Brian Katulis and Nancy Soderberg think that President Obama should strongly consider keeping Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense:
Gates understands that all three aspects are crucial, that for all our core national security problems — finishing the jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan, stabilizing Pakistan, defeating al-Qaeda, confronting a resurgent Russia and advancing the Middle East peace process — the secret to success will be improving the basic security of people in the area and giving them more comfortable, hopeful lives. If McCain and Obama understand this as well, they’ll ask Gates to stay put. He has served his country well, but his country isn’t done with him yet.
I concur that Gates has done a very credible job as Secretary of Defense, particularly considering what he's been given to work with. I've been especially pleased by his willingness to tangle with the Air Force. The next Secretary of Defense is going to have a remarkably difficult job, including fighting the war in Afghanistan, winding down the conflict in Iraq, and substantially downsizing what has become a bloated Defense Department. I can see the temptation to stick with the demonstrably competent guy who’s already there.
However, I still don't love the idea, largely for the reasons that Matt Yglesias laid out here:
It's desperately important for the Democratic Party's leaders to avoid re-enforcing the idea that Democrats can't run national security. If you find a moderate Republican with sound views on key environmental issues and make him or her head of the EPA, that says “climate change is an important issue and there's bipartisan support for taking action.” If you put a Republican in charge of the Pentagon it says “Obama likes diplomacy, but even he knows that when the going gets tough you need to call in the GOP.”
I also think that the idea of Gates working in the Obama administration sounds better in theory than it would work out in practice. I think it's fair to say that there's going to be a lot of muck for the new administration to clear away in its first several months, and some of that muck is inevitably going to stick to Gates. Moreover, whatever expertise Gates can offer can probably be bought for a price lower than a cabinet position.
—Robert Farley
