Shadow Cabinet. It may seem obvious to us in countries that have the Westminster parliamentary system, but over at Daily Kos, they are discussing whether or not John Kerry should nominate a shadow cabinet and who should be a part of it. When we have an election under the Westminster system, we elect a party, which usually has a leader who we expect to be Prime Minister, but we do not vote for the leader directly. In effect, we elect the team who we think will run the country the best. And we know the teams because during their term in opposition, a shadow cabinet has been responding to and criticising the government's policies. The same principle should apply in presidential elections in the U.S. -- the president is not going to run the country on his own, so his choice of cabinet members and other high-ranking officials is an important one. Kerry should announce his proposed cabinet as soon as possible. This will have two immediate effects -- it will take the pressure off Kerry himself to respond to every comment by the Bush administration, and it allow a more detailed discussion of policy. As Josh Marshall says, "Put Richard Holbrooke, not campaign flacks on every show that will book him. He wants to be Secretary of State. Make him work for it." Kerry should put together a team and send them out to go head to head against the people whose jobs they want to take, leaving Kerry free to debate grand strategy rather than the specifics of each issue. It will allow the public to make a more informed decision about which administration they want when it comes to the vote in November.