Apparently a new name has popped up on the Obama VP short list: Ret. Gen. James Jones, highly regarded and highly decorated Marine from Missouri. He was NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 2003-2006, when Wiki says he “declined an opportunity to succeed General John P. Abizaid as Commander of U.S. Central Command, and stepped down as SACEUR on December 4, 2006 and retired from the U.S. Marine Corps on February 1, 2007.”
These days he runs the Institute for 21st Century Energy, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dedicated to “educating the public” about energy — at least as the Chamber sees it. (To get a sense of what that looks like, see his introductory remarks here, particularly at the bottom under “underlying principles.”) He’s also on the board of Chevron.
Intriguing that Obama is looking at someone who combines military cred and a focus on energy. On the other hand, a Chamber of Commerce energy policy is not exactly what the nation needs at this particular juncture.
