Naming the Cabinet earlier would also complicate the respective candidates’ narrative and message. Think Sarah Palin, and you don’t have to imagine the jolt that certain vice presidential selections can cause. Then extend that to a list of a dozen or so names. Every gaffe by a prospective secretary could generate distracting campaign-trail headlines.
Still, some names would boost the front-runners — Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, perhaps, as treasury secretary in a Clinton administration. And while part of Trump’s appeal is his outsider status, naming his Cabinet in advance could offer reassurance to less committed voters that he would enlist the expertise of seasoned policy hands with deeper knowledge of the issues than his.
If named before Election Day, Cabinet designees could fan out across nation on the campaign trail, and thereby become better known to the American people. Cabinet members named before the election would also benefit from enhanced legitimacy and authority once in office. After all, if voters select their candidate based, in part, on the teams they choose, the team members indirectly gain the voters’ stamp of approval. This ratification would enable members of the next Cabinet to build more explicitly on the electoral mandate of the incoming administration.
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