Obama Should Announce Hillary Clinton As Sec Of State NOW!!!

[jpertello]

And I'm not the only one who feels this way. An immediate announcement with HRC and Bill at his side would give him a jump in the polls and reassure the women voters and win them back from The Palin. Also, HRC would make a fantastic Sec of State! He needs to do this NOW!

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2008/08/26/hillary-clinton-for-secretary-of-state/

Since Barack Obama selected Joe Biden (and before that too) the party faithful and the pundits have mused mightily about why he did not select Hillary Clinton instead. After all, she is the only one out there with a large base of voters. To me the answers are obvious: (1) After the strain of the primaries, Obama just did not like Hillary; (2) choosing Clinton would show weakness, not strength in that Obama would seem to need Clinton and would be overshadowed by both Hillary and Bill Clinton; (3) the Republicans would be able to run ad after ad of the VP candidate attacking Obama. They already did this truck with Biden, but with Clinton it would be much, much worse.

Because Hillary Clinton does have support and because she is very smart and knowledgeable, Obama should give her something else: Secretary of State. If Obama announced this appointment at the convention, it would mollify and energize Clinton’s supporters. And, more important, Clinton would be a great representative of the U.S. to the world. It would be a great appointment.

Also the Moscow Times has anticipated this too:

http://moscow-post.ru/in_world/001221221128138/

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Ambassador To Bosnia

Bill can have Ambassador to South Africa,

(Just kidding!)

[DebbieCDC]

2. Not SOS - Make her his first Supreme Court nominee

She's a lawyer - she'd be great for women's rights on the court.

[ddeclue]

6. Make BILL the SC nominee...

Just to cause Republicans heads to explode... they would freak out.

:rofl:

Doug D.

[aquart]

21. Doesn't someone have to, I dunno, die first?

[emilyg]

24. Small matter.

;-)

[csziggy]

25. Just watch the beginning of The Pelican Brief for ideas. n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

30. Not necessarily. They could retire.

And I'll bet Justice Stevens already has his letter written, dated January 21, 2009.

[FLyellowdog]

28. Wow...hadn't thought of that.

[aquart]

36. Yes. End her political potential forever.

And pretend it's a compliment.

[DemzRock]

3. Not a bad idea.... Have to do it the right way, though... n/t

[BlooInBloo]

4. Ugh. Voted for war. Obliterate Iran. Head diplomat. One of those things is not like the other.

[ddeclue]

5. Bad idea -we need her to stay in the Senate so we can build a filibuster proof majority

There are plenty of people who can be SecState besides her and she has no special skill or experience in that area. Let's get Madeline Albright back. She's experienced as SecState, well respected around the world and right now she's the President of University of Miami, not a sitting U.S. Senator.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[KathieG]

8. I agree...Hillary is needed in the Senate

[fulllib]

17. Dem NY Gov could appoint a Dem though

Right? Unless NY goes works under some other regulations. He is a Dem replacing the political genius Spitzer

[jpertello]

7. Another supporter of the idea

http://www.ohboyobama.com/Cabinet/Hillary-Clinton-for-Secretary-of-State-think-about-it

Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State....think about it
I have been an Obama Supporter from the beginning and personally have been a little frustrated at all the Hillary focus over the past couple of months. Considering how well everything was united and how well everything came together at the convention, I think a killer ticket could also include Obama naming Hillary as his future Secretary of State. It may be bad form to name part of your cabinet ahead of time, but I think that could be a huge in uniting the party and building a strong ticket.
She could be a huge force in setting the international stage for an Obama presidency and ALSO could be a neutralizing force for V.P. Palin if she was considered an "unofficial" name on the Obama ticket. It could be a unifying move as well as a tactical one against the McCain ticket.

[Subdivisions]

9. I don't know about SoS. SCJ would be better. However, I do agree

in the sense that Obama should run not just himself and Biden, but also those who will potentially hold cabinet positions. My reasoning is that I feel they are going to steal this election if Obama doesn't get creative. Meanwhile, we have to do our part to help him.

[RB TexLa]

10. I think she'd want to stay above serving under a president. Ted Kennedy never took a cabinet

position.

I'd rather Bill Richardson or Harold Ford at State.

[jpertello]

11. Ted and Harold don't bring 18,000,000 angry women with them

[RB TexLa]

13. The bulk of the uneducated white women lost to the gop ticket are lost

they are women who associate with Sarah Palin or Bristol Palin. They themselves or their daughters or granddaughters are or were knocked up at 15, 16, 17 or so and they think people are attacking or making fun of the Palins over it and they feel an association. They are not coming back to us. The policies don't matter to them anymore they feel a personal association.

[eShirl]

14. this is a reason to appoint someone Secretary of State?

I'd rather see her as Senate Majority Leader, but that's just me.

[ddeclue]

15. Give it a rest will ya?

All the pushing to give Hillary special treatment in an Obama cabinet is just ridiculous and would NEVER be afforded any other candidate who lost. It is patronizing to women. Hillary is a big girl and doesn't need your consolation prize. Let's treat her like the pro she is and not do her any "favors". I'm sure she would rather have our respect than our pity.

