Opinion: GM Chairman Pick Is Pure Politics

This opinion piece was written by Scott McKain, vice chairman of Obsidian Enterprises, co-founder of The Value Added Institute and author of "Collapse of Distinction - Stand Out and Move Up While Your Competition Fails". McKain also blogs at McKainViewPoint.com

If my very future depended upon selecting a single person to sink just one basketball shot, I'm picking Michael Jordan. If my life hung in the balance, and one individual from our history had to present an oration that would determine my survival, I would beg Martin Luther King to speak on my behalf.

So, why in the moment of its greatest trial would General Motors (GMGMQ Quote)-- described by now-CEO Fritz Henderson as desperately needing to succeed in two areas: "product and customers" -- turn in its time of crisis to someone with 43 years experience at the phone company? Don't get me wrong, Edward Whitacre, Jr. changed the landscape of that great American institution, AT&T (T Quote), reshaping it from a monopolistic giant into a diversified, competitive enterprise. He took the smallest of the so-called "Baby Bells" -- SBC -- and created a global powerhouse.

The problem is that what Whitacre foresaw for his company then -- colossal technological change and rapid consolidation -- is not the immediate future of the automotive industry. ...