Hagel-Obama Fusion

Marc Ambinder makes the relevant point about an Obama-Hagel ticket: "There's a much simpler way for Obama to reap the benefits of having Hagel endorse him -- and that is to have Hagel endorse him."

Right. Any prospective Obama-Hagel partnership would be premised on shared ideas about foreign policy, so the natural thing would be for Obama to tap Hagel for some kind of foreign policy job. I don't think it would be a bad idea to have an internationalist Republican representing us at the UN, say. But ultimately Hagel just needs to decide whether or not thinks his old friend John McCain's foreign policy views are so unsound that he wants to endorse his Democratic rival.

Comments

Chuck Hagel on the ticket would have as much baggage as Bill Clinton. Political baggage, not personal.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Posted by matt | July 14, 2008 12:53 PM

Aren't there always some wacky, out-of-the-box names floated for VP picks? And yet, the people who wind up getting picked are usually pretty much in the box, as it were.

The limits of wild picks in recent memory would be Lieberman (Jewish, anti-Clinton), Quayle (very young-looking, not too experienced) and Ferraro (woman, pretty obscure). Compared to Obama picking Hagel or Gen. Jones, or McCain choosing, say, Bloomberg or Steele or Lieberman, those earlier picks seem the very soul of convention.

Posted by jlw | July 14, 2008 1:05 PM

Is Hagel really that great on foreign policy? I know he was against the surge, but he isn't a progressive internationalist is he?

Posted by Craig | July 14, 2008 1:17 PM

Speaking of endorsements, most Republicans (including McCain and Bush) heartily endorse Obama's position on the 4th Amendment.

Posted by steve duncan | July 14, 2008 1:53 PM

But consider the obvious down-side of Hagel in an Obama administration: Internationalist Republicans are not exactly thick on the ground. So removing one from the Senate is probably not a real good idea.

If you must have one, find one who is not currently in Congress, and so won't weaken that wing of the party by departing.

Posted by wj | July 14, 2008 2:18 PM

I don't think it would be a bad idea to have an internationalist Republican representing us at the UN, say.

You say the word "internationalist" but I don't think you know what it means. For some reason, you have confused "internationalist" with "isolationist".

Posted by Al | July 14, 2008 3:20 PM

one thing obama should NOT do is appoint hagel as sec. of defense. that would just reinforce the notion that only republicans can be trusted on foriegn policy.

Posted by mencken | July 14, 2008 4:57 PM

An Obama/Hagel ticket is just what the republicratic party needs.

Posted by kafka | July 14, 2008 9:47 PM

Hagel's a good man. His disgust with what the zionists have wrought is palpable and he'd be able to sell it to the general public much more effectively than Obama, Is he antipathetic to gay marriage, choice, etc.? Not so bad that you'd notice. On the central issue of our time - are we going to turn back from Joe Lieberman's foreign policy agenda or are we going to begin "The Clash Of Civilizations" in earnest - Chuck Hagel is a strong voice for Sanity Moral intelligence, and Honor.

Posted by Trevor | July 14, 2008 10:31 PM

Hagel and Patrick Leahy are about the only guys in Washington that I trust, and Leahy wouldn't make a good VP candidate. So despite being pretty conservative, Hagel is the best man that I know of for the job.

Posted by Owen | July 14, 2008 11:04 PM