Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama’s chief Cabinet officer.
Since her designation:
• Vice President Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the Inauguration, could not but send a signal to Hillary that he would conduct foreign policy in the new administration, leaving Hillary in the role of backup.
• Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the Clinton years.
• Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine), negotiator of the Irish Peace Accords, was appointed to be the administration’s point man on Arab-Israeli negotiations.
• Samantha Powers, Obama’s former campaign aide, who once called Hillary a “monster,” has been appointed to the National Security Council (NSC) as director of “multilateral affairs.”
• Gen. James L. Jones, Obama’s new national security adviser, has announced an expansion of the membership and role of the NSC. He pledges to eliminate “back channels” to the president and wants to grow the NSC’s role to accommodate the “dramatically different” challenges of the current world situation.
• Susan Rice, Obama’s new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she will presumably also have the same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign.
So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton?
Out of Obama's way, that's where. I believe I wrote something to that effect back when she was nominated. Let me look......
Hummmm, hummm - (just talk among yourselves for a moment).
Okay, here it is:
On Obama's side he accomplishes two things: He gets Clinton out of the Senate where she might have been a thorn in his side on issues where her views diverged from his. He gets rid of the most potent Dem rival in 2012 and pretty much assures his renomination barring a complete disaster of an administration. With Hillary at State she'll have to back Obama and support him and won't be able to spend two years telling primary voters they could do better with her. Obama makes a pretty shrewd move by choosing Hillary.
Out of sight, out of mind, out of the 2012 race.
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