Rodney Brown

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi never let a stump speech go by without reminding the audience that, as governor, he would be able to appoint hundreds of new state officials from the “blueberry commission on up.”

That didn’t happen, but on the federal level Democratic President-elect Barack Obama, taking over after eight years of Republican George Bush, will have the authority to appoint thousands of officials to government jobs, including a number of high profile posts here in Washington state.

Speculation has already begun for many of the top posts, including U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshall and regional directors of bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency.