Handicapping the foreign-policy primary

Dan Drezner joins the Post's indispensable William Arkin in playing Georgetown's favorite parlor game:

1) HILLARY CLINTON: Foggy Bottom would go to Richard Holbrooke. National Security Advisor: Lee Feinstein.

2) BARACK OBAMA: Foggy Bottom would go to Anthony Lake. National Security Advisor: Hmmm… interesting list, but I'd put money on Susan Rice.

3) JOHN EDWARDS: Foggy Bottom would go to…. no one on Arkin's list. Not enough name recognition/non-military experience. National Security Advisor: Derek Chollet.

4) RUDOLPH GIULIANI: Foggy Bottom would go to Norman Podhoret… BWA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I'm sorry, I couldn't get that out without laughing. Seriously, on this list, Robert Kasten is the only likely candidate. National Security Advisor: Ken Weinstein.

5) JOHN MCCAIN: Foggy Bottom would go to… well, this depends on whether McCain's contrarian instincts lead him to nominate someone who would constrain his interventionist impulses. If that's the case, then it's Brent Scowcroft or Richard Armitage. If not, then it's James Woolsey. National Security Advisor: Gary Schmitt.

6) MITT ROMNEY: Foggy Bottom would go to… someone on McCain's list — there's no one on Arkin's list with sufficient gravitas. National Security Advisor: Mitchell Reiss.

Note: Anthony Lake has said in no uncertain terms that he will not return to government and is happy as a Georgetown professor. Still, a revealing list. It's strange that Drezner would leave out SecDef though, considering that the U.S. secretary of defense commands a budget nearly 20 times larger than that of the secretary of state. My guess? Hillary wins a bruising campaign in 2008 and asks Bob Gates to stay for another two years.