LIST OF AG SECRETARY CANDIDATES EXPANDS

Selection no earlier than Thanksgiving and probably later

  Experience teaches that more often than not someone touted for a cabinet secretary slot early on likely doesn't get it, however the list of candidates for Secretary of Agriculture continues to expand. The former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa has recieved the most lip service, with many contending his selection would be a political pay-back from the Obama Administration, based on Vilsack's short-lived run for the Democrat nomination during the Iowa caucuses. The newest name on the list is John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Assn., a fourth generation Virginia farmer and unsuccessful 2000 House candidate, who has pushed various Administrations for years on civil rights and equal treatment issues related to black farmers and ranchers. The other most-talked-about candidates are former Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D, TX), now a consultant with a Washington law firm; Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union (NFU), a registered lobbyist; Rep. Collin Peterson (D, MN), sitting chair of the House Agriculture Committee who's repeatedly said he isn't seeking the job, and North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, a very distant long-shot candidate, but being touted by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Also new to the list are Dallas Tonsager, a South Dakota farmer, former state Farmers Union president, and co-chair of the Obama ag advisory team; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius (D), and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D, SD), both of whom are also touted as possible candidates for Secretary of Health & Human Services, as well as other slots in an Obama Administration.  Also making the list is Marshall Matz, a Washington food and nutrition attorney at the same law firm as Stenholm, who co-chaired the Obama agriculture advisory committee.