At the pace in which potential candidates for top spots in the Obama administration are being leaked to the press, it was bound to happen: someone got one wrong.
CNN quoted multiple unnamed sources yesterday evening that Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker was the top choice to become secretary of the Commerce Department. The 49-year-old billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, Pritzker was national finance chair of Obama’s record-breaking presidential campaign, which netted $640 million.
But after numerous media sources picked up the news, Pritzer issued a statement today saying she was not in the running for the position.
ABC News quotes Obama officials as saying Pritzer was never in serious contention for the post. “The reports over the last 24 hours are simply not true,” one aide said.
Perhaps so. Or perhaps Pritzer reconsidered after taking a look at a just-released report from the Commerce inspector general, which details the many challenges awaiting the next secretary.
