Obama considering John Kerry for job of defense secretary

[NYC Liberal]

Source: Washington Post

President Obama is considering asking Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to serve as his next defense secretary, part of an extensive rearrangement of his national security team that will include a permanent replacement for former CIA director David H. Petraeus.

Although Kerry is thought to covet the job of secretary of state, senior administration officials familiar with transition planning said that nomination will almost certainly go to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

John O. Brennan, Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, is a leading contender for the CIA job if he wants it, officials said. If Brennan goes ahead with his plan to leave government, Michael J. Morell, the agency’s acting director, is the prohibitive favorite to take over permanently. Officials cautioned that the White House discussions are still in the early phases and that no decisions have been made.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-considers-john-kerry-for-job-of-defense-secretary/2012/11/12/8a0e973a-2d02-11e2-a99d-5c4203af7b7a_story.html

[mac56]

1. Then how would that work?

Would there be a special election for his Senate seat? Or would the Governor appoint someone?

[NYC Liberal]

3. I think MA would have a special election

Someone might know differently but that's what a family member who lives in Boston told me.

I really don't want to see Scott Brown in another election there.

[liberalmuse]

5. It means Scott Brown would be back.

He's all queued in and ready to go. Noooo!

[valerief]

26. Jesus H. I hope not. We have enough shirtless FBI agents to deal with.

We don't need shirtless senators on top of that.

[Fearless]

43. I belive there would be a temporary governor's appointment if Kerry were to leave immediately

And then a special election would take place. That's what happened with Kennedy's seat.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Bad move

[acamp]

6. Scott Brown would run for the seat.

That's the talk here in MA, anyway.

[valerief]

27. Brown SUCKS. All Republicans SUCK. nt

[TomCADem]

42. Ditto - Why hand the seat to Scott Brown?

[Crowman1979]

4. Oh man! The RW-nutjobs are gonna throw a s***fit over that one.

They'll be screaming WINTER SOLDIER! WINTER SOLDIER! Till they are blue in the face.

[MH1]

12. I agree, and I think they might try to derail it.

I like and respect John Kerry, especially for what he did when he came back from Vietnam. But a large swath of people on the right don't understand it and consequently can't stomach it.

I think he would be a great Secretary of Defense but at the same time I think it would be spitting in the eye of a lot of people. This isn't a battle we should pick, IMHO.

[LeftInTX]

17. I agree

I also respect John Kerry, but feel that too many career military types will be upset.

[amandabeech]

39. That's what I think.

Kerry might not get the cooperation that he would need managing such a monstrous bureaucracy.

Kerry would be better at state.

Susan Rice was going with the video story about Benghazi several days after everyone else was. That's a disqualifier for me.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

32. The Senate usually fast tracks their own thru confirmation but this could still get messy.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

7. Hopefully OFA can get someone in his Senate seat. nt

[Mr_King]

22. Hopefully..

Governor Deval Patrick would run for the senate seat. That's what Joe Manchin did in West Virginia when Senator Byrd died. Patrick could appoint a place holder like he did when Teddy died and then run for the office himself in a special election.

[Kingofalldems]

8. Love it, and the freepers will go berserk

Swift Boating will commence again, only this time it won't work,

Only downside is defending his seat.

[Bossy Monkey]

9. Only if he appoints Scott Brown as ambassador to Afghanistan, say, first. n/t

[Panasonic]

10. Fugg him.l

I say appoint him to a permanent ambassadorship in the remotest part of Outer Mongolia, and not be let back in the United States.

[WheelWalker]

14. Dark side of the Moon, maybe.

[The Old Creak]

11. Fuck the freebers

State, maybe, Defense..............really?

[rury]

13. I hope not

I don't want any Democrats to leave the Senate.

[WheelWalker]

15. +1, not minus one.

[adieu]

20. I'm quite sure that

Any special campaign for Kerry's seat will result in a D senator. It would be nice to have Kerry stay there so that MA doesn't have two freshmen senators. When is Kerry's term up? If he is running in 2014, maybe he can be SoD or SoS in 2014 and have someone else run in his spot.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. You remember what happened....

when Kennedy's seat opened up, right?

[pscot]

25. Yes. That worked so well when Teddy died

This just isn't very smart politics.

