No. Just...no

Ok, so this is going to be my second Andrew/Obama link in a row. I told you that I'm heating up.

A suggestion from Andrew for the hypothetically elected Barack Obama:

Talking out loud with Marc Ambinder yesterday, I realized that I hoped a president Obama would ask Bob Gates to stay on as defense secretary. Gates has been one of the real stars of the Bush second term, managing to guide the military between the rapids of Cheney and the rocks of reality. He's an immensely impressive, level-headed, pragmatic conservative, and he wouldn't, I think, be immune to outreach from an incoming Democratic administration faced with extreme challenges in the Middle East. No such arrangement could be made before the election, of course. But I figured it would be worth airing the possibility.

I'm going to go ahead and give Andrew points for trying to be both reasonable and optimistic. Gates has done a surprisingly good job with the cards that he was dealt. By all accounts he has taken a realistic approach to the war in Iraq, favoring strategies that will reduce violence towards civilians without needlessly endangering U.S. troops. So kudos to Gates for a job well done, and to Andrew for recognizing it.

That being said, this has got to be one of the worst ideas that Andrew has had this election season. If politics suddenly became, well, not in fact politics, but instead some sort of public policy meritocracy, then this would be a fantastic idea. Andrew is right, we should reward people, of all ideologies, for doing their jobs well. Good ideas, and the people behind them, should rise to the top.

Making a decision like this, in an ideal world, would be the sort of move that could build goodwill across the aisle and create a coalition for withdrawal. It would also send a bold statement to the American people that Obama is serious about creating a post-partisan Washington. This is, I think, where Andrew was going with this, and again, he does deserve credit for "being the change that we want to see in the world." It would certainly be unexpected, and in a different era might be a really good thing.

But we do not yet inhabit that world. In our world, Gates is a proxy for Bush's failed war. In the same way that Colin Powell provided cover for launching this disaster, Gates has become a screen of respectability that Rumsfeld clearly could not provide. Even as Cheney rattles the saber over Iran, pundits sleep better at night knowing that Gates is there to be a voice of reason. Gates' presence in the administration makes the entire organization seem much more sane. And this is precisely the problem.

Obama is running on change, especially foreign policy change, and especially foreign policy change in Iraq. To leave in place Gates as Secretary of Defense might be sound military strategy, but it is undoubtedly a political poison pill. To keep Gates in gives legitimacy to Bush and weakens Obama's narrative of change. Nine years later, the 2000 Nader fallacy that Bush and Gore were the same person actually becomes true in some strange sense. In addition, Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh, The Corner, Brookings, etc., get to trumpet the greatness that was Bush while furthering the narrative that Democrats have no idea what they are doing when it comes to the military/defense. I cannot stress how important it is to fight this narrative.

So long as Republicans are seen as the party of the military, no matter how much they screw it up, Democrats will never be able to lead the country abroad, or make effective critiques of the Republican establishment. As it stands now, Republican military decisions are brave and patriotic, while Democratic decisions are weak and uninformed. This is such a strong narrative that Hillary Clinton has embraced it by moving to the right on defense, which not only leads her to vote for crazy things, but also gives Republicans an added boost of legitimacy. Many Democrats followed Bush into war when high profile people like Clionton did not speak out against it. Think she learned her lesson? See: Last week when she argued that John "100 Years in Iraq" McCain would make a better leader than Obama. Yeah. I will note that this is not to favor one party over the other, although I clearly do, just to say that a one party in charge of the military situation is a terrible thing for democracy. Do we need more evidence of that?

If Bob Gates were the only possible person who could do the job, clearly that would be a different matter. But he's not. So let's leave the Republican-in-the-administration appointment for something else, shall we? Clinton really does have Andrew rattled. He needs to get his head back in the game.


Sunset Rubdown- Us Ones In Between
RIYL- Wolf Parade, Modest Mouse, Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah!, TV On the Radio

Ed. note: This is probably my favorite songwriter at the moment. I have been trying to get Wes into his stuff but he can't get past the vocals. What a shame.