Chuck Hagel: Have Republicans preemptively sunk another Obama nominee?
Susan Rice bailed on her secretary of state bid after GOP hectoring. Now Obama's reported pick for defense is on the ropes, too
Only a week ago, the news media was confidently reporting that President Obama was planning to nominate former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary. Now, "besieged by criticism from right and left, and considerable skepticism from his former Senate colleagues," says Michael Hirsh at National Journal, "Hagel appears to be following the path of Susan Rice as a trial-balloon nominee who finds himself quickly losing altitude in Washington." As with Rice, President Obama's reported first pick for secretary of state who withdrew her name from consideration amid staunch opposition from some key Republicans, the White House is "now signaling that it may soon puncture Hagel's hopes," too. Just as Rice's exit opened the door for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) at state, Hagel's waning fortunes could be good news for Michele Flournoy, an under defense secretary in Obama's first term, or Ashton Carter, the current deputy defense secretary.
Most of the conservative criticism of Hagel has been over whether he's a strong enough supporter of Israel — he once used the phrase "the Jewish lobby" — and Tough enough on Iran. (From the left, he's facing heat over calling a Bill Clinton ambassador nominee, James Hormel, "openly aggressively gay" in 1998.) But Hagel "is also paying, in part, for his bluntness and bravery in advocating unpopular positions during his 12 years in the Senate," says National Journal's Hirsh, including his "gutsy and prescient stand against his own party and President George W. Bush in the run-up to the Iraq invasion — and his criticism of the war's management afterwards."
It's worth noting, says John Hinderaker at Power Line, that "Hagel was not sufficiently 'gutsy' or 'prescient' to vote against invading Iraq" — and that he wouldn't be on Obama's radar if he hadn't opposed the war. But in the end, his opposition to the Iraq War isn't the GOP's main problem with Hagel. "It's that his positions on key issues such as Iran, Israel, sequestration, and gay rights fall, in the words of Lindsey Graham, 'out of the mainstream' and, in some cases, 'well to the left of the president.'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Graham isn't alone, says Howard Kurtz at Daily Download. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the other key leader of the anti-Rice coalition, suggested that fellow Vietnam vet Hagel isn't a real Republican, and an unidentified GOP senator told Politico that the Nebraska Republican is "prickly." Outgoing Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) — the third "amigo" of Graham and McCain — said on Sunday that Hagel would face a "a very tough confirmation process." It seems almost "quaint now," says Kurtz, but "there was a time when the Senate delivered its advice and consent for Senate nominees," using confirmation hearings to air their misgivings. Now "we have a full-fledged war over Chuck Hagel that is taking place entirely in the media," and "if the artillery shelling gets too heavy, he will go the way of Rice — without so much as a nomination, let alone a vote."
"Comically, the [GOP] campaign to discredit Hagel, in an attempt to create a constant drumbeat of scandal or scandal-esque news, is casting him as... a Republican," says Jonathan Chait at New York. Apparently the neoconservative attack of his dumb "Jewish lobby" statement and the alleged gay-bashing aren't doing the trick, so now conservatives are criticizing him for praising segregationist Republican Strom Thurmond as a "role model" on his 100th birthday. But "vintage nineties-era anti-gay bigotry and embrace of the most virulent segregation-era racists were completely standard positions for the Republican party during Hagel's Senate career," so calling those morally disqualifying "is a strange argument for conservatives to make."
The irony of this "character assassination by media narrative" from Republicans is that "the political logic of a Hagel appointment is to demonstrate bipartisan outreach by President Obama," says John Avlon at The Daily Beast. Hagel is, after all, a Republican, and plenty of Democrats "question the need for any outreach to Republicans at all after a decisive election victory." His opposition to the Iraq war is his "cardinal sin" among the GOP, even though it was "from the perspective of a small-government conservative and a highly decorated Vietnam vet, skeptical of the costs that come with unnecessary wars." If they would take a step back, Hagel is "a thoughtful patriot squarely in the mainstream of American foreign policy," and he deserves a proper confirmation hearing in front of his former colleagues.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week Junior
Spark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
By The Week Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published