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Hillary for Secretary of State — Is Obama Kidding?
November 15, 2008
Obama would do well to remember the history of Harry Truman and Jimmy Byrnes in 1944. Byrnes, known as the "assistant president" in FDR's third term.
Byrnes, who thought he should have been president, proceeded to make his own foreign policy.
He flew to a meeting in Europe with the allied foreign ministers and barely kept President Truman posted on the deliberations.
He became a loose cannon who thought he was the president.
After a year of this nonsense, Truman fired him and brought in George Marshall to take the job.
All of this illustrates the fundamental problem Obama faces within his party: He was not their top choice for the job. The Democratic Party's top brass wanted Hillary, not Obama.
Those who embrace the comforting fantasy that Obama will govern from the center and leave the left frustrated are in for a shock.
The issue is not what he will want to do, but what Congress will make him do.
Yup, that's the strategy, IMO. Of course, Obama will still have her in his face. She will be one strong Secretary of State and in his face all the time.
But if Obama tanks, he sucks her political future down with him. This is why his team is so smart. It will be in her best interest to make sure his administration doesn't fail if she's Secretary of State. But, a successful Obama gives her nothing to run against if she tries to go for President herself. In the Senate, she could undermine him or emerge as a big leader. I just don't see it as a win for her future.
Since I'm not a Democrat I'm just thinking about this strategically. In my opinion, she would be better able to mold her own future in the Senate where it will be in her own hands to do so...actually, maybe running for Governor wouldn't be a bad move. When is the current guy's term up in NY?
Hillary for Secretary of State — Is Obama Kidding?
November 15, 2008
Obama would do well to remember the history of Harry Truman and Jimmy Byrnes in 1944. Byrnes, known as the "assistant president" in FDR's third term.
Byrnes, who thought he should have been president, proceeded to make his own foreign policy.
He flew to a meeting in Europe with the allied foreign ministers and barely kept President Truman posted on the deliberations.
He became a loose cannon who thought he was the president.
After a year of this nonsense, Truman fired him and brought in George Marshall to take the job.
All of this illustrates the fundamental problem Obama faces within his party: He was not their top choice for the job. The Democratic Party's top brass wanted Hillary, not Obama.
Those who embrace the comforting fantasy that Obama will govern from the center and leave the left frustrated are in for a shock.
The issue is not what he will want to do, but what Congress will make him do.
But if Obama tanks, he sucks her political future down with him. This is why his team is so smart. It will be in her best interest to make sure his administration doesn't fail if she's Secretary of State. But, a successful Obama gives her nothing to run against if she tries to go for President herself. In the Senate, she could undermine him or emerge as a big leader. I just don't see it as a win for her future.
Since I'm not a Democrat I'm just thinking about this strategically. In my opinion, she would be better able to mold her own future in the Senate where it will be in her own hands to do so...actually, maybe running for Governor wouldn't be a bad move. When is the current guy's term up in NY?
I mostly agree, although Secretary of State does have some real potential for her. If she takes the job she will certainly make the most of it.
It's fine by me if she doesn't want the job. Richardson's a better fit, IMO. But if she does want the job I think she will do very well at it.
Only problem is obama does not have the b*lls to fire Hillary
LOL, I think it took a lot more balls to go up against her in the primary. After all, she thought she was entitled to win, and she was plenty ticked off to see him take the voters she assumed were "hers."
Firing someone doesn't take a lot of balls, unless the firing was completely undeserved.
I hadn't heard she was being considered for Pentagon Chief in addition to SOS.
Clip:
Democratic officials confirmed yesterday that Mrs Clinton flew to Chicago on Thursday at Mr Obama's request to discuss an unspecified role in the Obama administration - probably as secretary of state, but Pentagon chief was also cited as a possibility.
,,,"It would be a very difficult trade-off to make," said a friend of Mrs Clinton, who did not know whether she had been offered the senior diplomatic job. "On the one hand she is not as senior in the Senate as she would like to be. But on the other, Obama might be at the zenith of his power right now but that is not going to last. Does she really want to sacrifice her political portfolio and throw everything in with him?"
From Mr Obama's point of view, Mrs Clinton has done more than enough to demonstrate her loyalty. In addition to the endorsement she gave her former rival at the Democratic convention in August, Mrs Clinton made Stakhanovite efforts to help elect Mr Obama. She spoke at more than 30 rallies and attended a further 50 events, including fundraisers and conference calls.
... FT.com / World - Obama camp hints at cabinet post for Clinton
Someone mentioned this on another thread and I think it has a lot of merit. I think Obama wants to neutralize his opponents such as Hillary and McCain. He's meeting with McCain on Monday. If he offers each of them a job in his administration, he gets them out of the Senate and into a position where they serve at his pleasure--in other words, he's in control.
I'm not a huge fan of Hillary or McCain but like both better than Obama. I hope they're both too smart to fall for this. We need McCain in the Senate. Hillary is a junior Senator and doesn't have much juice, but she's got more independence there and more places to go, than she would in Obama's administration. JMO
Hillary is a junior Senator and doesn't have much juice, but she's got more independence there and more places to go, than she would in Obama's administration. JMO
I agree--seems more like a formality, rather than a real offer. (Although I'm sure that if she wants the job the offer is real.) If he didn't offer her something, it would be seen as an insult--so he offered her the best job he had. But reality is, the truly best job could be to stay right where she is.
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