There was a letter to Air Force times last month by 3 retired Generals who are being paid by Northrop Grumman/EADS.
I remember two of them: Gen Short and Gen Horner.
They argued for a "bigger" tanker.
I personally would have gone for Boeing, but I wasn't on the Source Selection Board.
Hrmm... the delta in pallets and pax between the two definitely makes the EADS-Northrup proposal an attractive offer, since the aircraft's secondary mission is as a logistics mover. A 68% increase in pallets and a 47% increase in pax... hrmmm.