It's week four of Fordham's name-the-next-education-secretary-daily-tracking poll, and yes, Arne Duncan is still in the lead. By a lot. Which means, according to one colleague of mine, that he probably won't get the job. If not, maybe another Chicagoan will: Oprah Winfrey. While she was first mentioned last week, she makes the big board for the first time today.
Why is Duncan such the heavy favorite? First, he's good friends with the President-Elect, which is no small matter. Second, he has been smart to reach out to both the reform camp and the establishment camp within the Democratic Party, for instance signing the Broader/Bolder manifesto but also the Education Equality one. And third, the diversity of President-Elect Obama's Cabinet picks thus far means that he can go with the white guy from Chicago for the education job if he wants to.
Other folks mentioned today: Colin Powell, Michael Lomax, Hugh Price, Ray Mabus, Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, Tom Vilsack, Freeman Hrabowski, Erskine Bowles, Roy Barnes, Ted Mitchell, and Jim Shelton.
