Hillary Rodham Clinton is apparently under consideration for Secretary of State!:eek: This is quite unexpected. HUD or HHS maybe, but Secretary of State?
Well, he could do worse. I’m no fan of either Clinton, but both of them are smart, capable people. And there’s the old saying about holding one’s friends close…and one’s enemies even closer…
I seem to recall someone running on “change”… yes, I’m sure I heard that somewhere…
Some change. Now that we’re getting rid of the Bushes, why are we giving the Clintons another bite at the apple? Seems more like business as usual, not “change we can believe in”.
Would she even take it? Seems to me that Hillary has realized her chances of being president are now very, very slim. Her best bet for building a political power base at this point is to build seniority in the Senate leading to future committee chairs and the like.
Long-time senators often seem to get restless for more influential positions (viz. Diane Feinstein considering running for California governor in 2010). Being one of a hundred, even with the chairmanship of a powerful committee, apparently begins to pall after a while. And you can lose the coveted chairmanship if the next election causes your party to go from majority to minority.
Secretary of state can be a very influential position, if the president allows it. I think she would take it. She can always run for senate again after it’s over, if she has a mind to.
Roddy
What do you want him to do? Declare anarchy? Fire the White House staff and replace them with clowns?
Change doesn’t mean he is going to change everything. Just the stuff that hasn’t been working.
That, and don’t forget he isn’t a dictator. The constitution limits his powers so there is only so much he can do. He has a lot of influence, but not complete control over congress. Don’t think for a second he can ignore the Clintons if he wants to get things done in Washington.
Hillary is more than up for that job and better than the other major options. Kerry? Richardson? Hagel even? C’mon. She’s a bigger gun and a better mind.
Now is the time for Obama to form an All-Star team. After the primaries he couldn’t pick her as VP because it would have come off as a sign of weakness - as if he had to choose her. Now he does not need her in any way, and because of that he is free to use her strengths.
Practical politics as well … Baucus is carrying the water on health care reform and his plan includes a Hillary-like mandate that Obama may end up signing. Such could be an awkward situation with Hillary in the Senate but is less so with her in a diffeerent position inside his tent.
I see it as a refreshing change indeed. Picking the people who can get the jobs done even if they have been rivals and even if you know that they will disagree with you strongly sometimes. Assembling a team that can hit the ground full speed from day one taking on the multitude of messes that have been left behind, a team that takes the best from past administrations along with new faces and specialty skill sets and have the confidnece to manage them and get them to actually work together … yes, accomplishing that would be the change we need.
He changed.
Actually I’ve always assumed he’d offer her a high level cabinet post. While I don’t think she’d be interested in or qualified for Transportation or Veterans Affairs, I think she could actually make a kick-ass Secretary of State.
And it is change: from one highly intelligent woman to another highly intelligent woman and from Senator to Sec-State and from Republican to Democrat obviously.
I reckon the change criticism is off base. The problem with the Bush Administration wasn’t that the SoS position was staffed by a total incompetent or a “Washington insider,” it was that Bush allowed Cheney to set his pet ideological attack dogs against State, and encouraged intra-factionalism from the Pentagon, because of his irrational ideological hang ups.
The reason that Bush’s second term was a significant improvement foreign policy-wise can be traced directly to the lessening of this pernicious influence, with Rumsfeld removed, Bolton gone from State and the U.N., etc., and Gates and Rice allowed to operate without their hands tied.
Now I might personally prefer a career diplomat rather than a politician but Hillary is certainly competent and I quote “likeable enough.”
Bill Clinton would have been a really interesting choice but Hillary? When has she demonstrated an expertise in foreign affairs or diplomacy?
All I’m saying is that if I wouldn’t put Obama, Biden, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate in the same plane at the same time.
She knew that Bosnians wouldn’t shoot her if she was with Sinbad. Are you that perceptive?
I have to say I’m far less impressed with Hillary’s so-called intellect after watching her run her campaign. She exhibited virtually no ability to think on her feet, to make adjustments when things went awry, and to stick with a game plan that clearly wasn’t working because she couldn’t seem to think of or choose an effective alternative.
Further, she, like her husband, is a prolific and unabashed liar. What diplomats or heads of state would believe anything she says? And even if they did, she’s smug, arrogant, condescending and a know-it-all. These also are not qualities that make for a good SoS.
I’m trying to keep a positive attitude about Obama and I’m hoping he’ll be the breath of fresh air that he seems to be and that he truly will bring about change we can all mostly be happy with, but what with his appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff and now the prospect of Hillary as SoS, I’m finding myself far less comfortable than I expected to be at this stage of the game.
I’m with Lantern on this. Bill’s smart, very much a policy wonk, charming, has good rapport with many current and former leaders already, and was a team player during the last election battle after the primary scars healed. Also he’s a centrist, known as the “best Republican President” in recent years.
Hilary is still polarizing and not as well known abroad. Her spot is in the senate. With Byrd stepping back/down due to age and Kennedy seriously ill, her stature as party leader will increase. She’s more visible already than many more senior senators.
Please don’t bring up Presidential succession rules as why he can’t be Sec of State. He’ll just be skipped over like Kissinger would have been if the need arises.
Another possibility could be UN Ambassador, he could commute to the office.
Now for a real //flame on scenario// Nominate Bill for a SCOTUS opening if one comes open.
IMHO
Do you think McCain is qualified to be SOS? Because you pretty much described his campaign.
No, no, he’s supposed to stand for change. He has to fire the clowns and hire a White House staff.
Is he in contention for the job? If not I don’t see what this assessment has to do with anything.
I was just wondering if you consider McCain to be as stupid and inept as you think Hillary is.
I don’t think Hillary is stupid, I just don’t think she’s as bright as a lot of people think she is.
She and McCain are probably pretty closely matched intellectually, with McCain the winner by far in terms of character and integrity.
How’s that?
I think you’re way off base about McCain’s character, he acted like a spoiled child during the campaign imho, but otherwise that seems fair enough.