According to recent reports, Hillary’s Clinton’s star is far from fading. In fact, there are numerous possibilities that are being tossed around.
Buzz in the no-drama Obama administration is the seamless bond that has developed between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a Republican holdover from the Bush administration.
From Politico:
Gates, who has long signaled an eagerness to retire, just launched what appears to be his final initiative, a tough push to scale back the Pentagon’s gargantuan bureaucracy. Clinton, with her hawkish image and ties to Gates and to military brass, would be his most logical successor — and some of her most senior allies have begun quietly to float the notion.
What’s kind of cool about the relationship between Clinton and Gates is that they follow a Secretary of State—Colin Powell—and a Secretary of Defense—Donald Rumsfeld—who famously hated didn’t get along with each other. Hillary Clinton has shown herself to be the consummate Secretary of State, building bridges and seeing both sides of every issue.
There have even been occasions where she’s been more “hawkish” than the guy in charge of the military, most notably with almost threatening words to Pakistan following evidence that the recently attempted Times Square bombing was perpetrated by Pakistani Taliban. If links to the Pakistan government were verified, Clinton noted, “very severe consequences” would be forthcoming. And Gates? He merely said, ““It’s their country. They remain in the driver’s seat and they have their foot on the accelerator
Back to Politics Daily:
It would be a lot of grief to create one more crack in the glass ceiling as the first female secretary of defense. She’s ambitious, but I suspect there’s not enough payoff for her in that lateral move. And imagine the outcry if the secretary of state most associated with soft power were suddenly put in charge of hard power.
I don’t know, I think Hillary could pull it off. She’s proven herself to be a diplomat, but she’s also nothing like Sarah Palin incredibly intelligent and possesses the skills to put defense issues into a historical context. Hmm …
But there’s also another possibility being floated around:
It is plausible that she could trade places with Joe Biden at some point. If polls show an Obama-Clinton ticket is stronger going into the 2012 election, the president might well have Biden step aside. [Obama] could argue that the talents of each player are better utilized with Hillary in the White House. As the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden would be a natural at the State Department. He has long coveted the job of secretary of state and could argue it is a step up that takes full advantage of his background.
If the handoff were made after the 2012 election, even better because Obama will want to set up a successor for 2016, and it likely isn’t Biden, who would be over 70 at that point. But it could be Hillary, who would turn 69 that year, a mere pup if she were a man with national ambition. The rules have yet to be written for women of a certain age, but if she continues to play a prominent role on the national stage, cementing her standing with the American people, anything is possible.
So what do you think? Has Hillary Clinton reached the pinnacle of her career, or is she being groomed for something even bigger?
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