Obama's Appointment Decisions are Cause for Cautious Optimism

Thus far, President-elect Obama has demonstrated good judgment by bringing onto his team a group of experienced and well-respected leaders to head executive branch departments and serve in other advisory capacities. He is to be commended for several of his selections, including most of all, for asking Robert Gates to continue as Secretary of Defense for at least the first year of the new administration.

The continued service of Secretary Gates is important for national security as well as political considerations.

From the national security perspective, Secretary Gates has demonstrated an able hand to lead the Department of Defense while we are fighting in two theaters of operation. Following the turbulent Rumsfeld years, under Gates' stewardship, General Petreaus was able to successfully implement the surge strategy which reduced violence in Iraq and established the environment through which long-term victory may yet emerge. As the situation in Iraq eases, we are shifting resources to Afghanistan, and hopefully we will see improvement there as well. Changing leadership in this critical juncture in the war effort may risk our recent advancements. This risk is further magnified as the economy overshadows the war effort as the issue most attracting our attention.

Politically, the Gates decision demonstrates that President-elect Obama may govern 'from the center' as we desperately need him to do. It is a significant olive branch to the Republican Party, and while the leftist side of the Democratic Party may not approve, let us hope that it is indicative of more to come.

Obama's selections of Gates, Clinton and Geithner have drawn analogies to Lincoln's appointments of his rivals, including Seward, Chase and Bates, to critical cabinet positions. Some, and it goes without-saying, the mainstream media, have extended the analogy and bestowed upon Obama the reverence due our greatest President of all, Abraham Lincoln.

This Lincoln-like adoration is not yet due. It has to be earned. If Obama delivers on the lofty expectations that many have of him, then we should praise him and his achievements. However, let us wait before we do so. We should judge his actions and their results, not a dream. Comparing Obama to Lincoln, when he has yet to be inaugurated, is insulting to our collective intelligence and is more befitting behavior of members of a cult.