Hillary Clinton as secretary of state

by Jay McDonough

That's the rumor.  It's being reported President-elect Barack Obama has asked Hillary Clinton if she would be interested in filling the secretary of state spot in his Cabinet.  Marc Ambinder offers up one theory on Obama's motivation:

The CW in Washington is that Obama wants Clinton in his cabinet more than Clinton wants to be in the cabinet, the theory being that the moment she steps into the administration, she loses her power base, she loses her Senate seat forever, and she loses her voice on domestic policy. She concedes her political identity.  Actually, on policy: uncuriously silent in all this is Sen. Joe Biden, who has strong foreign policy ideas of his own and a bigger platform to share them with Obama.  Would Clinton become a glorified PR tool for Obama if she accepted the job? A Powell, rather than a Rice?

I don't buy it.  Obama has, at this point, over 70% approval ratings. Polling suggests folks are very optimistic about an Obama presidency. At one point, after the last primary, reconciliation of the Democratic Party was a high priority.  But by the time the election rolled around, 89% of Democrats voted for Barack Obama.  It doesn't seem to me that Barack Obama has to watch his back with respect to Hillary Clinton. 

Hillary Clinton is very smart and very capable.  But, throughout the Democratic primaries, one of Obama's most effective criticisms of Senator Clinton was her firm position in "old Washington" thinking.  How does Obama rationalize a nod to Clinton after that criticism?

There's another big issue; Bill Clinton.  Following his presidency, Bill Clinton has been involved in quite a bit of international business ventures that have appeared somewhat shaky from the outside.  It had been rumored that Mrs. Clinton had raised the vetting issue when Barack Obama was considering vice presidential running mates and those vetting issues remain.

And, finally, there's an awful lot of Clinton alumni surrounding Barack Obama.  I'm all for competency and experience, but some display of independence and "new Washington" thinking is important as well.

Comments

[fljim]

Well, I don't see how inviting the old Washington to embrace and participate in the new Washington is a bad play. Maybe if the fight was against personalities rather than methods and ideas.