“Defense issues will come into play as the budget talks heat up. Having a Republican who supports defense cuts as your secretary of Defense cannot hurt.”
No
“Just too much of a loose cannon. He is not the guy I would have picked a fight over.”
“Choosing a Republican, however liberal, sends a message that a Democrat’s not capable of doing the job.”
“President is spending his political capital in the wrong way with this fight.”
“Why pick a fight on Israel?”
Too early to tell
“No natural constituency for him—Republicans don’t like him, some Democrats don’t like that the president picked another Republican for Defense secretary. Still, barring some new info coming out that disqualifies him, he likely will be confirmed.”
“If he is confirmed, it was the right move.”
“It depends on Hagel’s demeanor and answers during the [confirmation] process.”
“I don’t understand why Democratic presidents think there aren’t good Democrats for this job. It makes it look like we only trust Republicans to run the military.”
Politically speaking, was President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel to the post of Defense secretary the right one?
REPUBLICANS (102 VOTES)
Yes: 16%
No: 52%
Too early to tell: 32%
Yes
“Yes, politically, because either the president will get the person he wants; he’ll divide the Republicans; [or] he’ll make the GOP look bad if they defeat one of their own.”
“Obama puts a Republican in charge of gutting the Defense Department.”
“Few of these elected officials have actual combat experience. It is easy to recommend aggressive foreign policy if neither you nor your children have served.”
“He’ll win in the end, and GOP’s knee-jerk reaction will be to oppose and lose.”
No
“Obama thinks he is confronting Republicans, but Democrats have a problem with Hagel as well.”
“He didn’t need to pick this fight, and if he wins, Hagel will be a regular source of irritation for the White House—just like he was to his Senate colleagues.”
“Hagel is simply not the right person for the job; this is a job that needs competence—not a camera hog.”
“You’ve really got to work hard to antagonize members of both parties with one nomination.”
“Makes sense only as an ‘in your face’ response to GOP bagging of Susan Rice.”
“Ask Chuck Schumer.”
“He is a divider. No one wants him except Obama.”
Too early to tell
“Hagel is the political equivalent of picking Joe Biden as VP. There might be some errands he will be good at, but mostly it will be an exercise in waiting for something to go amiss.”
“Hagel is just a stalking horse for the real nominee.”
“The pious and principled Hagel is moving quickly to reject his previous bigoted and insensitive comments—doubtful too many former colleagues will believe him.”
__________
Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Jim Manley, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Steve McMahon, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Michael Monroe, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O’Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jefrey Pollock, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, Ryan Rudominer, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Brian Baker, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Jonathan Collegio, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Jay Cranford, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, Steven Law, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Kevin O’Neill, Connie Partoyan, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, David Tamasi, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud.
This article appears in the Jan. 12, 2013, edition of National Journal as Political Insiders Poll.
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