Miami Mayor Manny Diaz 'in the mix' for Obama post

[Thrill]

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz -- engineer of downtown's building boom, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, supporter of President-elect Barack Obama -- may soon add a new title to his résumé: member of Obama's administration.

City Hall has been abuzz this week with word that Diaz is being considered for a high-level post with the new president. Obama's transition team did not respond to a phone call or e-mail requesting comment, but Diaz Tuesday evening confirmed that a relocation to Washington is possible.

''It's nice to be in the mix; it feels good,'' Diaz said.

The Obama transition team has announced plans to create a new department -- the White House Office of Urban Policy -- that could be a good fit for Diaz, given his position as head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and tenure in a signature city.

Diaz said he did not know what federal position the Obama team may be considering him for, but he did not rule out any job.

''The country is going through very challenging times right now,'' Diaz said. ``But at the same time that means there's huge opportunities, and you know how I love opportunities.''

Originally a Hillary Clinton supporter, Diaz, a registered independent, threw his support to Obama in the general election. As mayor of the biggest city in the most populous region of the nation's largest swing state, that mattered.

The Cuban-American and bilingual Diaz provided Obama another voice through which to reach Florida's Hispanic voters. When Obama opted to speak entirely in Spanish for one TV ad, Diaz was part of the Obama team's conference call with reporters. The mayor hailed the ad as unprecedented.

Obama won a majority of Florida's Hispanic vote statewide -- something no Democratic presidential candidate had accomplished since exit polling of Hispanics first began in the 1980s. Obama also outperformed Republican candidate Sen. John McCain among Hispanics nationally by more than a 2-1 margin.

Now, as Obama creates his administration team, including Hispanics will likely be a priority.

There's another, distinctly local, element of intrigue regarding Diaz's future.

Should Diaz be offered a position by Obama, Miami's 2009 mayoral race would be turned upside down.

Miami commissioners would be charged with appointing a replacement to serve the last year of Diaz's term, with that person perhaps running next November to keep the seat.

One city commissioner, Tomás Regalado, is already an announced candidate for mayor, while another, Joe Sanchez, is expected to also jump in. Should either candidate receive the appointment to mayor, they would march toward next year's election armed with the advantage of incumbency.

Miami's legal department, according to several city sources, has already been studying the legal requirements of filling Diaz's seat, and how an appointment would be handled.

Diaz himself said he is unaware of the city putting together any such plans.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/767120.html

[Sebass1271]

1. this is great news!.. Obama should appoint some

hispanics in his cabinet. I would like to see where Obama can place Luis Gutierrez another congressman from IL. These two men are highly qualify, competent and brilliant just like Obama.
I hope this materialize.