Regarding the saving of Ellsworth AFB, Robert Bluey wrote: "We can only hope that politics had nothing to do with it."
Oh, Rob, you really crack me up! This is Washington - of course it's politics! It's always politics!
One BRAC staffer tells me they all expected Ellsworth to close. He really dumped on the "merits" of keeping it open. I don't know if Bush made the call, or whether my boss's piece played a role (I know for a fact that the commissioners at least read it), or what exactly happened. But it can't be coincidence that bases are being saved in order to save Reps. Rob Simmons (R.-Conn.) and Jeb Bradley (R.-N.H.) as well as Sen. John Thune (R.-S.D.).
Now if I were President, I'd handle BRAC very differently. I'd move all of the military bases to marginal districts held by Democrats and to swing states. At first you appear to be doing the Dems a favor, but the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen will vote Republican and boot them out of office.
