Senator Hillary Clinton emerged as a candidate to be US
secretary of state for Barack Obama, months after he defeated her
in an intense contest for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
Putting Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, in the
position could help heal whatever lingering divisions remain in the
Democratic Party after her bitter battle with Obama.
Obama passed over Clinton as his vice presidential running mate in
favor of Senator Joe Biden, a decision that angered her ardent
supporters and widened a rift in the party that Obama and Clinton
later worked hard to heal.
Her selection as top US diplomat could also mean a more hawkish
foreign policy than that advocated by Obama during his presidential
campaign. On the campaign trail, Clinton was more reluctant than
Obama to commit to a firm timetable for withdrawing US troops from
Iraq.
But both Obama and Clinton were adamant about improving the image
of the United States abroad and correcting what they considered the
"failed policies" of the outgoing Bush administration.
NBC News quoted an adviser as saying Clinton had flown to Chicago,
where Obama has an office, on personal business. Her office would
say only that she had no official business.
Neither her aides nor aides to President-elect Obama would say
whether she was interviewed for the job by Obama, who spent a great
part of the day behind closed doors in transition meetings in
Chicago.
"Any speculation about cabinet or other administration appointments
is really for President-elect Obama's transition team to address,"
said Clinton's senior adviser, Philippe Reines.
NBC News and The Washington Post reported that Clinton was under
consideration for the top US diplomatic position.
Expanded search?
This would mean Obama was expanding his search beyond other
candidates mentioned for the job, such as Massachusetts Senator
John Kerry, a Democrat who lost the 2004 presidential election to
George W. Bush, and Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican who
backed Obama over Republican John McCain this year.
CNN reported that while walking into an awards ceremony in New
York, Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the
Obama administration. It did not sound like she ruled it out.
"I am happy being a senator from New York, I love this state and
this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch
up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do
everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be
successful," Clinton said.
The former first lady had argued during the Democratic primary
campaign that Obama was too inexperienced to be president. But they
mended fences and during the Democratic National Convention in
Denver, she declared that "Barack Obama is my candidate and he must
be our president."
Analyst Paul Light of New York University's John Brademas Center
for the Study of Congress said picking Clinton would mean Obama was
serious about reaching across the party divide.
On the other hand, he said: "To put her in the competition with
several others and pick somebody other than Hillary Clinton after
you've floated her name is to have a repeat of the spring and
summer division and raise questions about Obama's seriousness about
healing the division within the party."
Clinton was at first considered the shoo-in to win the Democratic
nomination only to watch the 47-year-old Illinois senator defeat
her in a series of decisive battles.
Whether Clinton would want the position was immediately debated on
cable television talk shows. After all, she wanted to be president,
and why would she settle for anything less?
"I think she has her sights set higher than that," said Stephen
Hayes, a columnist for the Weekly Standard Magazine, on CNN.
On the other hand, Obama won election over McCain decisively and if
he is successful in his first term, he very well could win again in
2012, probably putting the presidency out of reach for Clinton, who
is now 61.
As US first lady Clinton devoted a great deal of time to the rights
of women around the world, often traveling the globe with her
daughter, Chelsea.
As a presidential candidate, she argued for putting greater US
emphasis on defeating the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and
in ensuring nuclear weapons do not spread.
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