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Esteemed former editor guy Mike Tomasky says, "What if Obama is set to announce more than his veep? What if he's going to announce, say, a couple of major Cabinet appointments in addition to his vice president? I loooove this idea. Especially if it includes (are you there God? It's me, Tomasky) Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense."Two things. This preemptive cabinet thing comes up a lot so it's worth reminding folks that it's actually illegal to announce your cabinet ahead of time:
Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.You can do what Bush did in 2000 and leak who you'd like to appoint and appear with them in public a lot, but you can't announce your government in September. As for Hagel, I can't express what a bad idea this is. The primary problem for Democrats in contemporary American politics is that issues of foreign policy and war are the province of Republicans. Democrats may be good at giving your kid health care, but when it comes to keeping the nation safe, you need to call the Daddy Party. In this, Democrats are more than complicit. Bill Clinton named William Cohen, a Maine Republican, as his Secretary of Defense. For Obama to win this election on a liberal foreign policy message amidst the collapse of the GOP's foreign policy credibility and then turn, immediately, and ask a Republican to take care of his defense portfolio is unthinkably shortsighted politics. If Republicans say Democrats can't be trusted to handle national security, and Democrats keep turning to Republicans to handle national security, why should voters question the claim that Democrats aren't to be trusted on national security? Does the Democratic message become that their choice in Republican defense secretaries is better than the Republican Party's choice in Republican defense secretaries?
