I'm not going to defend Oliphant. But appointing Card to the Treasury would be a mistake. He would lack the respect of the financial community, which is absolutely essential. No matter how competent he is, he's just not qualified for this job.
What is at stake is the position that will matter far more in Bush's second term than it did in his first. In the first term, the first treasury secretary was counted on to perform a very easy task -- be a salesmen for repeated tax cuts in the face initially of a huge budget surplus and later of a lid's-off fiscal atmosphere following the 9/11 attacks. The second treasury secretary was counted on simply to roam the country and claim that all was well with the economy.
This time around, the stakes are much higher -- the new secretary will be in the middle of an effort to upset the Social Security and income tax apple carts while avoiding a dollar collapse and interest rate explosion now that deficits have gone past the stratosphere.