The Final US Election Thread

[Spino]

I don't understand the Clinton pick, if true. The two biggest organizational challenges she ever faced -- healthcare reform and her Presidential campaign -- were utterly dysfunctional. She has not demonstrated that she can organize a one-person parade without infighting. Sure, the Clinton name has tremendous cachet overseas, but last I heard the State Department was in bad need of rebuilding after the neglect and abuse the Bush administration heaped upon diplomats and diplomacy. Why would Hillary Clinton be the right person to rebuild?

Also, her hubby has gotten into a slew of shady deals around the world. Won't his business shenanigans create a series of conflicts-of-interest for Madame Secretary?

Well if you buy into the whole, 'time for change', 'audacity of hope', fresh start, new American era B.S. then Clinton's appointment makes absolutely no sense.

However, if you look at this using a purely political lens then Hillary Clinton's appoinment as Secretary of State makes total sense.

First and foremost it helps ease the pain of Obama's victory. People seem to forget that Obama's whirlwind campaign threw a giant wrench in the grand plans of the Democratic party (as orchestrated by the Clintons). Obama's nomination not only knocked the Democrat's favorite daughter out of the race but it also ran afoul of that same daughter's monstrous political machine. Let us also not forget that Hillary had great difficulty keeping her campaign funded in the latter stages of the primaries. Obama's piles of campaign money isn't enough to dull the pain but an appointment to the most prestigious cabinet position could do wonders to cure what ails Hillary's ego.

Secondly it shows Obama is thinking far enough into the future in that he is lining up his support ducks for when he runs for re-election in 2012. If Obama and his advisors have an eye for matters not related to running for office then they can see the writing on the wall which spells 'ONE TERM PRESIDENT' in big, black, bolded letters. This recession has just begun and things are going to get really nasty. The stock market is still floundering, the credit market is in shambles, massive layoffs have begun and to make an already terrible situation worse a giant question mark hangs over some of the cornerstones of America's shrinking industrial sector. The ill effects of this recession will easily melt through Obama's teflon coating and sticking to him like dried bird droppings as the country enters 2010/2011. Let us also not forget nobody has a clue what our orthodox & unorthodox enemies will do once Obama is sworn in. Some people expect the excrement will hit the fan the moment Obama wraps up his inauguration speech. Obama's team must know this so they are looking to stack the deck now so that it pays off during the next presidential election.

If anything we should be questioning Clinton's sanity if she accepts the appointment. Closely associating with a President who will preside over one of the worst recessions in the country's history as well as one that will inherit the messy situations in Iraq & Afghanistan can only bring bad things to someone who is still adamant about seeking high political office down the road. Hillary should steer clear of Obama in an official capacity and simply keep on being the dutiful Senator from NY until she gets another shot at the brass ring in 2016.

Things are going to get so nasty that I'm confident there is a part of Obama that wishes he had checked his ego and stayed in the Senate for 4-8 years while this thing blows over.