I was talking with a friend and former professor of mine (who is much smarter than I) the other day, and he disagreed with my proposal of Senator John McCain as Secretary of Defense in an Obama cabinet. He said McCain is too rash and represents too much of an old type of thinking. I agree, but I am still too attached to the now-cliched team of rivals idea to not believe in a Secretary McCain.
The rumors say, though, that current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will stay on for an indeterminate amount of time. This does a couple things: it gives continuity in command during two wars (don’t change horses in mid-stream?); it gives Obama his discussed Republican in his cabinet; and it confirms something else: Obama likes the Bush 41 National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft Republican mentality a realist, pragmatic approach to dealing with the world.
But the question is, who comes after Gates? If not McCain, then I think it should be this guy.
Any thoughts?
(Nod: Talking Points Memo)
