Kabuki Dance

20 November 2008 |permalink | email article

Barack Obama’s big gamble in making Hillary Clinton the secretary of state is not yet a done deal but remains a riveting countdown.

The Clinton side suggests agreements to end conflicts of interest involving Bill Clinton have been reached, but Obama’s aides have yet to confirm it.

So the drama continues to play out. Tensions and leaks are rising on both sides as hostility persists in a complex relationship dating back to their bitter primary.

There is no guarantee it will end should Clinton become secretary of state, lessening her chance to run for the nomination in 2012. But it is the creation of a rival power center within the Obama administration that festers.

Two respected columnists, David Broder and Thomas Friedman, have zeroed in on the potential rivalry issue. I believe it keeps alive the dying embers of a future Clinton restoration.

Broder, in the Washington Post, said the appointment would be a mistake.

“What Obama needs…is a diplomat who will carry out his foreign policy. He does not need someone who will tell him how to approach the world or be his mentor in international relations.”

The New York Times’ Friedman suggested that Clinton may be thinking four or eight years ahead, with every word said between them in public scrutinized for what it means politically — raising questions required for effective diplomacy.

“When it comes to appointing a secretary of state, you do not want a team of rivals.”

Obama and Clinton have read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.” Obama’s captivated by its historic possibilities.

Goodwin confirmed to Politico that in wartime FDR brought two top Republicans, [former Secretary of State Henry] Stimson and [former vice presidential candidate Frank] Knox into his Cabinet.

Asked whether it is harder now in terms of becoming a little more dangerous to have people in the chain of command who may be inclined to resist the president’s policies, Goodwin said, “That may well be so.”

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