Posted on 03/01/2008 9:30:09 PM PST by Fox_Mulder77
AS Barack Obama enters the final stages of the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, he is preparing to detach the core voters of John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, with the same ruthless determination with which he has peeled off Hillary Clinton’s supporters.
The scene is set for a tussle between the two candidates for the support of some of the sharpest and most independent minds in politics. Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war, and Richard Lugar, leader of the Republicans on the Senate foreign relations committee.
Senior advisers confirmed that Hagel, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and one of McCain’s closest friends in the Senate, was considered an ideal candidate for defence secretary. Some regard the outspoken Republican as a possible vice-presidential nominee although that might be regarded as a “stretch”.
Asked about his choice of cabinet last week, Obama told The Sunday Times: “Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine and I respect him very much,” although he was wary of appearing as though he was already choosing the White House curtains. But after winning 11 primary contests in a row after Super Tuesday, he is ready to elbow Clinton off the stage.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Rodney King as Secretary of State..
And the republicans deserve a butt kicking. They spent too much of our money, the dollar is a disaster, Iraq is draining money we don’t have and have to borrow from China & OPEC.
Then we nominate a 71 year old Dole redux. Except for the Bush tax cuts, I can’t see what the republican leaders have done to deserve better.
Chuckie Hegel - the wimp who cried in Congress.
Well, we better get used to it, since the McCainiac is - predictably - imploding. And we failed to coalesce behind a single conservative candidate, throwing Romney under the bus because the evangelicals have a feud going with Mormons.
Obama is not a Muslim. I am tired of stupid racist posts.
Obama is going to win...he has run a much better campaign then Hillary. I think McCain will lose...sigh. I don’t like McCain anyway. Ah well, at least I won’t have to deal with Clinton chaos and bimbo eruptions.
Lets quit blaming conservatives. Leave that to the RHINOs We had several conservative candidates who split the vote. This gave McCain his opening. Of course, the most liberal states voted first. The GOP wanted a moderate and they got their wish. Be careful what you wish for. There is no evidence that Evangelicals would not have supported Romney in the end. I supported Fred Thompson at first and not because I dislike LDS either.
All the more reason for all conservative voters throughout the U.S. to truly not stay at home on November 4 while seriously concentrating all of their efforts on all political offices at every political level outside of the Presidential race. A truly conservative majority in Congress will successfully prevent long-term socialism from happening throughout the U.S. no matter who the next “leftist” POTUS is!
Hitler wasn’t a commie, perhaps a bastard.
That’s rather an insult to Bob Dole. Despite some FReepers’ beliefs, Dole was not a liberal RINO. If McCain was more like Dole, that would be an improvement.
True, but he was charismatic like Barrack Obama. Hitler told the world and everyone, through his writings (My Life), exactly what he would do. Senator Obama has written books about his life, too, and if you read carefully you can figure out what he would do if he held power.
Hitler was a National Socialist (Nazi). Senator Obama is not just for national socialism, but for global socialism (communism), and establishing a global government. That is why he wants to turn over billions of dollars of our hard earned tax revenue to the United Nations under the guise of relieving poverty. It is blatant wealth redistribution, and most Americans are completely ignorant of it. His Global Poverty Act would strip our economy and destroy this nation. Hopefully Bush will veto it if it ever gets to his desk. The Republicans in the Senate ought to kill it outright any way they can.
Senator Barrack Obama is dangerous.
And you are sure of this because..............
There’s not a nickel’s difference between them. See the third quote on my FR profile page, the two-paragraph one by Hayek.
Oh, see, I thought Obama was saying he was going to appoint REPUBLICANS to his so-called cabinet.
Its not about republicans versus democrats. Its about centrists versus extremists. Its the RINO Main Street Republican centrists joining with DLC New Democrat centrists.
Earlier in the dem campaign there was an issue of whether or not Obama had been a member of the DLC.
So, when Obama considers RINOs for his cabinet, he is DLC. Also notice down towards the bottom of the article where it says that Obama is more like Bill Clinton than Hillary is. Bill Clinton started the DLC New Democrat movement.
The article also points out it is not just about left versus right, but also about populists versus elitists. Hillary is the elitist because she takes corporate/PAC money. Obama doesn't so he represents the "common man".
Because Obama is beating Hillary on populism, she released her "populist manifesto" two weeks ago. And they are both bad-mouthing NAFTA because NAFTA benefits the elites and hurts the "little guy". But it is only campaign rhetoric.
So ... the Obama campaign wants to solidify the media myth of The Big O's moderation and bipartisanship. The campaign floats a story that The One is considering a couple of Republicans. The press runs with the headline. The reporter has done his job. Political point scored. But there's actually nothing there.
First of all, any and every President considers, and usually makes, a couple of cross-Party appointments. That's routine. See Norman Mineta. See Bill Cohen. You do it perhaps for outreach, perhaps to help move a key issue on the Hill, or just to have something to throw back at the press when it accuses you of being narrowly partisan. (A bigger concern for Republicans than for dems, who would rarely be questioned on this.)
Would Lugar or Hagel consider such an offer? Well, if a President calls, you listen politely. You would have to have a meeting of the minds. You would have to be persuaded, for example, that a President Obama genuinely wants your leadership and will give you some running room, as opposed to simply wanting Republican cover for a Daily Kos foreign policy. That would probably be a hard sell.
What would I expect Lugar to say if a reporter asked him about this story? Lugar is a gentleman but also a pretty reliable Republican warhorse so I would expect him to say something like: "In many years in Congress I have worked with Presidents of both parties. The national interest transcends parties and I will do my best to work constructively with the next President, whoever it is. If Senator Obama wants my advice and counsel, I will certainly give it. But as for Secretary of State, no one has asked. I would be honored to be asked and would have to consider it carefully, but my view is that the best way to ensure a Republican Secretary of State is to elect a Republican President. So I will be working hard to elect John McCain."
Or words to that effect.
LOLOL!!!
I totally agree with you............... You have to admit though, it’s kinda funny that Obama would choose their names to float out there.
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