Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State?

Wow.

Apparently (and this is based on a Frankenstein piecing together of info from various media outlets, so all caveats apply) Barack Obama met privately with Hillary Clinton this week and effectively asked her if she were to be offered the position of Secretary of State, would she take it.

Here is a stream of consciousness list of thoughts about it:

Hillary wasn't vetted as VP, but appears to be Obama's first choice for Secretary of State.

How does 4-8 years as Sec of State compare with a probable lifetime job as Senator from NY.

Hillary is a very well known commodity and the American public will generally be pretty comfortable with this.

She is definitely viewed by Republicans as being closer to the Right on International issues than Obama, so they will be fairly supportive of this move.

Secretary of State Clinton is a lot easier to keep in line with the the voice of the administration than Senator Clinton.

Bill Clinton is unlikely to do anything that would intentionally deep six Hillary's position which means he probably stays about as tame as Bill Clinton can be. It also means he might get to travel a bit.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton would definitely not run for president again. Until perhaps 2016.


On CNN Friday, former Republican speaker of the house, Tom DeLay called Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff and the potential selection of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State as brilliant. He did then go on to talk about how America would learn how liberal Obama was and what that would do to the economy. (It was a very abrupt change, almost like flipping a switch. That's "The Hammer" for you.)

Word has also surfaced that Obama has also spoken to both New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Clinton probably has the right of first refusal and the order of follow-up selection is probably as listed here. If Clinton is not Sec of State, it is because she chooses not to be.