Obama names Richardson as Commerce Secretary

President-elect Barack Obama named Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as his choice for secretary of commerce on Wednesday, pointedly denying that the job was a "consolation prize" for the two-time cabinet officer who had been considered a candidate for secretary of state.

"Commerce secretary is a pretty good job," Mr. Obama said, after being asked by a Hispanic reporter about the appointment of Mr. Richardson to a post not considered among the cabinet's more prestigious or influential.

The president-elect said that his nominee would be dealing with the economy, the most significant issue facing the new administration, and added that "his mixture of diplomatic experience, hands-on experience as governor, experience in the cabinet, experience in Congress, means that he is going to be a key strategist on all the issues that we work on."

"I think the notion that somehow commerce secretary is not going to be central to everything we do is fundamentally mistaken."

In addition, Mr. Obama - who has filled about half of his cabinet and White House staff jobs - said that by the time he was done his administration would be seen as among the most diverse ever put together.

Mr. Richardson was the first cabinet nominee to be presented on his own by Mr. Obama rather than as part of a group, which some saw as a gesture of consolation.

For his part, Mr. Richardson vowed - in Spanish as well as English - to revive the nation's sagging economy. Mr. Richardson, 61, has a résumé of unusual breadth, having served as energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations - then a cabinet-level position - under President Bill Clinton; as an informal envoy abroad during his seven terms as a member of Congress, and then as a two-term governor of New Mexico. Having thrown his support to Mr. Obama shortly after ending his own presidential candidacy - a source of raw feelings among the Clintons - and then helping draw substantial Hispanic support for Mr. Obama, Mr. Richardson was expected by many Hispanic-Americans to be in line for a more high-power post.

-New York Times