[eringer]

16. The logical (and best) choice is John Hamre

He was on Obama's transition team and has been OSD Comptroller and DepSecDef. He knows the building well.
Here is his bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hamre

[madrchsod]

23. he certainly has the background to be the sec of defense

he would be an excellent choice

[Iggy]

18. NOT Sure How This Appointment Works

with the upcoming hysteria/carpet chewing by the war-profiteers over the potential miniscule cut to the defense budget; "ohhh, this is horrid, our nation's defense is utterly at risk now... Islamic drug hordes are poised at our border with Mexico... ready to invade and take over Tucson if we cut defense this 'severely'".

What a load... I just don't see Kerry as the guy able to put out this obvious high level of BOGUS-ness.

[adieu]

19. Leon Panetta

the current Secretary of Defense might be a good fit for CIA head. Not sure Kerry would be a good SoD. I'd like to see a good finance guy there to start the work of paring the bloated pig of all the unnecessary pork.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

31. Wasn't CIA his previous post?

[Paulie]

34. Yes he was.

[Joey Liberal]

21. Bad Move

We need Kerry in the Senate.

[Tx4obama]

28. This is not a fact. These are RUMORS. Not confirmed. Even the source hasn't been confirmed!

Someone is only 'floating balloons'

[groundloop]

36. AND.... would John Kerry even accept that job?

It's widely acknowledged that John Kerry would like the Secretary of State position, and probably would take that if offered. But nobody had hinted at whether or not he'd take the Defense job.

[El Supremo]

30. No. Secretary of State maybe when Hillary steps down but...

not Secretary of Defense.

[zonkers]

33. Take that, swiftboaters!

[wordpix]

35. I don't like this move on a number of levels

First, Kerry has been the face of doves, not hawks---can he stand up to the military when he doesn't have much of a military background? Will they work with him or try to take him down?

Confirmation could end up a big fight, too.

[JI7]

37. Kerry doesn't have much of a military background ?

but i agree about others who would object. people don't get over things and they still hate him for telling the truth about what was happening in Vietnam.

[davidpdx]

38. I agree that these are just rumors

I would rather see Kerry stay in the Senate. Any chance given to Scott Brown to slime his way back into the Senate would be a travesty.

[politicasista]

40. Interesting n/t

[woo me with science]

41. The biggest reason to oppose this:

It weakens the progressive majority in the Senate, something Obama also did with appointments in 2008.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021803895

[karynnj]

44. For what is it worth, the same WP just a few day's ago, said Kerry was a no go because Reid

wants him in the Senate. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/11/09/harry-reid-could-keep-john-kerry-from-secretary-of-state/

There are so many reasons why this seems more an effort to argue Rice for SOS.

1) Many articles - including the BG - mentioned that there were 2 "jobs Kerry always wanted" and they did not feel the need to explain that they were President and SOS. (In fact, Kerry himself has spoken of a third job that he loves - that is being Senator and Chair of SFRC.)

2) There are many who might feel that Obama is attacking the military by choosing someone who many on the right believe the smear that he attacked soldiers in 1971, though nothing is further from the truth.

3) If Obama has an ambiguous agenda of changing the military and ending the wars, he could best do this with a SOD who the military embraces wholeheartedly.

This may suggest that, in fact, Reid is NOT speaking against it. This makes sense given the Senate count and the likelihood that a great MA candidate could run against Brown's record - that he refused to speak about in the race with Warren.

Note that this is also written with the hypothesis that Susan Rice will be picked listed as a foregone conclusion. It may well be that Obama (or others on the foreign policy team) prefer Rice. It might even be that they (not Obama) realize that Kerry will be a bigger force on the team and their vested interest is for a weaker member of the team.

I think taking any cabinet position has one down side for Kerry. I think he likes things like town halls, meeting people and the political life. However, even as a young man he was fascinated by diplomacy and has demonstrated that he is very good at it. The NYT magazine last fall had a long article on Kerry that shows his genuine, innate diplomatic skill. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/magazine/john-kerry-our-man-in-kabul.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Kerry has been honest in saying that he did want to be SOS in 2008 when he could have denied it. I think Susan Rice would be a good choice, but I hate that many people pushing her have tried to make the argument by suggesting that the choice of Kerry is a bad one.

[BluegrassDem]

45. I think Deval Patrick would appoint a caretaker, then run in the special election

I suppose that's why he had a dinner with Obama last Friday.

[Ken Burch]

46. Kerry would be great...but the Swift Boaters would come roaring back to stop him.

Is he worth putting the party and the whole damn country through THAT again?

[Franker65]

47. Don't think he's suited to be defense secretary

I say state or leave him in the senate.