What I'm hearing is Bonior declines when people push him, saying it's time for a younger generation to lead the labor movement charge for the feds.  He has reportedly been pushing Mary Beth Maxwell, about whom I know very little.  Maybe she'd be terrific.  I've heard some speculation that Jennifer Granholm is now more likely to be nominated for the job as a result of some of the other Cabinet picks to date.

I appreciate the sentiment coming from Bonior.  But he is forceful and the cause of building the labor movement is very much in his gut.  And I would really, really like at least one person in the Cabinet meetings of whom both things are true, notwithstanding our President-elect's reassurances that the vision and the final calls are his. 

Maybe he could commit to giving Obama a couple of years, at the outset, all the while grooming a successor?  This is a golden opportunity coming up and it can't be frittered away on account of Washington newbie mistakes. 

I like Granholm very much and think there's got to be an important role for her to play in moving things in Washington.  But I'm not sure that building a useful labor movement in this country is a cause that is in her gut.

Andy Stern, whose name has popped up as well, is certainly interesting, passionate, and committed.  But he may have burned too many bridges in past fights to be able to be effective in that role, I don't know.

Overheard in downtown DC this morning:

"They should just put Obama's likeness on the dollar bill and get it over with."  (spoken during a conversation in which the ubiquitous presence of his likeness these days was alluded to.)