery team to go along with Wall Street veterans Tim Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers as White House economics adviser.

"At his announcement of an economic team there was no secretary of labor," Jonathan Tasini of the Web site Workinglife.org told Politico. "If you don't think the labor secretary is on the same level as treasury secretary, that gives me pause. The president-elect wouldn't be president-elect without labor."

Other liberal opinion leaders, however, are holding their fire, saying it's Obama's policies that will really matter.

"My estimation is that he has chosen competence over ideology, and I'm willing to cut him some slack," said University of Michigan history professor and liberal blogger Juan Cole.