I do not recommend Chuck Hagel as our next Defense Secretary but he isn’t being considered because he will get along well with AIPAC or the Republicans in Congress. He is being considered because his selection would enable Obama to drink more of the Republicans’ milkshake. Whenever Obama can co-opt a prominent Republican and bring him or her into his government, he has a strong incentive to do it. Even if he isn’t bringing them in, an endorsement is worth a lot. Whether it is Robert Gates or Ray LaHood or Charlie Crist or Lincoln Chafee or Colin Powell or Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan or William Buckley’s kids, when Obama picks off traditional Republicans, he moves the GOP further to the fringe.
