Whither Hillary?
I may be wrong but I don’t think Barack Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State.
For one thing, during the campaign they took significantly different positions on foreign policy; from her vote for the Iraq War to the wisdom of meeting with bad guy foreign leaders to going after bin Laden in Pakistan.
Then there was how she inflated her role as First Lady being sent to hotspots around the globe.
Then there’s the Problem with Bill. The former president is already an extraordinary diplomatic resource of cosmic proportions; traveling around the globe on behalf of his foundation, he is able to meet with state leaders and serve as an emissary, if asked.
Then there’s the Biden factor. Surely, Joe the Veep was brought on board to make use of his extensive experience on the world stage. It’s hard to imagine two egos the size of Biden’s and Clinton’s effectively sharing responsibility for advising the new president on all things foreign.
My guess is that Hillary would be a much better choice as Health and Human Services Secretary, following in the footsteps of two prominent Badgers, Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala.
Both Obama and Clinton promised health care reform during their campaigns. Nobody knows this issue better than Hillary and she has already been rebuffed from leading the effort in the Senate by
Edward Kennedy who intends to champion it himself as long as he’s drawing breath.
And way too much was made of the difference between Clinton’s proposal and Obama’s. Clearly, the children’s mandate proposed by Obama would be a lot easier to pass than the universal mandate endorsed by Clinton. But nothing will happen unless Obama undertakes an Olympian effort in collaboration with Congress. Hillary and Bill tried to ram their proposal down the throats of Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, Dan Rostenkowski, George Mitchell and other Lions of Congress which was the main reason the effort failed miserably.
Everything Hillary Clinton has done since 1994 demonstrates that she learned this important lesson. She has become extremely engaged in the art of legislative compromise and could be a valuable leader in this effort.
In addition, children’s issues are near and dear to her heart and the HHS position would provide her with a platform to develop and implement new initiatives that could improve the lives of millions of young people.
It might seem as a step down for someone of her stature and some of her supporters might see it as an insult.
But she is savvy enough to know the HHS position would provide her with an ideal platform to develop a legacy that could last for generations.
Not a bad deal for her and the country.
