Barnstorming Obama plans to pick Republicans for cabinet

[Inuca]

A view from the other side of the pond http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3466823.ece

AS Barack Obama enters the final stages of the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, he is preparing to detach the core voters of John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, with the same ruthless determination with which he has peeled off Hillary Clinton’s supporters.

The scene is set for a tussle between the two candidates for the support of some of the sharpest and most independent minds in politics. Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war, and Richard Lugar, leader of the Republicans on the Senate foreign relations committee.

Senior advisers confirmed that Hagel, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and one of McCain’s closest friends in the Senate, was considered an ideal candidate for defence secretary. Some regard the outspoken Republican as a possible vice-presidential nominee although that might be regarded as a “stretch”.

Asked about his choice of cabinet last week, Obama told The Sunday Times: “Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine and I respect him very much,” although he was wary of appearing as though he was already choosing the White House curtains. But after winning 11 primary contests in a row after Super Tuesday, he is ready to elbow Clinton off the stage.

Much more, including speculation about Bloomberg as education czar (??) and who & when will tell Hillary that it's over.

[Radical Activist]

1. Any Democratic President will do that.

Bill Clinton did.

[Inuca]

3. Yes, Cohen, not a bad choice n/t

[thunder rising]

2. If you're going to make something up, may as well be a TALL tale

[sandnsea]

5. Exactly

I've noticed some of the most wild remarks about Obama have come from the British or Australian press. Very weird.

[ctaylors6]

26. it was also reported by abcnews, I believe

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/obama-says-hed.html

[panader0]

4. My cabinet picks:

Clark for SO Defense
Richardson for SO State
Edwards fo Att Gen.
Any suggestions?

[yourout]

6. Lieberman for Head of Refuse Management.

That way he is out of the Senate.

[stop the bleeding]

7. LOL

:spray:

[anonymous171]

12. Good idea. nt

[JimGinPA]

9. None Of Those Three Have Supported Obama

Why would he want to choose any of them? There are supporters of his that are far more qualified.

[Recursion]

35. Because he'll hire for competence, not loyalty n/t

[mckeown1128]

19. No... you picks were perfect : ) N/T

[gristy]

8. Now there is an interview transcript I would like to read

Reporter: "Who do you intend to choose for your cabinet?"
Obama: "Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine and I respect him very much."

Somehow I doubt it.

[TwilightGardener]

17. No, they have a good working relationship, apparently--they've

worked together on several bills in the Senate. They have a mutual-admiration thing going on.

[ContinentalOp]

31. I think Gristy means that the quote was clearly misleading.

It was probably a leading question like "will you appoint any Republicans to your cabinet? How about rumors that you have close ties to Hagel." etc. Hence the "Hagel is a friend of mine" answer.

[billybob537]

10. I'd pick republican senators

ones with the highest chances of being replaced by a Democrat.
And I'd leave Joe Lieberman Totally and completelty alone. You see after the tide turns next fall the Pukes wont have any use for him either.

[Inuca]

11. Not exactly the best way

to achieve a competent administration.

[Exilednight]

20. Appoint Lieberman to some dull cabinet position that no one cares about, then ....

fire him after 6months to a year. I don't care who gets elected, but that should be the first priority.

[Peregrine Took]

13. Hillary ought to run with this one.

[Inuca]

14. Meaning....? n/t

[Donna Zen]

15. Well you know...

How Hillary Clinton will send Colin Powell to travel as our world ambassador.

[Blarch]

16. Make sure he has his vile of anthrax.

[Blue_Roses]

18. I could deal with Chuck Hagel for this position

but that's it.

[stillcool]

21. Interesting...

after reading the article it seems the writer was one of the press on the plane, so he got his information "on the fly". No wonder it seems so dis-jointed and speculative. I have no idea who Obama will pick as his Cabinet members, and obviously Sarah Baxter doesn't either.

[Donna Zen]

22. Chuck Hagel voted for the war

and has continued to support bush's policies. He isn't quite as crazy as the rest of them, but he is also not a progressive anything.

Never, never, never should a Democratic president turn over foreign policy or defense to the republicans. Cohen was right there for bush when the time came. Also, during his time at the Pentagon, Cohen was known behind his back as "Senator" Cohen because his actions were so partisan.

Now can the Democrats handle defense or foreign policy or do they need the republicans to hold their hands? Offer them something that won't come back to bite us.

[TwilightGardener]

23. It's customary to appoint a member of the opposing party in a cabinet spot--

McCain has said he will do it with (ugh) Lieberworm, the Independent Democrat. Hagel is their Lieberman. And while he did vote for the war, he was one of the first and loudest to voice doubt on it among those who voted for it, and then call for it to end, in either party. Far ahead of, and far more vocal, than Hillary. He's also gone against his party on waterboarding, Gitmo, habeas corpus, and Iran--and on foreign policy in general. He and Obama have worked on nuclear non-proliferation measures and global poverty together. I would be very surprised if he wasn't in Obama's cabinet.

[amandabeech]

25. Which dems have served in the Bush I and II cabinets?

Which then dems were in Reagan's? How about pubbies in Carter and Dems in Ford and Nixon? Did Lyndon or Jack or Harry or Franklin have pubbies?

I've never heard this before. I'm truly curious and although I've followed the news and history somewhat, I can't come up with anyone recently other than Cohen in Clinton's.

[TwilightGardener]

27. Bush has a Dem in his cabinet--Norman Mineta--Transportation Sec, I think.

Kennedy had McNamara and Dillon (Defense and Treasury). Roosevelt had Stimson (Repub) as Secretary of Defense. Eisenhower had a Democratic Sec. of Labor. Other than that, I don't know.

