Hillary Clinton Accepts Secretary of State Position

Sources close to Obama are reporting that Hillary Clinton has accepted the Secretary of State position offered by his administration. She will replace Condoleezza Rice from the Bush administration. There has been speculation for several weeks, and people have been debating the effectiveness Hillary would have in this position. Since being elected a New York Senator, she has specialized in foreign affairs and defense so Hillary seems well-suited for the position. She will certainly carefully weigh her decision. Since she must still have hopes for a successful presidential run in the future so she will need to decide whether it would be better to stay in the Senate or take the Secretary of State job. There appears to be no conflict of interest with Bill Clinton's foundation which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development.

Obama and his advisors have made very careful choices from the very beginning of his campaign and more recently as president-elect. So despite the Barack and Hillary clashed during the early part of the campaign before he clinched teh nomination, Obama's team sees the value Hillary can ad. Also, the two showed their individual strengths by quickly putting aside their differences and exploring how they can move forward and work together to help the country. Even though they disagree on tax policy and the strategy for withdrawing from Iraq, they have a lot in common. They both favor the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention center, an increase in US troops to Afghanistan, immigration reform, stem cell research and measures to tackle climate change, and they both oppose torture and the widespread use of wire-tapping.

Obama has also already shown signs of bipartisanship when he confirmed last week that he would offer some jobs to Republicans which is encouraging. Many are speculating that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel will be offered a post. Hagel is a foreign affairs specialist and a critic of the Iraq war (an aberration among Republicans) so he seems like a good pick for Obama.

Do you think Hillary is a good choice for Secretary of State? Why or why not? Let's discuss it!