Obama's Neocon Fans

The neoconservative pundit Jennifer Rubin takes a look at the pending presidency and likes what she sees:

So let's get this straight: Robert Gates will be the Defense Secretary, we're ramping up U.S. forces in Afghanistan and providing a reasonable period of time for a hand-off in Iraq, there isn't going to be a windfall oil profits tax or income tax hike but there is going to be a huge set of business tax cuts—and Rick Warren is giving the invocation at the Inauguration. Who won in November?

I'm sure there will be times during the next four years when the Obama administration's decisions on issues (e.g. judicial appointments) have conservatives banging their heads against the wall, bemoaning the fact that John McCain wasn't elected. But so far it's hard to imagine McCain would have been doing more than the incoming Obama team seems to be proposing—and with as much chance of success—to further some key center-Right policy aims.

Those tax cuts might sound like good news, but they're bundled with some giant hikes in spending; they're basically a way to bribe Republicans into voting for the "stimulus" package. As for the rest—well, it's no surprise that a Commentary writer would find more value in keeping Robert Gates in office than in blocking Detroit's corporate welfare package.

Meanwhile, Richard Perle and Douglas Feith seem happy with Obama's choice to run the CIA.