By keeping Gates, Obama has the best insight he likely could ever get into the current state of affairs of the Defense Department as well as having political cover and a handy hatchet man when the time comes to make defense budget reductions (not necessarily limited to the planned growth in that department's spending, but actual, i.e., absolute, reductions). It also makes sense to keep him there while reviewing what needs to be done as the time comes for leaving not only Iraq but eventually, Afghanistan, and so on. In other words, it's not just a case of “first, do no harm” but there may be real-world reasons for keeping him there.

He's widely envisioned not to stay there indefinitely, but for, say, a year.

If the rabid partisan Dems are still unruly, they should consider that this may constitute, at best, a single token Republican “appointment” in the name of bi-partisanship, the easiest decision on that “behalf” that Obama could make.

Besides, the economy is the most important issue now. Interestingly, the dinosaurs on the Left are being snubbed and they're too, ahem, “intellectually challenged” (the usual fact) to notice. No Secretary of Labor (an anachronistic department if ever there has been one in Washington) has been announced yet. (Could be the choice depends on if the Detroit Three get a life-support bailout-handout and if it gives the UAW time to unionize the healthy auto makers via Card Check.)