Janet Napolitano won't say she won't run -- film at 11

By Richard K. Barry

One things that newspapers like to do is run stories that so-and-so hasn't ruled out a run for a certain political office when the only thing the person did was basically ignore the question.

The Washington Examiner, which is sort of a newspaper, ran a story yesterday saying Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "didn't rule out a potential [presidential] bid":

The former long-serving Arizona governor instead brushed off the question, joking that she's too busy keeping U.S. borders safe to consider a race.

At a breakfast interview hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, she said, "my plate is so full now that that kind of contemplation would be the kind of thing that would keep me up at night, and I lose enough sleep as it is."

Napolitano is a Democrat. And do you know who else is a Democrat? Hillary Clinton. And Ms. Clinton is running, so no need to waste any time thinking about which other Democrats aren't formally ruling it out.

Spotlight on National Security Team

By Carol Gee

Things will get less crazy -- Today is a big day for the cause of sanity in U.S. foreign policy. President-elect Barack Obama announced his choices for the new administration's national security team. The news for this post is drawn from foreign newspapers in order to provide a flavor of what those outside our borders are thinking about the Obama team. The sources include The Financial Times, the BBC News, Aljazeera and the International Herald Tribune.

Three "heavyweights" lead the list. And they will need to be big and strong because they could be called upon to lead Obama's promised foreign policy redirection. They could be asked to look at turning some of the U.S. Defense Department's kinetic "swords" into State Department diplomatic "plowshares." It is an amazing possibility, that three who were seen by many as "hawks," would be willing to sign on to such a long overdue shift within the national security enterprise . David Sanger explains in an excellent analysis for the International Herald Tribune. He begins,

. . . all three of his choices — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; General James Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert Gates, the current and future defense secretary — were selected in large part because they have embraced a sweeping shift of resources in the national security arena.

With the economic crisis in the forefront as the highest priority, the themes running through the group's qualification include bipartisanship, experience, self-confidence, intellect and willingness to speak the truth to power. That means that their strong leadership, informed by Barack Obama's vision, will guide the nation along the right path from early on. Not named, but part of the solution, is former President Bill Clinton, who will be making significant sacrifices to clear the way for his wife's appointment to her former rival's administration.

Of the six choices that were announced today, three are women. Each appointee made a statement, Clinton speaking first and longest. In addition to Senator Clinton, President-elect Obama named Susan Rice as U.N. Ambassador (raised to a Cabinet-level position) and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security. Rounding out the team is Eric Holder as Attorney General. The group is diversity personified, as Holder and Rice are African-Americans. Vice-President-elect Joe Biden was present on stage and also made a good statement reinforcing the sophistication and depth of his knowledge of foreign affairs.

The "Wow factor" is quite astonishing as I think about it. For years I have admired Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, Janet Napolitano, and Jim Jones. I have been more recently impressed by Holder's courage and evident constitutional bent, as well as Rice's towering intellect.

The appointments will not be without criticism, as Aljazeera reports. To quote their good story's conclusion,

'Moving backwards'

Critics have told Al Jazeera that the appointments were a move backwards.

"What we're seeing here is that Barack Obama is once again taking us back to the 1990s in terms of the people he's assembling," said Jeremy Scahill, the author of Blackwater.

"It's the old guard people who have been so wrong about so much from the beginning."

However, some say that the old guard blamed for past mistakes have gained valuable experience from those very errors said to have put the US in its current tenuous financial and military situation.

"There's a hope that he is using very experienced people with centrist credentials to drive a very bold, progressive programme," said Robert Borosage of Campaign for America's Future.

Mondays at this blog have usually been set aside for Republican rants, stories of their latest failures, scandals, indictments or trials, and rounding out with a sigh of relief as we are more and more able to say, "Goodbye to all that!" Sanity will be coming back to Foggy Bottom and the NSC. The adults are again going to be in charge.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Obama's foreign policy and national security team

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, here it is.

From left to right (photo: NYT) : Holder, Napolitano, Gates, Biden, Obama, Clinton, Jones, and Rice. (Links to some of our pre-nomination posts.)

Obama still needs to name his top intelligence officials.

Creature is "all for this team," but there's a big if: if this "centrist (arguably hawkish) national security team keeps the right cowed enough" to pursue a progressive foreign policy.

I tend to think Obama's foreign, military, and national security policy will be more progressive than some of the appointments (notably Gates, Jones, Hillary) would suggest.

And, as I argued last week, I don't think Obama is the sort of establishment centrist some of his progressive detractors think he is. What Obama seems to be doing here is picking the right (and, in some cases, the right right-leaning) people to pursue a liberal-progressive foreign policy (including withdrawing from Iraq, re-engaging with the U.N. and the international community, revamping the war on terror, restoring America's standing around the world, promoting energy independence, and combatting global warming). In other words, he is surrounding himself with talented people and doing what is politically necessary to achieve his objectives.

Obama: "I am confident that this team is what we need to make a new beginning for American national security."

Let's hope that it is, and that there will be.

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See my posts on Obama and Hillary as a "Team of Allies" here and here, with some additional considerations here.

See also my criticisms of Gates here and here.

For more, see:

-- Carl on Hillary, on the Clinton court, and on criticism from the left.

-- JTD's top ten things about Hillary becoming secretary of state.

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Napolitano picked for Homeland Security

By Michael J.W. Stickings

President-elect Obama has reportedly chosen Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be Secretary of Homeland Security.

Napolitano, one of Obama's most prominent supporters during the primaries, has been a hugely popular and successful governor of a border state:

Arizona Demcratic Gov. Janet Napolitano has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

Napolitano brings law and order experience from her stint as the Grand Canyon State’s first female attorney general. One of the nation’s most prominent female elected officials, she made frequent appearances on behalf of Barack Obama during the campaign. She was reelected to a second four year term in 2006.

Though a Republican, Secretary of State Jan Brewer, will succeed her as governor, and though, as a member of the Cabinet, she may decide not to launch a challenge to McCain in 2010, I agree with Steve Benen that she's "a terrific choice."

For more, see CNN, which first reported the story last night. Again, nothing is official yet.

Taking the fight to Arizona, now a battleground state

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Kos is reporting that Arizona is "neck and neck." McCain is up by just a single point in a new Research 2000 poll, 48 to 47, with Obama leading 54 to 42 among early voters.

(And, in a possible preview of the 2010 Senate race, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, who has an extremely high favourability rating in the state, is ahead of McCain 53-45.)

With the Obama campaign recruiting volunteers and campaigning seriously in Arizona, surely a sign that things are going well, McCain will actually be campaigning there on Monday.

That's right, though all the talk has been about Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Colorado, and the other supposedly swing states, McCain is now in the position of having to defend Arizona, his own home state, once thought to be a slam dunk.

(In my best Monty Burns voice: Exxx-cellent.)