Hillary the New Condi?

Posted by javavoodoo on November 14, 2008 under Politics, news | Comments are off for this article

The buzz around DC currently is the idea of Hillary Clinton as President Obama’s Secretary of State. According to Obama team insiders, Senator Clinton is on the short list of candidates for Condoleeza Rice’s old job.

Others on the list include John Kerry, Bill Richardson, Sam Nunn and Chuck Hagel, (Source) but no one brings the international star power of Hillary Clinton to the job. As Politico.com reports “Several key Obama transition advisers argue that she would be ‘force multiplier’ for the administration on the global stage.” (Source)

Helping to support this idea is Obama’s admitted fascination with the Lincoln presidency and Doris Kearn Goodwins Lincoln biography “A Team of Rivals”.

“It was a biography of Lincoln. And she talks about Lincoln’s capacity to bring opponents of his and people who have run against him in his cabinet. And he was confident enough to be willing to have these dissenting voices and confident enough to listen to the American people and push them outside of their comfort zone. And I think that part of what I want to do as president is push Americans a little bit outside of their comfort zone. It’s a remarkable study in leadership.” – Barack Obama speaking about one of the books that inspired him

(Source)

Newsday.com has this unscientific survey on it’s site polling the general reaction to Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State:
which seems to show quite strong support at least among Newsday readers for Hillary to take the top job at the State Department.

President-Elect Obama and Senator Clinton have reportedly had some secret meetings in Chicago at Obama’s transition headquarters. (Source) Mrs. Clinton has not commented publicly on what, if any, role she might play in the Obama administration. The official word from her Senior Advisor Philippe Reines is that “any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama’s transition team to address.” (Source)