The best place for her is in the Senate right now. She is needed to get us our 61 vote filibuster proof majority. Worse yet, if Obama were to lose, we really need 67 votes to get a veto proof majority.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[aquart]

23. What makes you think our anger will stop us from voting Democratic?

Do you foolishly and inaccurately believe women are NOT used to losing?

[karynnj]

33. nor does HRC

1) Not all HRC voters were women, which this implies
2) Not all were angry, which this implies
3) She does not own them - they likely also voted for her husband, Gore, Kerry etc - and the majority will likely vote for Obama.

What this reflects is the residual of HRC is inevitable. Since 1992, many had visions of her becoming President. (I remember at Thanksgiving 2004, one guy I hadn't seen since the election said casually that it was too bad Bush won, but then his face lit up as he said but you have to excited about HRC as President. He was not alone.

Give me an example where the defeated nominee or a defeated primary rival ever had this push to give her a consolation prize. It was the Clinton people who immediately worked to deny Kerry any position as one of the party leaders I think that that precedent should be followed with her.

[AtomicKitten]

12. and the campaign continues ...

:eyes:

[Hawkowl]

16. Senate majority leader!

She has more cajones than all the dem males in the Senate (Excluding O of course) put together. She could be a real assest in turning this country around.

[csziggy]

26. I agree - and wonder if the fix is already in

I've thought that Hillary and Barack made a deal when they got together before the Unity rally. I figured it either was a cabinet post (Health & Human Services) or Senate Majority Leader. Majority Leader has more power and would be in the line of succession.

HRC would be awesome as Senate Majority Leader, especially after the epic fail Pelosi has been.

[Sebastian Doyle]

31. I agree Pelosi needs to go, but

You DO know that she's the Speaker of the House, not the Senate Majority Leader, right? That job is currently held by the equally useless Harry Reid.

Hillary as majority leader? I'd really prefer that no DLC'er got that job, but I see the value of having Hillary there on some levels. We do need to replace both Reid and Pelosi in either case.

Secretary of state? Bill Richardson would be a better choice there. Wes Clark is another possibility. Bill Clinton would be an excellent choice in that role, but I doubt he would take it.

[csziggy]

38. D'oh! I shoulda know better. May I plead tiredness?

I do suspect that Hillary and Barack made a deal about what her role will be in his administration. Otherwise, why else would both sides have been so silent over the outrage about her not being vetted. As if Hillary has not been vetted more than any other candidate in history.

[karynnj]

35. But what has she fought for in the Senate

she was often in the conservative wing, especially on Iraq. She has very little seniority. Durbin would be a far better choice if Reid stepped down.

As to being strong - Feingold, Kerry and Dodd were the ones I saw leading.

[csziggy]

39. How is the Speaker selected - does the Senate select them or

is it done some other way?

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. Obama shouldn't do anything "NOW!!!!"

Obama doesn't panic. It's his great strength, and will prove to be his winning attribute. He doesn't switch up the strategy haphazardly anytime something happens. His team plans for possibilities in advance, and takes the route that best responds.

If he named Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State now, it would look desperate, give Palin more credit than she's due, and play into a "presumptuous" argument. It's a truly silly idea. Presidential nominees don't name cabinet positions, for fairly obvious reasons. But even worse, Obama's specific campaign runs on an avoidance of cynicism. Anything with even the appearance of cynicism would be deadly.

Dumb idea in terms of timing. In terms of content I'm all for it. Just wait until the transition team.

[Caliman73]

22. Agreed

If Obama starts naming his cabinet before he wins the election it will play right into the Repubs argument that he is entitled and arrogant. He should keep hitting McCain hard and pick his cabinet after the election. Palin's star status will fade. You know she won't be making anymore press appearances until the debate. McCain has nothing to offer against Obama. As alcibiades said, he has no reason to panic and pander to any group.

[crimsonblue]

19. it would be terrible.

Clinton would have her own agenda, and Bill would always be lurking. Put Hillary on the SCOTUS, where she can't do any harm.

[aquart]

20. No. It would sound desperate.

[SweetieD]

27. Umm No. Bad idea n/t

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

29. 1) She is a domestic policy expert, and 2) Biden wrestling with Hillary is not a good dynamic

[karynnj]

34. I agree with you i if we win,

Other than Obama, Biden will very likely be the top foreign policy person. SOS will likely be more of an administrative position, running the state department in this administration. A third person who will likely have major input is John Kerry, as the likely head of the SFRC. (Per some articles, Dodd is likely to stay with Banking or he may unfortunately become the most senior person on Health, Education, Labor and Pension.) HRC, does not have the foreign policy background of either Biden or Kerry.

[wisteria]

32. No. truthfully, I don't think she is qualified for that positron.

There are other important roles inside and outside the cabinet that Senator Clinton would be excellent at, but SOS isn't one of them.
As for an announcement of this type satisfying some of her hard core supporters, I doubt this would work. i believe these hard core people are waiting for Senator Obama to lose so they can say "I told you so" and in the meantime they do all they can to undermine his efforts and attack his supporters.

[applegrove]

37. My dad feels the same way.