The NYT is calling it: Hillary Clinton will be Obama's nominee for Secretary of State.
It's an ... interesting choice. Obama beat Clinton in the primaries primarily because Clinton was wrong on Iraq. I.e., wrong on an issue of foreign policy. So it makes it a bit odd for him to turn around and make her the chief face of our foreign policy.
That being said, I'm not opposed to the pick per se. I think Hillary Clinton is a very smart woman who bring a lot to the State Department. She is a wonk without parallel, and that's something I appreciate. And she is a well-known and respected figure around the world, which is important.
So, I'm okay with this. I wish the New York Times didn't phrase the decision as Obama taking the high road and Clinton cravenly weighing where she'll have the most power, but what are you going to do?
my concern id for the institutional level choices. the sec of state is going to be in charge of staffing the agency and clinton may pick her own people from the campaign. if she picks her people all of the career people who backed obama are gong to be pushed out because their views and ideas wont be in line with the sec state and her top level people. i really dont understand the pick just because they dont share a common foriegn policy philosophy and that has consequences for more than their personal interaction.
ReplyDelete