What’s Hillary Clinton’s Role?
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James Joyner | Wednesday, February 11, 2009 |
In “Hillary Clinton’s Job Description,” I consider the steady stream of data pointing to an obvious conclusion: there’s not much left for new Secretary of State to do.
Clinton is a shrewd insider in the games of Washington and one presumes that she considered the possibility that her erstwhile opponent for the presidency was shunting her to State to prevent her being a political nuisance. One presumes that she got some pretty strong assurances before leaving her perch in the Senate.
There has to be more to this than meets the eye. From this vantage point, however, it’s very difficult to see what her role is.
More at the link.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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"The first big foreign policy statement by the Obama administration was delivered last weekend in Munich by Vice President Joe Biden. As former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden sees himself as the administration's real expert on the world."
I concluded the same when I saw this:
Why she couldn't see that this job would be diminished by "It's the economy, stupid! -- the second act" is surprising for the smartest woman in the world.
I'm certain Hillary got something big out of the deal. I can not imagine what it might be, but I'll bet it'll be a real shock when it is revealed. Only it might be years or decades after the Obama administration is history before we know.
Dick Morris writes to this point this morning. It's starting to look like Obama sucked her in to a role she could be easily contained in.
Pretty worthless speculation and using Dick Morris makes it more so. The only "item" is that Biden gave a speech. I feel like we are living in Russia and counting Politburo bodies at a parade. In other words, there is nothing in the article.
I've wondered about this as well, since she probably could easily have become Senate Majority Leader. Maybe she's biding time for a run at Bloomberg for mayor of NYC?
I am not so sure she will be easily contained. I do think Obama is going to try to keep her contained, but the Clintons are good at throwing dirt at their opponents and keeping their hands clean in the process.
If he cuts her out too much, she is going to note it and she may undercut him, if she thinks it is to her advantage.
I don't think Hillary will take on Obama. If she goes too far off the reservation, Obama can always fire her.
She serves at "the pleasure of the President."
