Following up on Chris's earlier post on Obama retaining Bush officials to staff the Pentagon, it's worth noting that there are substantial policy differences between people on the left of the Democratic Party and those soon to be in power (yes, Ed, we like to clarify). Ultimately it's these policy differences that matter. Here are a few.
Afghanistan: Joe Biden says that withdrawing troops from Iraq is imperative so that the administration can put more troops in Afghanistan. Steve Clemons, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Richard Vague think that we should cut deals with the local Taliban, perhaps do some economic development, and leave.
Iraq: Obama's current plan is to leave a residual force in Iraq (which John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Joe Lieberman praise). A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq called for no residual troops, as did Bill Richardson.
The $700 Billion Bailout: Obama whipped House members aggressively for the Treasury to establish the TARP program. Opposition to the bailout was spread out among populists on the right and the left, without coherent form.
Infrastructure: Biden is talking about the transportation part of the infrastructure stimulus going to roads and bridges, many of us want SUPERTRAINS and less investment in the oil-dependent sprawlconomy.
There are probably a lot more splits, as well as areas of alignment, but starting out with a big split on war and peace in Afghanistan isn't a small deal, with all that killing. Domestically and abroad, we just don't know what policies the Obama administration is going to put forward, and so we have to guess. This is actually by design, as Biden makes clear.
STATE BLOGS