[RBInMaine]

38. True. May have had one other too.

[amandabeech]

39. Thanks for the info, everyone. n/t

[Donna Zen]

29. Not at Defense

bush gave the Democrats "Transportation." The Dems need to reclaim their lead on national security and defense. The signal to America will be that Dems. can't handle the international scene. If Hagel wants something that suits his interests, offer him the UN. Not Defense.

If bush had given the Pentagon to a Democrat how could the republicans claimed that Dems were soft on Defense? And if we fail to take this opportunity to prove that we can handle the big jobs, how will we counter their charge? It has now been 12 years since a Democrat was in charge of the Pentagon.

Rather than having a Democrat to appear on the talk shows, we had Cohen who is both a republican and agreed with bush's war. Madeline Albright is aging, we need a Democrat to be speaking to the nation. Further more, their philosophy and policies would not be what the nation needs if we are to construct a strategic framework that meets our needs and rejects the republican ideas of subtle imperialism. Finally, the Pentagon has been filled with bush's promotions that will need to be replaced with officers that reduce the influence of the right-wing religious nuts. Hagel will not do that.

[TwilightGardener]

30. Well, you aren't that familiar with Hagel, then--he's my Senator, and

he does not allow politics to mix with defense, intelligence, and foreign policy matters. John Kerry recently asked him to join Kerry's and Gary Hart's foreign policy think tank. He is not a neocon-- his foreign policy views, and war/defense views, are identical to Obama's in almost every way, except that Hagel does not support defunding the war. He's really a good choice for SecDef or SoS.

[Donna Zen]

32. 12 Years

The republicans have controlled the Pentagon for 12 years. Why does it come as a surprise that the Democrats are considered weak on defense? You will never see the republicans turning over the keys to the Pentagon to a Democrat and its budget; they understand what happens when a party makes that foolish mistake.

Are we and the rest of America to believe that there is not one Democrat capable of running the military?

There are many things broken at the Pentagon that go beyond the tanks, guns, and our the bodies of our soldiers. Someone who understands what happens when the Christian Right gets their foot in the door of a powerful institution needs to clean house. Whoever wins will be adding divisions. How those divisions are tasked and modeled is very important to the future.

And then what? For the next decade the only retired SoDs talking on the Sunday shows will be republicans. Cohen was suppose to be a reasonable republican but when push came to shove, he was there to shill for bush.

I never referred to Hagel as a neo-con. I've also seen speak in public and understand his views from reading his foreign policy speeches. Hagel's philosophy is fine as far as it goes although I don't find it terribly creative; however, he is not a progressive and there are certainly progressive issues within the military including gays and women.

Bottom line, the Democrats would be fools to place a republican in a position when they have waited so long to get the opportunity to advance one of their own who would be at least as good if not better.

[Honeycombe8]

28. He voted for the war, but then turned...said we should withdraw. He was spitting mad about it, too.

He could only that, of course, because he was retiring from the Senate.

I think he also said it had been a mistake...going in, not just the way it was conducted. He was angry about how the vets were being treated, the extended service times for the troops, etc.

No, he's not progressive. He's a Republican. He's in favor of drilling in the ANWR, so I would hate him to be put in charge of anything energy related or environmental related.

I expect Obama to put some Repubs in his cabinet.

[Inuca]

33. He became strongly anti-war

long before he announced his retirement. He is also anti-Guantanamo, pro-habeas corpus, etc. Of course he is not a progressive, but he is a decent and smart man. And on foreign policy he is in synch with the best of the dem foreign policy experts (see his recent trip to Pakistan, etc. with Biden and Kerry, I doubt they decided to have him tag along just for the sake of token bipartisanship).

[BenDavid]

24. DON'T LOOK FOR MORE HONOR THAN YOUR LIFE MERITS,

[carlotta]

34. This Chuck Hagel??

The respected Washington, DC publication The Hill (www.thehill.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx) has confirmed that former conservative radio talk-show host and now Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel was the head of, and continues to own part interest in, the company that owns the company that installed, programmed, and largely ran the voting machines that were used by most of the citizens of Nebraska.

Back when Hagel first ran there for the U.S. Senate in 1996, his company's computer-controlled voting machines showed he'd won stunning upsets in both the primaries and the general election. The Washington Post (1/13/1997) said Hagel's "Senate victory against an incumbent Democratic governor was the major Republican upset in the November election." According to Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org, Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely Black communities that had never before voted Republican. Hagel was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska.

Six years later Hagel ran again, this time against Democrat Charlie Matulka in 2002, and won in a landslide. As his hagel.senate.gov website says, Hagel "was re-elected to his second term in the United States Senate on November 5, 2002 with 83% of the vote. That represents the biggest political victory in the history of Nebraska."

What Hagel's website fails to disclose is that about 80 percent of those votes were counted by computer-controlled voting machines put in place by the company affiliated with Hagel. Built by that company. Programmed by that company.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htm

[still_one]

36. I am very skeptical of this story. This is almost as good as the Canadian story

indicating that the Obama camp made a special call to the Canadian embasy, telling that not to take his NAFTA remarks seriously. Not only did Obama deny that story, so did the Canadian government officials, and the TV network started to wessel its way out

Here we have a similar thing, "two unamed advisors, close to the Obama campaign", what BS

I want confirmation, for several reasons:

1. Obama doesn't even have the nomination wrapped up, why would he even float a story like this?
2. I believe Hagel said he was stepping out of politics, this counters that
3. Unless I see a confirmation from Obama, and the U.S. MSM, I remain skeptical

[RBInMaine]

37. Bill Clinton had R's in his cabinet, and Bush has had a Dem or two.