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Forget Joe Biden. Obama's advisers want retain Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense
Question to those in the fringe left who argue that our nation is less safe now than it was years ago. How come Obama's top foreign advisors want Richard Gates to be Obama's Secretary of Defense?
I applaud Obama for moving to the center and recognizing that some of Bush's picks have been very wise.
Today the Sunday Times of UK reports:
Richard Danzig, an adviser to Obama on national security and a former navy secretary, said: “My personal position is Gates is a very good secretary of defence and would be an even better one in an Obama administration.”
And...
Ivo Daalder of the Brookings Institution in Washington, a foreign policy adviser to Obama, said: “Robert Gates is one of the best defence secretaries we have had in a long time and it makes a lot of sense to keep him.”
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Comments (17)
What's the reference to Joe Biden? I probably just missed something, but has he been pushing for Gates to be kept on at Defense? Or has someone been pushing Joe for Defense instead of State or VP?????????
As to my thoughts on the matter:
Obama/Biden '08!!!!
June 29, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Many Democrats in the blogosphere want Biden to be Sec. of Defense.
June 29, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Elizabeth,
Biden is my pick for either Secretary of State, or held in the wings for the next SC vacancy.
June 29, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
He strikes me as a levelheaded and pragmatic Sec. of Defense. With Fallon gone, perhaps he's the only one preventing an attack on Iran solely for political purposes (ie - getting McSame elected...)? (This is just a guess on my part...) If so, and he succeeds in preventing further damage by Bush & Cheney, then he should be rewarded with keeping his job under Obama.
June 29, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Totally agree. Gates was instrument in holding off the first build up to war with Iran.
June 29, 2008 10:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree as well. I actually think he is doing a pretty good job in a very, very difficult position. He is putting some brakes on the loons and he is returning some credibility to the dod. I liked his response to the airforce fiasco and walter reed. Heads rolled, not spinning all over the stupid place denying reality and the facts. I don't see a problem with keeping him on and it might be a good idea. A new team in town and he would implement that team's policy. Also, on the iraq study group he wanted us out of iraq within a year as well. I actually kind of like the guy.
June 29, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Robert Gates I'm down with. Richard Gates not so much. :)
June 29, 2008 10:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Any Advisors that are promoting who should be in Obama's cabinet should be let go now. Nothing turns off voters more than having it appear that a candidate is taking their votes for granted.
June 29, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree.
June 29, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Last one, I don't know why I do this multiple response stuff, but I have to disagree. I think its a brilliant idea to float names about who might be in the cabinet. It shows that he will surround himself with the best regardless of party. Also, it alleviates the experience bs. We all know that he will hire the best and the brightest, but it's a good idea to let the low information voters as well, so that they aren't worried about the experience issue. If I were him, I would name some of the people to the cabinet, if elected, a couple of months before the election. It's not presumptuous and won't turn voters off. It will give them an idea of what an obama administration would look like.
June 29, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently, just like a Bush administration.
Since most Americans don't know diddly about Gates and at most know he is Bush's Secretary of Defense, it's hard for me to tell how you'd send a louder signal that you intend to stay the course than by leaking that you intend to retain Bush's foreign policy team. What will it be next, Condi at State to throw women a bone?
I hope this is the work of trolls. Heck if he wants a Republican "realist" he could probably get Kissinger.
June 29, 2008 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You obviously don't know alot about bob gates. He would be the only one that is currently serving that I think obama should consider. Did I say anything about rice, the f'n liar or kissinger? Give me a break. Did you disagree with the bipartisan iraq study group's findings? If the f'n king followed their advice, we would be out of iraq already.
June 29, 2008 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
edit: advisers
June 29, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
biden wants to be sec of state more than anything else.
if keeping gates is part of obama's run to the center, so be it.
gates has done well enough.
as for talking about the cabinet and whether advisers who do so should be let go, i honestly think that stuff is up to obama to leak, squelch, retain, or fire.
you're either voting for obama or you're not, regardless of how and when he chooses his cabinet. it's like the most trivial issue there is, compared to what else is on the plate.
cabinet members change regularly anyway; if someone's not right for the job, we can get rid of him or her. personal loyalty to friends isn't as much an obama problem as it is a bush problem.
June 29, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is the National Guard home from Iraq yet? No? Then whatever you neocons like about Gates, I don't share it.
Don't look now, but the hawks have retaken the party without a fight.
June 29, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gates is not a neocon. He is working in the king's administration and is probably the only person in that f*cked up administration keeping us from war with iran. He is a foreign policy realist and he is doing a decent job in a bad situation.
June 29, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gates was responsible for starting the war in Iraq?
You learn something new every day...
June 29, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
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