Lieberman to Replace Rumsfeld?
White House officials are telling associates they expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, once a new government is formed in Iraq, sources said yesterday.Rumsfeld’s deputy, Gordon England, is the inside contender to replace him, but there’s also speculation that Sen. Joe Lieberman – a Democrat who ran against Bush-Cheney in the 2000 election – might become top guy at the Pentagon.
Already, Lieberman critics are using the rumor to smear him:
Rumors that Lieberman could replace Rumsfeld started flying early this week, and Bush and Vice President Cheney fanned the flames by quoting the former Democratic veep candidate’s pro-war statements.
The mention of Lieberman’s name prompted some Democrats to whisper that he is lobbying for the job.
“Lieberman seems to be coordinating his statements on the war with the White House,” a Senate Democratic source said.
The source pointed to a news conference this week where Lieberman urged his party not to undermine Bush. The timing of Lieberman’s pitch, also this week, to form a bipartisan “war cabinet” to aid Bush was cited as well.
I’d welcome him with open arms, and would be downright giddy at the prospect of Lieberman in a Bush Cabinet, but I don’t expect it to happen. For what it’s worth, Lieberman downplayed the rumors:
“The U.S. Senate is where Sen. Lieberman wants to be, which is why he is actively campaigning for reelection to his fourth term,” the senator’s spokeswoman, Casey Aden-Wansbury, said.
Some of my own loyal readers have suggested Lieberman does the country the most good where he is at, as a voice of reason in the Senate. Maybe they’re right – still, it would be quite a thrill…
UPDATE 11:26 p.m.: Academic Elephant traces the history of ‘Rumsfeld to Retire’ rumors…
It’s hard to give much more than gossip-level credence to a story that reads: “But Lieberman and Team Bush dismissed the rumors.”
… especially given how many times we’ve heard this before.
Would it be overly cynical of me to suggest that this rumor is really an attack on Lieberman from the left — an attempt to both tar him as a Bush-stooge (saying anything to curry favor in hopes of a nomination) and dismiss his recent remarks on Iraq?
how bout…November 8
“Dubya-Cheney ties
frayed by scandal”
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/363529p-309592c.html?
We are talking about a one trick pony.
Hardball, november 28…
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10254851/
“But I think part of the problem here is the core argument is about Iraq. And for him to say get rid of Don Rumsfeld, as some of his closest friends and aides have suggested that he do, I think suggests to the president, but to do that I‘m basically saying I‘ve messed up Iraq. ”
RCP blog made mention of Defranks sourcing on Nov 29:
“I guess this means we’re back to the pre-Tom DeFrank-Hardball hysteria status quo. Until we get a juicy quote from another unnamed source to start the process all over again, that is.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/blog/2005/11/news_of_cheneys.html
The title of the article was, “News of Cheney’s Demise”
DeFranks…what else can I say?
Very interesting…thanks for the perspective…
You can imagine my horror at the very thought–thankfully Rumsfeld himself scotched the rumors this afternoon right after his scheduled meeting meeting with Lieberman. Really. Doesn’t the Post check ANYTHING????
http://elephantsinacademia.blogspot.com/2005/12/eventually-you-would-think-these.html
For some reason the list I sent wasn’t complete:
oct 19-”Bush whacked Rove on CIA leak”
http://nydailynews.com/front/story/357107p-304312c.html
oct 24-”Bushies feeling the boss’ wrath”
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/358714p-305660c.html
oct 24(same day)”W pals bushwhack CIA leak prosecutor”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/358657p-305630c.html
Nov 27-”All disquiet on West Wing front”
http://nydailynews.com/front/story/369436p-314247c.html
Nor is this list complete, but read one and you’ve read them all.
According to my source, Defrank’s source is a large rabbit named harry.
Close, MtL, but it wasn’t Harry the Rabbit–it was Bill Kristol’s otherwise excellent article “Pelosi’s Disastrous Miscalculation,” which he ruined by tossing in the Lieberman canard at the end. Because Kristol is perceived as a White House insider–and he does have good contacts–DeFrank took it as an indicator of some sort of inside information rather than a thoughtless jab at someone Kristol has never liked. And of course it’s sensational news–so why ask anyone who would actually know–like, say, the Secretary or the President? Probably because DeFrank already knew that the answer would be, as it was yesterday afternoon, “No,” and then they wouldn’t sell as many papers.
Look, no cabinet secretary is indispensible, but Rumsfeld gives a very valuable sense of continuity and stability to the armed services in a very challenging time, and the vast, vast majority of them support him. And there really isn’t anyone else right now who could fill his shoes as effectively as he does–so there’s no need to replace him. Lieberman would be fine with me for SecDef, but not right now. He’ll have to wait until Jan, 2009, when he has an excellent chance of being named to the post by a large number of presidential hopefuls.
If you follow up on a story looking for confirmation…you might find your scant sources refuted.
From the DeFrank school of Journalism:
Don’t verify a story if it is too good to be true…that way you can always push it off on the source, and deny knowing otherwise.
I just did a little piece on Mr. DeFrank–did you know that he worked for Rumsfeld the first time he was SecDef, and then was passed over in 2001 to be Pentagon spokesperson in favor of Torie Clarke?
Sour grapes make for good whine, I suppose.
Tori Clarke-I’ve been thinking about her…
Kind of a Karen Hughes with a Howitzer. Never got the full deal on her leaving, usually you get some sort of promotion-but then she is probaly a lobbyist by now.
She had a lot of potential, may have realized that too, and got when the getting was good.
You could make a good case for Joe, based on Clinton’s appt. of Cohen during his tenure. It definitely blunted some of the criticism he was getting from the other side of the aisle. Gergen also helped, too, but I never liked that guy.
Yes, while I’m not in a hurry to run off Rumsfeld, if he ever DOES leave, a bipartisan gesture would be pretty smart…