Sunday, November 16, 2008
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
On November 13, president elect Barack Obama met with Hillary Clinton along with Bill Richardson to discuss the possibility of either one of them becoming the new Secretary of State. The position would allow Clinton to exercise influence on Obama's foreign policy and could be a stepping stone to a higher position if she were to return to the senate after Obama's presidency. Whether she will take the position is still questionable as her original position on the matter was that she would remain in the senate. And although Bill Clinton has stated that Hillary would make a "great secretary of state", his foreign deals could also cause issues to arise if Obama picks her to be his secretary of state.
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3 comments:
Isn't it funny what a difference a week can make? In just the last post, our Hillary watchers noted that she was returning to the Senate. My guess is that Bill complicates the situation too much, and Hillary will turn down the position. Who agrees with me? Who disagrees with me? What's your reasoning?
First of all I just want to point out that I called this almost a week before any rumors began. I suspect that Sen. Clinton was named Secretary of State in August, and her incredibly gracious performance at the DNC was the other part of this bargain.
From a report I read last night from the Washington Post, it sounded about 95% certain that she will take the position. While I predicted this, I see the logic behind it for only the Obama Administration, not Sen. Clinton.
For Obama, he will bring a star of the Democratic party on board and have a clearly capable woman as Secretary of State.
Yet for Senator Clinton this makes little sense. Athough the party unified behind Obama before the election, Sen. Clinton was certainly the 2nd strongest voice of the party. By taking a position in the Obama Administration she will no longer be able to vocally criticize her former opponent. For the betterment of the country, one would hope that constructive criticism would come from all sides, including capable members of the President's own party. By becoming part of the cabinet, she will lose a bit of her freedom to speak her mind.
The Democratic leadership must have realized this and made a very vague offer of a "more important" position awaiting her if she chooses to return to the Senate. President Clinton must be in a strange position having to be vetted for his wife's chances of becoming Secretary of State.
Right on, Mr. Stein. Right on.
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