\u00a0<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t jumped on the Hillary Clinton\u00a0at Foggy Bottom rumor, mainly because it\u2019s just a rumor. Like all the rumored appointments \u2014 Kerry and\/or Richardson at State, Gates and\/or Hagel and\/or Kerry at Defense, Alberto Gonzales back in a triumphat stint at AG \u2014 they\u2019re just rumors, and none of them should be taken particulary seriously yet. Did she talk to Obama about it? Possibly. Does that she\u2019s a lock for the job? Of course not. Nobody<\/em> should be considered a lock for State, any more than they should for President. It\u2019s arguably the third-or-fourth most prestigious position in American government, roughly equal to House Speaker or Senate Majority Leader, ahead of Vice President, behind only the Presidency itself and Chief Justice \u2014 and those two positions aren\u2019t open.<\/p>\n That said, Clinton is an intriguing choice for State. Some can argue that her opinion and Obama\u2019s don\u2019t mesh exactly on foreign policy, and that\u2019s true \u2014 emphasis on \u201cexactly.\u201d But my sense is that Obama views minor disagreements as a feature, not a bug. Certainly, he doesn\u2019t seem like a guy who would be unwilling to listen to Clinton if she had an idea on foreign policy that was at variance to his \u2014 indeed, his lack of rigidity is one of his strengths. More to the point, Clinton\u2019s positions are not nearly as different from Obama\u2019s as the primary made it seem; Clinton is perhaps a bit more hawkish than Obama, but both are basically in the mainstream of Democratic thought. And Clinton has shown every evidence that she can\u00a0hold her ego in check when dealing with Obama; like all politicians, Clinton has an ego, but she also has the sense of when to hold it in check.<\/p>\n Clinton\u00a0would obviously be an instantly recognizable and powerful figure in the position of top diplomat. Her husband is well-known throughout the world, obviously, and Clinton has been almost as well-traveled herself. Additionally, there\u2019d be no question whether Clinton could command respect the way there could be\u00a0with, say, Bill Richardson. Clinton\u00a0is probably the second-most-respected politician in America right now, behind only the President-Elect. And\u00a0she\u2019d be an ideal person to begin the hard work of righting America\u2019s\u00a0standing\u00a0in the world.<\/p>\n The main\u00a0question is whether Clinton would want to take the position, one that would have\u00a0her serving at the pleasure of President Obama. Clearly, Clinton can\u00a0hold her seat in the Senate\u00a0in perpetuity, and she\u2019s likely to keep moving up in the Democratic caucus, perhaps to the Majority Leader position someday. If Obama falters, and loses in\u00a02012 \u2014 and\u00a0we\u2019re a long way from 2012, and a lot could happen \u2014 Clinton could potentially run for the presidency again in 2016. She would only\u00a0be 69,\u00a0which, while on the older side for a presidential candidate, is certainly\u00a0not out of the ballpark. Indeed, Clinton could be the odds-on favorite for the Democratic nomination in 2016 even if Obama has two successful terms; Joe Biden is turning 66 next week, and would be 74 in 2017, almost certainly too old to seek his first term in office, especially compared to Clinton.<\/p>\n Clinton could bide her time in the Senate, serving as a point person on health care reform and a vocal member of Congress, using her clout to position herself for a run in eight years; certainly, she\u2019d be able to be more vocal than she could be in the State Department. That said, Clinton could potentially serve four years at State and take a couple years to gear up for her final run for the presidency \u2014 and if Obama\u2019s been successful, she could be the most-like-a-vice-president candidate in 2016, assuming Biden doesn\u2019t run.<\/p>\n Essentially, for Clinton, being offered State is a win\/win; either she takes it, and positions herself as an heir apparent, or she rejects it, and positions herself as one of the key figures in the Senate. Frankly, if I was Obama, I\u2019d offer her\u00a0State (or possibly its equally powerful mirror image, Defense); it won\u2019t be Health and Human Services or the Vice Presidency, positions that are arguably beneath her talents.\u00a0Instead, it would be a position that would suit her strengths, and keep her close in the coming years. If nothing else, allowing Clinton to reject the position would leave her a closer ally than not offering it, and would make one of the leading lights of Congress shine more favorably on the Obama administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 I haven\u2019t jumped on the Hillary Clinton\u00a0at Foggy Bottom rumor, mainly because it\u2019s just a rumor. Like all the rumored appointments \u2014 Kerry and\/or Richardson at State, Gates and\/or Hagel and\/or Kerry at Defense, Alberto Gonzales back in a … Continue reading