Kenneth Adelman

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When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I've concluded that that's no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain's main two, and best two, themes for his campaign—Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick. [18]

Soon after he authored a Huffington Post article entitled "Why a Staunch Conservative Like Me Endorsed Obama" where he wrote, "Granted, McCain's views are closer to mine than Obama's. But I've learned over this Bush era to value competence along with ideology. Otherwise, our ideology gets discredited, as it has so disastrously over the past eight years." He added, "McCain's temperament—leading him to bizarre behavior during the week the economic crisis broke—and his judgment—leading him to Wasilla—depressed me into thinking that "our guy" would be a(nother) lousy conservative president. Been there, done that". [19]

A Reuters article quotes Adelman as saying, "I am a Republican and only voted for one Democrat in my entire life, and that was very much an anti-McCain vote. I thought Obama was going to be better than he turned out to be." Reuters also reported that he was backing Romney. [20]

Support for Joe Biden

In 2020, Adelman, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him." [21]

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References

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  12. Adelman, Kenneth (2003-04-10). "'Cakewalk' Revisited". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2018-09-23.
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  18. 1 2 Packer, George (October 20, 2008). "First Colin Powell, Now ..." The New Yorker (online only).
  19. Adelman, Kenneth (October 24, 2008). "Why a Staunch Conservative Like Me Endorsed Obama". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  20. Johnson, Patricia Zengerle, Eric (2011-11-01). "Insight: In 2012, some "Obamacons" turn back to Republicans". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-05-15.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. "Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden". Defending Democracy Together. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
Kenneth Adelman
Ken Adelman 13788.jpg
Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
In office
1983–1987