As the presumptive Secretary of Commerce, former Gov. and King County exec Gary Locke first has to pass the pre-announcement stage, the post-announcement stage, and, finally, confirmation. There is the added stress factor that Obama’s two prior choices for the cabinet seat flamed out, so he’s got to be squeaky clean. The Seattle Times today says he’s exactly that, so it must be true. Of course, there was that memory loss and all those “I don’t recall . . . I don’t remember” statements to Congressional investigators in 1999, probing his gubernatorial campaign fund-raising efforts; the astonishing $3.2 billion tax break he gave to Boeing while never disclosing he paid $715,000 to – and relied on the advice of – Boeing’s own private consultant and outside auditor for advice; and those favors for his brother-in-law (who lived in the governor’s mansion), including a tax break for his relative’s company, personal intervention in a company dispute, and Locke’s signature on a federal loan application for the company.Other than that, yes, squeaky clean.