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Opinion   print button email button  Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008
Obama and the limits of power  My favorite rumor about U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is that he will create
the post of Secretary of the Environment and offer it to Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Of course, it's unlikely that Schwarzenegger
would take the offer, because being governor of California is a
much more satisfying job, but Obama will need a couple of
Republicans in his Cabinet and Arnie is serious about the
environment. Stranger things have happened.  With both
presidential candidates essentially running against George W.
Bush, the one who wasn't a Republican started with a huge built-
in advantage, and then the financial crisis and the recession
sealed John McCain's fate. So now it's time to consider what
Obama will do with his power — and even how much power he will
really have, given that his spending options will be severely
constrained by that same recession.  It hel