| | |  Americas & Beyond | November 2008 
Obama Weighs Clinton, Richardson as Sec. of State
 Nedra Pickler - Associated Press
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| | Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., arrives at a New York Public Transit Association conference in Albany on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008. Clinton said she would not comment on speculation that she may be selected to become President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of state. (AP/Tim Roske) | | |
Washington — President-elect Barack Obama is interviewing some of his one-time political opponents as he ponders building his own "team of rivals" to help him run the country.
Primary election foes Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson both have been interviewed for secretary of state, according to several Democratic officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret meetings.
Obama met with Richardson late Friday afternoon, a day after conferring one-on-one with Clinton at his Chicago office, the officials said. He plans to meet there Monday with his Republican opponent, John McCain, but advisers to both of the general election candidates say they don't expect Obama to consider McCain for an administration job.
The meeting with Clinton excited a burst of speculation that Obama would transform the former first lady and fierce campaign foe into one of his top Cabinet officials and the nation's chief diplomatic voice. But where the New York senator stands in contention for the post came into question as other Democrats, also speaking on condition of anonymity about the private discussions, said Richardson was brought in as well.
It's far from clear how interested Clinton would be in the secretary of state job. She would face a Senate confirmation hearing that would certainly probe her husband's financial dealings — something the Clintons refused to disclose in the presidential campaign.
But remaining in the Senate may not be Clinton's first choice, either, since she is a junior senator without prospects for a leadership position or committee chairmanship anytime soon.
Being secretary of state could give Clinton a platform for another run at the presidency in eight years. Obama could also get assurances from her that she wouldn't challenge him in four years.
Richardson is the governor of New Mexico and has an extensive foreign policy resume. He was President Bill Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations and has conducted freelance diplomacy for the U.S. in such hot spots as Sudan and North Korea.
The two are not the only candidates Obama has talked to about the job, Democrats said. One senior Obama adviser said the president-elect has given no evidence whom he is favoring for the post. Obama asked Clinton directly whether she would be interested in the job, said one Democrat, who cautioned that it was no indication that he was leaning toward her.
Obama was deciding on his presidential staff as well, naming longtime friend Valerie Jarrett as a White House senior adviser. Jarrett met Obama when she hired his wife for a job in the Chicago mayor's office years ago and has been close to the couple since.
Obama was silent and out of sight in Chicago. Clinton addressed a transit conference in her home state and said emphatically, "I'm not going to speculate or address anything about the president-elect's incoming administration, and I'm going to respect his process."
Obama's aides say he would like to have McCain as a partner with him on legislation they both have advocated, such as climate change, government reform, immigration and a ban on torture.
All this fits with an idea that Obama often talked about on the campaign trail, as he praised the presidency of Abraham Lincoln as described by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book "Team of Rivals."
Lincoln appointed three of his rivals for the Republican nomination to his Cabinet. Obama turned to one rival for vice president, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.
Obama said at one point: "Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was: How can we get this country through this time of crisis?"
Associated Press writers David Espo, Jim Kuhnhenn and Liz Sidoti in Washington contributed to this report. |
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