No. 5 Rand Beers

Rand Beers is perhaps a wild card and a longshot. A former counter-terrorism adviser who served on the National Security Council under Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes, Beers resigned in protest from the NSC in March 2003, five days before U.S. forces invaded Iraq.

He's since become a vocal critic of Bush's Iraq policies - along with his more famous ally Richard Clarke. Beers served as an national security adviser for Senator John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign and has backed Obama in this election.

Beers' appointment would not be considered a bipartisan one, despite his previous credentials. He founded and is the president of the National Security Network, a progressive foreign policy think tank. Beers' appointment would be an affirmation of the Iraq withdrawal policy; a tip of the cap to the Democratic Party base. A civil servant with a bipartisan resume, his appointment would be a direct shot at the Bush Administration's Iraq policy.

In a June 2008 symposium Beers made a controversial remark that in essence stated that John McCain missed the Vietnam War and its implications and therefore his expertise in national security matters was "sadly limited." For that, Beers earned universal scorn from the right.