No, really, it took them this long to pose the most obvious question, which the Weekly Standard answered almost a month ago. At least Politico seems to get the answer:
“America is at a delicate moment of transition in defense policy and spending,” said Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America. “Sen. Hagel has not proposed serious alternatives during these, or other, defense policy fights; nor has he made any significant contribution — either in office or out — to the even more fundamental questions about the future of U.S. defense posture, the shape and function of the defense establishment, or chronic and complicated spending problems at the Pentagon.”
Hegseth went on to call Hagel’s service in Vietnam and later work on veterans issues “unquestioned.”
“Both of these facts would make him a great secretary of Veterans Affairs, but not necessarily secretary of defense,” he said. “Sen. Hagel is the wrong man at the wrong time to lead the Department of Defense.”
With just hours to go before his confirmation hearing. Better late than never?