At last night’s debate John McCain was asked who he might choose as the new Treasury Secretary to replace Henry Paulson. He dropped the name of billionaire Warren Buffett (an Obama supporter) and jokingly shot down Tom Brokaw, but his top pick in all seriousness was former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

He’s mentioned them both before, along with Cisco’s John Chambers, and even considered Whitman as a potential vice president. But would a CEO from Silicon Valley – an area associated with bubble bursts and risky investments – necessarily be the best person to manage the U.S. economy?

"It's going to have to be somebody who inspires trust and confidence," the Arizona senator said at the debate, of whom we would "immediately say 'we can trust that individual.'"

Whitman is no longer CEO but is still on the eBay payroll. While eBay grew significantly under her direction it just announced cuts of 10 percent of its workforce in an attempt to streamline its costs, and has been described by some analysts as "deteriorating."

McCain also said that "1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay," and that this demonstrates her ability to create jobs.

But equating real job growth to people making money through an online auction site is a dangerous comparison, says Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of TechPresident and the Personal Democracy Forum.

"Picking someone from Silicon Valley or any industry without deep banking industry acumen is the financial equivalent of saying one has foreign policy experience because they can see another country from their beach," said Rasiej.

His pick from Silicon Valley would be someone like Michael Moritz, a venture capitalist from Sequoia Capital and former board member of Google.

McCain admits that he doesn’t know how to use a computer, so floating around names from the tech industry could simply be an attempt to counter the notion that he isn't tech savvy (at least in his associations).

On the other hand – while they are facing a bit of a downturn like everyone else – watching companies like Google grow from a startup to a household name is impressive, and they could very well spawn a savior to the sad state of the economy.

To his credit, though, at least McCain named names; Obama merely agreed that Buffett was a good prospect.

Who else do you think the new president should consider from Silicon Valley, if anyone? Our genuine and fanciful Treasury Secretary choices are below.

Be sure to vote – early and often is legal in this case – and to nominate your own!

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