Gerson and Begala make nice
Former Clinton advisor Paul Begala and former Bush advisor Michael Gerson were in a conciliatory mood at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement’s post-election forum this morning. As moderator Jim Lehrer noted, both men at times seemed to be reading off the same talking points. They even came with matching opening quips about the difference ...
Former Clinton advisor Paul Begala and former Bush advisor Michael Gerson were in a conciliatory mood at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement's post-election forum this morning. As moderator Jim Lehrer noted, both men at times seemed to be reading off the same talking points. They even came with matching opening quips about the difference between elections and transitions:
Former Clinton advisor Paul Begala and former Bush advisor Michael Gerson were in a conciliatory mood at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement’s post-election forum this morning. As moderator Jim Lehrer noted, both men at times seemed to be reading off the same talking points. They even came with matching opening quips about the difference between elections and transitions:
Gerson: The purpose of campaigns is to raise expectations. The purpose of transitions is to lower them.
Begala: The campaign is all about screwing your enemies. The transition is all about screwing your friends.
The normally hyper-partisan Begala seems to have joined the growing establishment consensus that Robert Gates should stay on as secretary of defense in the Obama administration. At least, he said, there should be one Republican in the “big four” cabinet positions:
[Former Transportation Secretary] Norm Minetta’s a great guy. But he was the only Democrat in Bush’s cabinet. That’s just not good enough anymore.
Gerson, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, was also feeling the bipartisan love. He expressed optimism that Obama’s family background gives him a unique opportunity to capitalize on the United States’ relative popularity in Africa and heaped praise on Obama transition advisors John Podesta of the Center for American Progress and former Sen. Tom Daschle, saying he was “rooting for their influence.”
Bipartisanship clearly only goes so far, though. When asked for his take on the short list for Obama administration cabinet positions, Gerson deemed them a very impressive group, “except for John Kerry.”
Everyone’s got limits.
Update: Video now online if you want to check it out.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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