Another embarrassment for the future member of the Obama administration?

The Patrick administration has been discussing whether to name an early campaign supporter as head of a state bonding agency, a job that pays as much as $225,000 a year, according to an e-mail written by a Walsh political adviser that outlines the plan.

By installing state Senator Marian Walsh, a West Roxbury Democrat and early supporter of Governor Deval Patrick's 2006 campaign, as executive director of the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority, the administration would be trading down in expertise.

A former Suffolk County prosecutor and longtime legislator, Walsh has no detailed job experience in public bonds and nonprofit debt. The current executive director, Benson T. Caswell, has an extensive background in the field.

A switch also could be expensive, creating a major hurdle for Walsh to get the job: Firing Caswell would cost the state $450,000, according to terms of his severance package.

If Patrick moves ahead with the plan, it would mark a shift for the governor, who declared after his campaign that lawmakers need not apply for administration jobs. At the time, Patrick's statement was in keeping with his campaign promises to reform Beacon Hill culture and reduce political patronage hiring.

The more things change...

UPDATE: More from Red Mass Group, Scott Allen Miller, Howie Carr and the Globe.

SECOND UPDATE: From the Herald.