The parties are all lining up to fight against another Obama nomination.
President Barack Obama plans to nominate retired Senator Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. The twist this time around, though, is that Hagel is a Republican.
So do his fellow Republicans hate him because Obama wants him? Do the Democrats hate him because he’s a Republican, but want to support him since he’s Obama’s choice?
Or will Obama just toss Hagel back into the nomination pool and try again with someone else?
It’s a dilemma that’s got lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in odd spots. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R, Ky., wouldn’t endorse Hagel on ABC’s “This Week”, but said he’ll be thoroughly vetted.
I’m going to take a look at all the things Chuck has said over the years. I’m going to want to see how the hearings go.
He’s not the only Republican that’s criticizing their former teammate. Arizona Sen. John McCain says Hagel is too critical of Israel and too soft on Iran and its nuclear program.
And South Carolina’s Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN that he likes Hagel as a friend, but he is “out of the mainstream” on foreign policy views, his nomination would be “antagonistic,” and he’s cut his ties to the Republican Party.
This is an in-your-face nomination by the president. This is a controversial pick.
Gays are also mad at Hagel because he criticized a gay ambassador’s nomination back during the Bill Clinton presidency.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, noted that Hagel is a Republican and Obama is entitled to name his own team. But he stood up for Hagel, saying he’s a former senator, a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam and has a great deal of foreign policy experience.
Hmm, a Democrat likes a Republican. What’s next? Will Hell REALLY freeze over?
Obama last week called Hagel “a patriot” who’s already serving on his intelligence advisory board. And he’s apologized for that gay slur, Obama said.
Hagel’s been going rogue for awhile though. He criticized the Iraq War during George W. Bush’s administration and this fall, he did something so horrible, so terrible…okay, we’ll just say it. He endorsed a Democrat , Bob Kerrey, for Senate from Nebraska.
Noooooooo……!
So, is every Obama nomination going to be a fight? Last month, his nominee for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was tossed out because Republicans didn’t like U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. Sen. John Kerry got the spot eventually.
Or maybe try this: Don’t nominate who you really want. You know your first pick is going to get thrown out anyway, so pick someone really bad for the first round, and then pick who you really want.
So what if it seems like something a teenaged girl would do to get around her parents?