Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing Thursday was painful to watch. The entire nation saw a defense-secretary nominee who could barely put together a coherent sentence, who refused to answer questions on the Iraq surge and who had to be handed cue cards when he backed what he wrongly declared was Obama’s “containment” policy for Iran.
But it wasn’t only Hagel’s qualifications and judgment that were called into question. So was the judgment of Sen. Chuck Schumer.
When President Obama named Hagel as his pick for the Pentagon, doubts about the former Nebraska senator were strong enough that Schumer himself wavered in his support. But after a 90-minute private interview in January, the senator declared Hagel “forthcoming and sincere” — and “encouraged” fellow senators to back him.
The White House then used Schumer’s support to keep the growing opposition to Hagel from killing the nomination.
It’s no secret that Schumer aspires to be Senate majority leader, and that this would become much more difficult were Schumer to torpedo a high-profile Obama nominee.
Based on the gaping divide the entire nation saw exposed Thursday — between the public Hagel, who was unable or unwilling to answer tough questions, and the Hagel Schumer assured us was so forthcoming and sincere — either New York’s senior senator is a chump, or he has let his ambitions get ahead of his principles.
And there’s never been any evidence Schumer is a chump.