Hillary for Secretary of State?

Since I did not favor the idea of Hillary Clinton for president nor vice-president, it might seem I'd not like her to be named Secretary of State. Actually, since Obama won the nomination, one of my truths has been thinking Hillary Clinton would make an excellent Secretary of State-- if it suited her career goals. Is there a possible downside to it? There usually is with moves that aren't totally safe and in the current world situation, would a safe choice be safe?

On the positive side: she showed guts last year whether a person agreed with her politically. She did all she could to win and was an admirable adversary, toughening up Obama in ways he probably needed. In the primary, she was chosen by almost half the Democrats and recent polls say she'd have had more votes in the presidential race against McCain than Obama (I take that with a grain of salt).

Clinton is another of those fascinating characters that it isn't easy to pin down with a label. She was a wife who put up with a philandering husband. Was it great love? Had they worked out a partnership more like friends or brother and sister? She is not a lady to spill her inner secrets.

Through her entire time in public office, Hillary has been a controversial figure but can anyone deny how hard she campaigned for Obama this fall? She was really out there for him and it looked like she enjoyed herself, that she was freed by her hard campaign to be who she is. Perhaps she found herself during those months. It looked like she and Obama had a working rapport that could serve well in the next four years.

Obama has shown, by his choice of a wife, that he is not intimidated by powerful women. Hillary certainly is that. She has grown into a woman to respect, a woman who has moved beyond the shadow of her husband.

She has status in the world which would serve her well as a Secretary of State. I don't know if she's a great organizer of people (campaign didn't show it), which could be a problem in running the State Department; still, she is a hard worker and knows the leaders, countries.

If she is asked and says yes, between her, Biden and Obama, with Obama having the final say, the United States would have a powerful triumvirate. I like the idea that he's not wanting just yes people around him. I see the three of them with great potential for leading our country into a world where our nation has lost prestige and where there are so many dangers ahead.

One criticism of her has been that she voted for the Iraq war and never admitted her mistake. First of all, the Secretary of State does what the president says (or quits), but also she voted to give Bush bargaining power. Bush misused that power. I don't think she would have favored fighting a war in Iraq if she had had the say-- although my uncertainty on that is why I didn't want her for president.

My favorite, when I didn't know that Obama would seriously consider asking her, was Bill Richardson, who I still think would be good. I also think he's not as strong a choice as Hillary would be.

If Obama does pick a cabinet of rivals, as Abraham Lincoln described, of people who have their own power, and he's not intimidated by their power, I say it is to his and our good.