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Reports: Clinton Will Resign from Senate to Become Secretary of State

2008_11_hilbar21.jpg
Photograph of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at a June rally in Unity, NH by Elise Amendola/AP

In what might be the worst-kept secret ever, multiple media outlets are reporting that Senator Hillary Clinton will resign from the Senate to become Secretary of State in President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet. A top Clinton adviser says an announcement will come after Thanksgiving and added to Politico, "She knew this was the right thing to do but just needed to sit with it for a bit to make sure."

The Caucus points out that Obama's office said the nomination was "on track" yesterday while Clinton's people "only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided." Apparently Clinton was reassured after a second conversation with Obama because their meeting last week "was so general."

This comes after negotiations to have former President Bill Clinton disclose the donor list to his library and limit his public speeches. The Caucus also notes, "As secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton will have had a powerful platform to travel the world and help repair relations with other countries strained after eight years of President Bush’s policies. But at the same time, she will now have to subordinate her own agenda and ambitions to Mr. Obama’s and sacrifice the independence that comes with a Senate seat and the 18 million votes she collected during their arduous primary battle."

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Comments [rss]

  • S.D.

    MJG, I'm curious too, why is this so bad?



    Even if Obama uses a Majority of Clinton era staffers, he's still calling the shots. In any case, after the last 8 years, this is change for the better.

  • NannyState

    To add to this crazy Clinton Era pileup comes the rumors that Gov. Paterson may actually appoint Bill Clinton to fill her Senate seat. And as we approach the End Of The World, Chelsea is being urged to run for an office in NY. But unlike the Hillary haters above, I would like to see her in action in Islamabad Pakistan, waving from her tour bus like Benazir Bhutto.

  • State is temporary, true. But, if she doesn't like it in four years, she could run for Senate again...



    I, like babyhitler, also have to ask what exactly was wrong with the Clintons?

  • tingo

    Great. If the Obama administration f*cks it up, we got nothing. Then again, you gotta be really bad to top Bush.

  • OttoBloggo

    UGH. This stinks in so many ways. Yes, the tenure of SOS is dangerously short. Hillary's been a pretty effective senator, she's gonna just walk away from that secure position??!! God help us, who is Paterson gonna "appoint?" Thanks, Hil. [rolls eyes]



    Last of all, I can't help but think that Bama is opening himself up to some good old-fashioned Clinton taint. That husband of hers is bound to stir up trouble, some time, some where. If she'd been elected president, she coulda covered up his mischief. As SOS, she has much less power.



    I'm a little skeered of this potential mess.

  • nik13

    WHY??? She's favourite adopted daughter of NY, who would be re-elected to the Senate by wide margins till she's older than Strom Thurmond & Robert Byrd combined, yet she'd relinquish such sinecure for a temp job as Sec of State? What is she smoking? Same goes for Obama, by the way.

  • slappy

    I just hope she doesn't become Obama's Lewinski. That aside, I think she is a good choice.

  • babyhitler

    #4 - what was wrong with the clintons? I remember that under the clinton administration the nation had a budget surplus which Bush squandered immediately.

  • tingo

    So all the secreteries are chicks again now?

  • Shinobi Shaw

    Well, now we know why they met at BILDERBERG this past summer.

  • SleepyM

    "And what's Biden going to do now? I felt better about Obama knowing Biden was there for foreign policy input and now he's been completely marginalized."



    I don't think he's been marginalized, it's not like he can be both Vice-President and Secretary of State.



    I think Obama is taking a page out of Lincoln's play book a bit here. Which I think is a good thing.

  • Felix Hoenikker

    Don't let the door hit you in that fat ass, sweetheart.



    Change my pimpled white ass.

  • longacre

    DO NOT WANT.

  • protopop

    Exciting news.

  • bxbrian

    Oh hell no, I should have been more clear. I don't like HRC in the spot... I'm referring to some more of the other advisers, like Larry Summers and others. Some of the lesser-knowns.



    The notion that she has foreign policy credentials is somewhat dubious. Sure she served on some well-respected committees but that doesn't totally cut it for me.

  • EastRiver

    BXBrian, so what exactly makes Hillary Clinton the top choice for State? I'm all for talent people in top jobs too but are you really saying she's the best choice? What are her foreign policy credentials? Was there really nobody better? And what's Biden going to do now? I felt better about Obama knowing Biden was there for foreign policy input and now he's been completely marginalized.

  • bxbrian

    as much as "change" and all that doesn't jibe, does anyone find it reasonable to believe that Obama wants to try to pick some of the top left-leaning political minds? i mean i'm a little disappointed in it all too, but if you're going to have a democrat with experience at this level, it pretty much has to be a clinton-era pick.

  • Tgirl

    haha its looking more like "Back to the Future" than "Change"every minute

  • Pull My Finger

    Goodbye carpetbagging pile of worthless crap.

  • Gregoire

    Whatever, haters, having Hill as SOS will be awfully fun.

  • Wza

    Let's hope they don't give her job to Quinn.

  • 99centmenu

    I guess they can both take turns answering the phone at 3 a.m.

  • suepart

    thanks for nothing, obama. i voted for you to re-establish what was already there, the dirty nepotism of clinton. let's see what other so called "change" you can propose and betray us with.

  • I hope one day I can be President just so I can offer the big important jobs to the very people who spent months of their lives and piles of their supporters' money telling the world how crappy for the job I am...



    ...and then once they accept and quit their day jobs, I'd be all like "Psych! Like I was ever gonna give it to your bitter ass. Boosh!"

  • Tgirl

    "change" is D.O.A.

  • JP Lynch

    So, change means having to deal with the Clintons. Again. Great....

  • Toby von Meistersinger

    If true, the whole thing is just some good old fashioned political quid pro quo finally getting paying off also known as just more of the same.

  • drewo

    Hillary - New Yorkers hardly knew ya. Really.

  • gossipgirl

    Change we can believe in.

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