A Job for Hagel in Obama's Cabinet?

By: WOWT Email
By: WOWT Email

Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's political career may keep going after he leaves the Senate in January, if predictions that he'll be chosen as a member of Barack Obama's Cabinet prove true. The Democratic president-elect has said he'll put Republicans in his administration. Hagel's name continues to be on the short list of candidates that political blogs and news stories suggest for jobs in the Obama administration.

One job possibility tossed around - secretary of state. Others believed to be under consideration for that position include New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and Democratic Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Hagel has kept quiet on the possibility, and his office didn't respond to interview requests by the Associated Press. But Hagel said before the election he wouldn't rule out a spot on Obama's ticket as vice president or in his administration.

Hagel gained notoriety for his harsh criticism of the Iraq war, and his knowledge of foreign affairs is "encyclopedic," said Ross Baker, a congressional scholar at Rutgers University who once served as a senior adviser to Hagel. Baker said Hagel would make a good secretary of state.

Others suggest Hagel as secretary of defense, including some anti-war activists.

"Hagel would be a good choice," said Medea Benjamin, executive director of the peace group CodePink. "I think he's shown himself to be an outspoken critic of the terrible policies of the Bush administration."

According to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, nearly three-quarters of Americans would like Obama to name some Republicans to his Cabinet.

Hagel considered his own presidential bid, but then announced last year he wouldn't seek a third term or the GOP presidential nomination. He was also widely mentioned as a running mate on an independent ticket with Michael Bloomberg until the New York mayor said he wouldn't run. Speculation swirled this summer that Obama would pick Hagel as his running mate, especially after Hagel accompanied Obama in July on a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan.


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