Senator John McCain as Obama’s Secretary of Defense?

Barack Obama has already stated an intention to appoint at least one Republican to his cabinet. Citing Abraham Lincoln as a precedent, Obama will even consider political enemies for powerful positions in his administration.

A source in Chicago informed me earlier today that John McCain will be meeting with Obama and his handlers tomorrow in Chicago in order to discuss the possibility of a Secretary of Defense appointment. That McCain will be in Chicago tomorrow is corroborated by an article London Times published one hour ago. The Times, however, claims McCain will most probably not be appointed to a Cabinet position. But he will be consulted on topics on which he and Obama have “common ground.” This certainly does not preclude the possibility of an appointment of McCain to Secretary of Defense.

Our source maintains that McCain will visit Chicago tomorrow in order to discuss the Secretary of Defense appointment. Even if Obama chooses not to appoint McCain to this position, it raises a series of questions:

• Why would Obama consult with someone who his campaign surrogates called a warmonger on his choice for Secretary of Defense?
• How would a McCain appointment to Secretary of Defense herald the new foreign policy Obama touts, especially when Obama characterizes McCain’s foreign policy as an extension of that of George W. Bush?
• How will Obama’s supporters react to the appointment of John McCain to Secretary of Defense?
• Why would Obama consider or consult with John McCain when he has consistently cited Chuck Hagel as the type of Republican with whom he could collaborate on defense and foreign policy matters?
• Does the knowledge that McCain will visit Chicago in order to discuss the Secretary of Defense position with Obama signal that Obama may not consider extending the tenure of John Gates, George W. Bush’s appointee, as Secretary of Defense?
• And how is prolonging Gates’s tenure “change?”
• Is Obama considering McCain for Secretary of Defense in order to make McCain’s Senate seat available to Janet Napolitano? Is this how Obama will secure a supermajority in the US Senate?

Obama desires to fashion himself as an Abraham Lincoln, as a man who can cooperate with his fiercest detractors. Appointing John McCain to Secretary of Defense would certainly continue the tradition of Lincoln of forging relations of cooperation and collaboration with one’s adversaries. While this is laudable, it does reveal Obama’s acute awareness of his lack knowledge of matters of foreign policy and defense. It also reveals that Obama never truly believed the criticisms he leveled against McCain during the general election.

Whatever the case may be, we know McCain will be in Chicago tomorrow in order to discuss the Secretary of Defense position with Obama. However one may feel about McCain’s stance on defense and on foreign policy, Obama’s supporters should find their candidate’s willingness to consult with a “warmonger” antithetical to the stance Obama assumed during the election. But then again, Obama has been anything but consistent, and his supporters certainly did not support him for matters of policy or of ideology.

I guess we will know if McCain was offered the position of Secretary of Defense tomorrow night or some other day next week. Will Obama ask McCain to complete the 63 page questionnaire? And will McCain complete it?

McCain will certainly serve his country in any capacity: his motives are not to be questioned. But we should question Obama’s motives for considering McCain for Secretary of Defense. Share your thoughts about the information our source related earlier today about McCain’s visit to Chicago tomorrow in the comments thread.