Keeping Up Appearances

President-Elect Obama has long made it known that he plans on using a "team of rivals" model for his cabinet. At first glance, his apparent desire to keep current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at his post seems indicative of this idea, but how much real influence would Gates have should he stay on?

He's already made it obvious that he would stay not out of personal ambition, but "patriotic duty" only. And even were he to stay on, his days would already be numbered, maybe as little as nine months: he would be there for transition purposes only.

Ultimately, I believe Gates would be a lame-duck Secretary, and to hail his reappointment as "reaching across the isle" would be rather laughable. The main issue that he and Obama disagree over is a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but most likely Gates would be gone before he could butt heads with the President and others in the cabinet on this question. Obama, as President, has full prerogative when it comes to his cabinet, of course. They are an auxiliary part of the Executive Branch with no Constitutional precedents. But if Obama really wants to live up to his "team of rivals" goal, he should welcome friction rather than avoid it with pointless gestures towards bipartisanship.