Okay, looking at yesterday afternoon’s auguries, the betting people among us are laying out bank that says Hill is going to be asked to be Secretary of State. (Why the hell else would she be flying to Chicago after all this mad leaking?)
Josh Marshall at TPM, doesn’t know why she’d want it since, at best, State tends to be a revolving door, and the Senate can be por vida, if you play it right, and Hil would play it just right.
And yet….and yet….
The truth is, Hillary is a better idea than most of the rest of he field. John Kerry, while he has the awesome capacity to bore people into submission, which could be handy, just doesn’t seem to be the right guy for State.
Bill Richardson? Nah. Chris Dodd* would be okay, I guess, but the chemistry seems wrong.
Republican Chuck Hagel? Not bad. Better than those above, actually.
Al Gore? Brilliant idea. An incandescent idea! Regrettably, he’s not on the list as far as anyone knows, although Richard Cohen over at the WaPo was saying that Al would be a totally swell State dude.
(On the other hand, Cohen also thinks that Larry Summers is just the guy for Treasury, so WTF does he know? )
Nope. The more one thinks about it, it’s got to be Hillary. Is she a bit hawkish? Uh…yeah. And that’s kind of a problem. (Okay, a big problem.) But, hey, we can deal with it.
Hil for Ms. Foggybottom.
It’s weirdly right.
* Late, late, late Thursday night when I wrote this post, I meant to type “Chris Dodd” but for reasons that I can best attribute to a chonic lack of sleep, I wrote “Sam Nunn.” (sigh.) Oh, well.
Maybe Hillary Clinton can take those 3:00 AM phone calls that Obama can’t handle.
Al Gore incandescent? Nah, maybe compact fluorescent.
I don’t know about this – Obama has plenty of foreign policy brains at his side already. Hillary’s strength in my view isn’t foreign policy, where she’s utterly conventional and, frankly, a bit tarnished, but her domestic policy. I’d much rather see her take over Ted Kennedy’s role in the Senate of progressive advocate as he inevitably winds his career down. I don’t have a “dog” in this, but Richardson has more concrete diplomatic experience and the Spanish language thing might help extend some of the symbolism of the new administration due south. I just don’t seen where this nod to Hillary is coming from.
Also, if she doesn’t prove to be the best person and/or they butt heads over policy, she’d be very hard to get rid of. Personally, I wouldn’t take any cabinet person who could – and might by dint of ego – marshall significant forces within the party against me, who has a significant back channel to my chief of staff, etc. This is a very weird development IMHO. Lincoln may have thrived on a team of rivals, but that was long before the advent of cable news 24/7 looking to sensationalize and exploit every tidbit of conflict or tension in an administration. Hillary adds the potential for a soap opera to the mix that makes me nervous.
And Al Gore obviously has found his bliss outside of government (where he probably should have pursued it in the first place, rather than taking his cues from pushy parents.)
btw, what’s the latest on rlc?
All true, reg. But one does wonder what all the drama is about if she’s not the front runner. I’d prefer Richardson to Kerry. But I’m not sure I see it happening.
I believe that the best pick for the post would be Gov. Bill Richardson. I don’t think that Sen. Clinton has the experience. However, if President Clinton were the nominee, that would be another story. Hillary is better off in the Senate helping to push through healthcare and other agenda items for the Democratic President. I would like to see Hillary as Majority Leader in the Senate. Bill Richardson is a tough negotiator. We need somone who can stand up to some of the bullies of the world.
Hillary would be excellent as Sec of State — she’s polished, smooth, and she and Bill have been internationally respected. In much of the world, a family name carries a lot of weight, and she was right there alongside Bill when she earned it. He was highly respected everywhere from the Middle East to India to Europe, as a cosmpolitan, intellectual but down-to-earth man with a sense of humor. (Someone no one’s ever accused Obama of.) Hillary lacks the folksy humor and ability to connect, but that’s perfect for the more “dignified” Sec of State job.
She’s also spent many years in the Senate proving she can work with people of diverse political views, forging policy. She’s way more experienced and capable of decision action and leadership than Obama.
Relegating her to pushing through Obama’s healthcare program — when she’d objected to the mandatory/ punishable by law version he and other Dems are promoting now — would be unfair to her and unwise. She definitely has the experience to take that 3 a.m. phonecall and meet with anyone and put forth a positive image for America. The question is, would she want the job, giving up her independence as a Senator? Would Obama give her her wings? (Woody, sorry if it makes you apoplectic to think of Hillary AND Obama in power together, but trust me on this…)
Hilary? The person who told had nothing good to say in her campaign against Obama? The one with more experience who ran the Whitehouse when Bill was President? The one who committed Real Estate Fraud with her buddies that all went to prison but she got a Presidental Pardon? The one who throws lamps when she gets mad?
Well, I guess she did go out and push for Obama at the last but is this her payoff for that?
How remarkable and again another excellent strategy by the Obama team to select Senator Hillary Clinton to serve at the “will” of the President. She is the only real nemesis that is within the Democratic lead Senate who could present a challenge to the Obama agenda. Selecting her to serve as Secretary of State would place her into a position of working directly for President Obama and eliminate/diminish her “independent” power she possesses. Like the old adage says, keep your friends close but keep your enemies even closer. This reminds me of an episode of the television series “The West Wing” (the only exception being it was between opposite parties). She is definitely qualified for the position but what is yet to be seen is if she wants to give up her “independent” power she has obtained through a hard fought primary.
