Ok, so Jonathan took me a little too literally when he wrote that I said Chuck Hagel’s pending retirement from the Senate cleared the way for him to become Hillary Clinton’s Secretary of Defense. However, Chuck Hagel would up the curb appeal of many a candidate. As a social conservative who’s got great defense credentials, but who’s been outspokenly critical of how the war is being handled, he could be a nice VP candidate for the Republicans—helping to keep some moderate Republicans and Independents in the GOP fold—so long as the top of the ticket was willing to be openly critical of Bush and what the surge has or hasn’t accomplished. And his social conservative bona fides would help, say, Rudy Giuliani.
That said, I do like the scenario where a Chuck Hagel type is floated, ahead of the election, by the Democratic primary winner to be the next Secretary of Defense. It signals biapartisanship—which we are going to sorely need to take on Iraq, climate changes, health care, etc.—and the qualities that would make Hagel toxic to liberals (pro-life, etc.) are safely sealed off in that post.
Bill Clinton, of course, made Republican Senator William Cohen his SecDef.
