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Is Anthony Foxx the new Ray LaHood?

The Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina is the only man on the short list who looks to be going all the way. Now his hometown Charlotte Observer is turning speculation into a news story. The Washington Post and others had already done so.

I’ve had him as favorite for a while, but this is Washington, this is politics and sign-reading for cabinet secretary replacements can be tricky.

Foxx has taken an aggressive policy to transportation in his area, and he’s on board with Obama administration favorites fast and light rail and streetcars. He has a reputation for favoring innovation and the ‘livability’ approach that is popular in the White House now. And he’s gotten good money from Washington for such projects, surely an indication of how favorably he’s seen by both Obama and LaHood. He was also a major helper in Obama’s reelection campaign.

There’s word a nomination is imminent. But this is politics, etc. So it may be coming or it may not.

But if Foxx is the guy, I’m thinking his honeymoon and immediate post-honeymoon periods will tell us what we need to know. Matter of fact, that would apply to whoever it is walks into the job. In the first stage you make some high-profile “this is who I am” moves, then you hunker down and see how many of them survive the reality shockwave.