Dreams and Nightmares

[TwinSwords]

Originally Posted by Eastwest

Seems pretty obvious to me that Obama is just playing yet more of his strategic poker (an excellent & necessary political skill for which I give him much credit):

1) When HRC shines, she really does well, hence why not give her a run at it as there's, perhaps oddly, a certain amount of prestige that shines on a foreign head of state when meeting with a "Clinton." She can be both tough and charismatic while also commanding considerable respect in foreign capitals. So, were this scenario to work out, Obama could benefit greatly, remaining somewhat taciturn in the background in some "tough cases," allowing HRC to play "bad cop," but a bad cop fully controlled by Police Chief Obama.

2) This nicely placates any HRC supporters still feeling "burned" from the fisticuffs of the Primaries.

3) If she, and/or Bill act up too much, as with most Secretaries of State, she can be "eased out" after the first couple years, when HRC loyalists have more or less let go of old "wounds."

4) Meanwhile, if he does find either the need or the political interest in easing her out, great, he will have succeeded in robbing her of any power she might otherwise have been able to mount in the Senate. Result: she would then have no particularly bright prospects for any sort of political future and (along with Bill whose "Foundation pulpit" is also destroyed), Clinton competition would be history.

Hopefully, the coterie of folks around Obama just itching to torpedo HRC will learn to chill a little, HRC will do a brilliant job as SOC (which she is certainly capable of doing), and it will all be win-win. Not holding my breath on this one, though.

EW

Good analysis. I agree completely.

I'm curious; What do you think of the Lieberman decision? Allowing him to keep his chairmanship and his honor?

Should the Dems have given in to their inner-Republican and punished him for his heresy? Or were they smart to let him retain his dignity and turn him into an ally?

(Personally, I believe it was incredibly smart to keep him on the team, despite the obvious desire on the part of many to give into the irrational impulse to punish him. I'm slightly torn on the issue, but not much.)