46 > 45.
This is a few days old, but Buzzfeed seems to be a little upset that the Swift Boat people can count:
Leading figures in the controversial conservative group that attacked — and at times distorted — John Kerry’s military record to derail his bid for the White House say they won’t actively fight his nomination as Secretary of State.
Let’s leave aside for the moment the slanted commentary in the sentence above; what’s really torquing people on the Left off about this is apparently that, given a choice, conservatives would rather have Hagel’s scalps than Kerry’s. This should not be surprising, though. If John Kerry becomes Secretary of State, that’s it. He’s gone from everybody’s lives in four years, maximum. And we have an excellent shot at acquiring that seat. And, as some of the Swift Boat folks noted, it’s not like Kerry was up for SecDef. That might have started a fight.
And maybe there should be a fight anyway… but elections have consequences, and one of them from the last election would be the Republicans having a limited ability to torpedo nominees. Susan Rice was both unsuitable, and possible to target thanks to her bad judgement when it came to African genocides. Chuck Hagel is both unsuitable, and possible to target thanks to his attitudes towards Jews, homosexuals – and his own President’s foreign policy. John Kerry is a already-beaten-up, soon-to-be-retiree who we kind of want out of that seat anyway.
Such is life.
Moe Lane