No one has a longer resume than Dick ‘Shotgun’ Cheney and look what he has gotten us into? May I suggest Gen. ‘Buck’ Turgidson or Maj. T.J. ‘King’ Kong of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb fame? Woody can you second the nomination for us.
“when she’d objected to the mandatory/ punishable by law version he and other Dems are promoting now”
Absolutely not true – that was a prominent feature of Hillary’s proposal, not Obama’s. Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein wrote reams on this. It’s a key reason technocratic liberal-come-lately Krugman asserted Hillary was more “progressive” than O. Also not true that Obama doesn’t have a sense of humor – but that’s subjective (see his roast of Rahm Emanuel, among other things.) But this bit about mandates is simply false – the reverse is true.
Also, if Hillary were “more capable of decision, action and leadership than Obama” she wouldn’t have run a terrible, disorganized campaign and lost the nomination when it was considered in her pocket six months before.
This is just sour grapes crap.
“Hillary lacks the folksy humor and ability to connect, but that’s perfect for the more “dignified†Sec of State job.”
Wanted: One Secretary of State
Qualifications: Bright self-starter who can manage an array of tasks. Must have extensive foreign policy knowledge. Looking for some one who has a record of showing courage under fire, sniper or otherwise. Employee will be working in a diverse environment and must be comfortable with an urban office vibe. Sense of humor welcome, but not mandatory. Connectability (did we make that word up?) is also a bonus. Most important qualification is DIGNITY. Please do not bring spouse or children to the office.
Job Description: Will be meeting regularly with respected world leaders, internationally-known butchers, and unheard-of presidents from former-Soviet satellites. Rulers from nations ending in “stan” will meet only with staff, excepting Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tavarikstan. Will need to advocate forcefully and publicly for stated administration policy and, moments later, reverse yourself. Will need to apologize for errors made by others. Please note that Tavarikstan is not a country and do not make that mistake again. May also be required to lie to UN or other international bodies/American public [Jake, please do not copy from old administration job description. Delete sentence before posting.] Must be able to drink heavily yet remain sober, Putin loves a shot-and-a-beer-and-a-little-hanky-panky. Must put good of country in front of own ambitions.
Office attire is business, think classic suit and tie or orange pantsuits. When traveling you and your family will receive immunity; please do not abuse! Pay commensurate with experience, just kidding, it’s a government job.
Interested applicants should reply with a cover letter, resume, references, published articles, unpublished articles, half-cocked blog theories, napkin scrawls, and unfinished provocative sentences.
Well I’m gonna say it, Latino’s and especially Mexican Americans supported Obama nearly 70 to 30%. And this in critical states like New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Calif.
Latino’s are now major and important votes to be romanced and if we are going to just get F””””D without getting kissed then maybe next election time the Democrats will be out of luck as far as Latinos.
Richardson better get a nod from Obama and there better be some other cabinet posts available to Mexican Americans or next time around it’ll be payback.
This is what politics is all about, que no?
Agreed, DQ, about Richardson. But, I think Hillary would be/is a masterstroke on a lot of levels, one of them being “…keep your enemies closer.” In terms of policy, I’d prefer Richardson. But, I think the reasons why this is a good idea, trump nearly all the downsides
I was just talking to friends in New Mexico tonight, and a lot of people have very strong feelings about Richardson being part of the cabinet—way ahead of Kerry. Kerry will almost certainly be head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which would be great, now that Biden has opened up that position.
Chris Dodd’s going to stay head of banking. (He’d be a fool to give that up, given what’s going on domestically.) So that makes it Kerry, I think.
I’ve never been a Hillary fan (as a quick search throught this blog will attest), but I think this will bring out the best in her talents.
Nurse, can we increase the dosage on don’s meds? He’s talking out his ass again. Also connect me to Dr. Winterhalder’s office. we need to discuss the recurring multiples the patient displays. Look above. you’ll see three posts here that display his shoddy traits for disguise. Transparent?
Who cares about the mexican vote, where are the the African-American appointees? %99.99 percent of the black community supported and voted for Obama, we need more representation in the White House, a 1/2 black that don’t count.
The mexicans don’t need any more pandering, they have a wonderful mexican L.A. Mayor and city council who have welcomed any and all the taco, paleta cart, pirate DVD and fake I.D. vendors from mexico. L.A. just needs a few more corrupt politicans and cops and L.A. will be just like Tijuana, Mexico. Besides the mexicans will never vote for a republican, the mexicans know the republicans are low down and dirty robber barons who will bring more green buses and ICE agents to town and enforce draconian immigration laws and might deport an illegal alien cholo for the third time and force him to sneak across the border one more time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUdu3hunW8U
‘
Here’s a contrarian take on the Clinton hoopla from Al Giordano – who did the best job of reporting the Democratic primaries of anyone. The hoopla is SO Un-Obama that I’m inclined to agree with this version:
http://tinyurl.com/5v3ub3
Pretty interesting, reg. Hmmmmmm.
Is there a way to locate someone locally to try this?