As conservatives go, George Will is certainly intelligent, thoughtful, and well-spoken. (He's also supposed to be a bit arrogant - people here tell a story about a reading at a book store in Raleigh where he allegedly threw a pen across the room because it was a Bic, and so not classy enough for him).
So there are times I feel his analysis of the situation is accurate. I think that's the case with his comments on the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
"She's run two things in her life," Will said, "her campaign, that did not go so well. It was faction ridden, it leaked a lot. And before that, the health care event that they could not even get to a vote in a congress they controlled. Her record as a manager raises caution signs."
Caution signs? How about whopping red flags? Hillary made a debacle of the health care plan, and that at a time when the country supported change. I remember feeling deeply troubled at the time with the way she handled it. Despite clear legal guidelines, she refused to keep records of who she met with, and what they said. She excluded primary care physicians from any significant input, and catered to the desires of the health care industry over the needs of citizen consumers.
She has always been secretive, controlling, and self-serving. In health care, in Travelgate, in the primaries, and generally throughout her career. Her campaign was a disaster, and full of factionalism and finger-pointing.
I'm afraid her position as Secretary of State could easily turn into a platform for making a run against Obama in 2012. At the first sign of a 'mistake', the behind-the-scenes whisper campaign could start a chatter about how the job is beyond him, he doesn't really know what he's doing, if only Hillary had won the primary, and for the good of the country and the Democratic party she will just have to go against him in 2012.
The Clintons have always put their interests ahead of the party. What makes anyone think they wouldn't do so again? Hillary and Bill are arrogant enough to believe they could unseat a sitting president from their own party and win the White House.
I'm hoping I'm wrong, that we see a new Hillary, Hillary the Team Player. But it's hard to believe she's nto going to be looking out for her own interests first, and last.
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3 comments:
I, too, hope you're wrong, Richard. The Clintons will always have their own self-interests. What I'm counting on here is that they will see cooperation and making this the best possible administration WILL BE in their best interests.
First, about Hillary as administrator. I've read, but can't find the name now, that there is someone who was an obama advisor who is a strong management type who is slated to be Assistant Secretary, who will manage the operations of the department.
If that is true, it also means that Obama is taking a strong hand in choosing the staff, rather than just letting Hillary bring in her own team. It's not so much that she can't manage day-to-day affairs but that she will choose the wrong people for the wrong reasons. I suspect that Obama has seen to that.
Second, I think she's less likely to use her position as a platform for 2012 than if she were in the Senate -- unless things go really bad and it looks like Obama can't be re-elected.
But imagine what political suicide it would be for her to be seen as not a team-player in this new day of competent leadership and pragmatic compromise to get the job done.
It will make the coming years interesting, just to see how this potential dramatic partnership plays out.
Let me state it even more strongly: Even though Hill and Bill are expert at grabbing spotlights and steering things their way, with Hillary as a major member of the team, she cannot conceal, nor afford to be seen as doing it, any undermining of Obama's policy. It would be political suicide.
Remember how it backfired in the campaign when Bill subtly played the race card or when Hillary revved up the many criticisms of him?
Her only "hope" of the electorate turning against him and toward her is if his administration is a failure and he personally is seen as incompetent.
About a snowball's chance in hell, I'd say. Just from a political standpoint, it was a brilliant move to bring her inside rather than leaving her outside and free to criticize.
Hillary's only chance is to be such a great Secretary of State that she will be seen as the inevitable choice for 2016, not 2012, when she would have to be an anti-Obama candidate.
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