Defense Chief Nominee Meets Democrats

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washingtonpost.com
November 30, 2006
By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Robert Gates, President Bush's choice to take over the Defense Department while the Iraq war rages, met Thursday with three Democratic senators who will be asked to vote on his confirmation next week.
Gates did not run into any immediate opposition, even from senators who in 1991 voted against his confirmation to head the CIA when Bush's father was president.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing Tuesday on Gates, who would succeed Donald H. Rumsfeld. A vote by the full Senate is expected later in the week.
"I don't start out with any minuses on the ledger," Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said after his meeting with Gates.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., also pledged to approach the hearings with an open mind.
"Mr. Gates must persuade Congress and the American people that he will be a strong leader, that he is firmly committed to working within the administration and with the Congress toward a new course in Iraq," Kennedy said. "And that he deserves the trust of our nation, and especially our men and women in the armed forces."
Gates also met with Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who in recent months has orchestrated a series of Democratic-led discussions featuring former generals and other officials critical of the Bush administration's conduct of the war.
"Although I will want to see what the Senate hearing discloses, unless something unusual arises, I am inclined to support the Gates nomination," Dorgan said. "We need new leadership at the Pentagon, and we need to move forward as quickly as possible to fill this vacancy."
Bush, smarting from his party's defeat at the polls three weeks ago, announced the day after the election that Rumsfeld was stepping down as Pentagon chief and Gates was the choice to take over.
Bush said Gates' background as CIA director would give the Pentagon and the war in Iraq more focus on intelligence.
Democrats about to take control of Congress have said they would gauge Gates' willingness to change the U.S. conduct of the war but so far have signaled no opposition to his confirmation.
"Presidents ought to get the Cabinet they want," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
 
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