Obama introduces the 'guardians'

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty)

President-elect Barack Obama today unveiled the newest members of his Cabinet, tapping former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary and Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to be his secretary of the interior.

"Together they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depends," Obama said at a Chicago news conference.

The dog whistles in Obama's remarks tell us few things. One, it's increasingly apparent how central energy security will be to the president-elect's agenda over the next four years. Yes, Vilsack will manage ag policy and Salazar will be the steward of the land, but Obama made clear he expects both of them to be major players in the development of new energy sources in the United States.

"If there's going to be a debate about oil shale, I want Ken at the table," he said.

Vilsack, Obama said, will lead the exploration on biofuels.

"Tom understands that the solution to our energy security will be found not in energy fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home," he said.

Obama indicated, as he often did during the campaign, that small, family farmers will get a better seat at the table with Vilsack in charge of farm policy -- and specifically as the point person on the always-controversial farm bill.

"I know these people," Vilsack said. "America's farmers and ranchers deserve a secretary of agriculture that respects them for the contribution they make to us every day."

Also notable in today's announcements was Obama's decision to go with locals for both posts, an extension, perhaps, of his campaign strategy of entrusting ground-level decisions to the people who know the ground best. Vilsack has a deep understanding of the rural Midwest, and Salazar's family is as part of the fabric of the American West as any.