The top gigs in Washington have the potential to influence policy and politics for the foreseeable future. National Journal suggests names for would-be Romney and Obama administrations, and this gallery features notable people of color who may be among them.
Former media mogul Conrad Black's attorney, Miguel Estrada leaves the federal courthouse surrounded by members of the media Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Chicago after U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve set bond at $2 million for Conrad Black, ruling that the former media mogul can't leave the continental United States and must return to a Chicago courtroom to receive further conditions of his release. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (National Journal) National Journal FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012 photo, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval speaks about Nevada's future from his office at the Capitol in Carson City, Nev. Sandoval's pivot from opposing tax extensions as a candidate to advocating for them as governor marks a shift to political middle ground that has won him accolades from moderates. But the popular first term governor is taking heat from conservatives and his about-face on extending taxes that would have expired could cause a rift in the Republican caucus when the Legislature convenes again next year. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) In this Jan. 17, 2012, photo, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez speaks in Santa Fe, N.M. The Republican National Committee has announced that Martinez will be one of the speakers at the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. (National Journal) In this Jan. 27, 2012 file photo, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno endorses Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, behind, at Romney's campaign event at the Lanco Paint Company in Orlando, Fla. Fortuno is trying to do what more than a century of American citizenship has failed to accomplish: teach Puerto Ricans to speak English as well as they do Spanish. (National Journal) Michelle Rhee, former chancelor of D.C. public schools and founder and CEO of StudentsFirst. (National Journal) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. (National Journal) WASHINGTON - MARCH 16: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the House Appropriations Committee's Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee about the Department of Justice FY 2011 budget on Capitol Hill March 16, 2010 in Washington, DC. Holder faced tough questions from the subcommittee about the collapse of support for his desire to bring 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others to civil criminal trial in New York City. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty Images) Commission on Wartime Contracting Commissioner Clark Kent Ervin testifies on Capitol, Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to examine transforming wartime contracting, focusing on recommendations of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. (AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta) (National Journal) Vice President Joe Biden, center, accompanied by Deputy Budget Director Rob Nabors, left, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, speaks at the White House Recovery and Reinvestment Act Implementation Conference, Thursday, March 12,2009, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (National Journal) United States trade representative ambassador Ron Kirk, speaks during an interview with APTN during a session of the OECD 50th Anniversary Forum at the OECD headquarters, in Paris, France, Thursday May 26 2011. (AP Photo/Jacques brinon) (National Journal) Hilda Solis at an NJ Live event on July 12, 2011. (National Journal) Maria Echaveste, director of the White House Office of Public Liaison poses in her office at the White House Thursday April 17, 1997. Echaveste s story is a classic American rags-to-riches tale, in which the daughter of immigrant farm workers ends up with an office at the White House. Along the way, she defied her father to go to college, became a lawyer, converted to Judaism, and waged war on sweatshops from a little-known Labor Department office. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (National Journal) Attorney General Kamala Harris urges lawmakers to approve a package of home foreclosure bills, known as the "homeowners bill of rights, during a joint legislative committee at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, June 27, 2012. The bills, which include a requirement of large lenders to provide a single point of contact for homeowners, and bar lenders from foreclosing while they consider alternatives to foreclosures, are expected to be brought before lawmakers for a full vote by the Legislature on Monday. (AP) Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, meets with the National Journal in their Washington D.C. offices on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (National Journal)
