ABCNews earlier reported this is a "done deal," as diaried by bugscuffle. Now Politico seems to confirm this:
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as secretary of State, officials said.
Note that this is not sourced to the campaign.
Is it a savvy pick? or a cause for concern? On the savvy pick side, it allays criticism by prowar factions. Now, one of the architects of the "surge" will be charged with executing the new Commander-in-Chief's withdrawal plans. It demonstrates the much touted "bipartisanship" and working together blah blah blah.
On the other hand, as LithiumCola detailed earlier this year, Robert Gates is a proponent of a permanent, global counter-insurgency effort. In as much as Obama buys into the logic of the war on terror, let's hope that this POV doesn't exert too much influence on President Obama. Indeed, it seems that one of the sticking points of a Gates appointment is his staffing--will he be allowed to keep his neo-con staff?
David Axelrod assured viewers on Sunday that retaining Gates would not indicate a shift in policy:
David Axelrod, the incoming White House senior adviser, said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week": "The president-elect was clear throughout the campaign that when he became president, that he was going to give the secretary of defense a new mission, and that mission was going to be to wind down our involvement. Nothing has changed."
Axelrod said Obama enjoys and invites strong opinions and there will be no "potted plants" in his Cabinet.
I'm sure that many of us DailyKos bloggers will be against this pick. I am.
What do you think?
And do you think it's a done deal? Or a very substantial trial balloon? Can we still push back?