The European media have reacted cautiously, even skeptically, to reports that President-elect Barack Obama is considering offering the job of Secretary of State to Hillary Clinton, his bitter rival for the Presidential nomination in the lengthy Democratic primaries. As the reports below suggest, many European commentators believe that it would be a mistake for Obama to offer Clinton the job , and a mistake for her to accept it. Although they generally agree that her nomination would help heal deep political wounds inside the Democratic Party, they point to policy differences between Obama and Clinton and question whether Bill Clinton's lucrative and not always transparent fund-raising activities would constitute a conflict of interest. Another point frequently made is that by appointing Clinton to such a high-level post, Obama would be flying in the face of his campaign promises to implement change, in his presidential appointments as well as in his policies. That would be particularly so in light of the number of other likely Obama appointees who served in Bill Clinton's administration in the 1990s.
Hillary is not the right woman for the job, The Times of London, November 19th 2008
Chief foreign commentator Bronwen Maddox argues that Barack Obama would be making a huge mistake if he appointed Hillary Clinton Secretary of State because the two would be likely to disagree, sometimes quite strongly, but he would be unable to fire her for political reasons. "There is an old principle that you shouldn't hire someone you can't fire." Maddox says that Clinton would do an excellent job in the position, but "she wouldn't help Mr. Obama as president. She wouldn't flatter him; she wouldn't really defer to him; she might challenge him, even though she couldn't actually upstage him." Nor would Clinton necessarily be happy in the job. What's more, "the rapturous reception that Mr Obama has received in much of the world is based on his promise of change. He says that he is the face of a new America; does he really want to be represented by one of the most familiar faces of the past? Or by anyone who will compete with him (and eclipse Joe Biden, the Vice-President and a foreign affairs specialist)? "
Why Obama is suddenly so close to Clinton, Der Spiegel, November 17th 2008
Gregor Peter Schmitz reports that Democrats are divided over the possible nomination of Hillary as Secretary of State. Some in the U.S. media argue that Clinton should not accept the post because she would simply be rushing from crisis to crisis. Others say the position would be a good springboard for a new presidential candidacy. What is clear is that Clinton would bring a new shine to a State Department that has for years been neglected. Schmitz also notes that the job would finally reconcile the party after its divisions during the primaries. There would be problems with the nomination, however, such as Bill Clinton's questionable financial activities, policy differences between Hillary Clinton and Obama, and the question of whether Clinton really wants the job. Schmitz concludes by saying that the Obama campaign seems to have learned a lesson from the Carter administration's failure to understand that, in order to conquer Washington, you need to have insiders such as the Clintons on your side.
Obama wants Hillary, but is wary of her husband, Liberation, November 19th 2008
Philippe Grangereau reports that Barack Obama seems to want Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State (or, much more improbably, Secretary of Defense), but that he is still wary of her husband. He cites U.S. media sources as saying that an important obstacle remains the desire of the President-elect's transition team to be sure that Bill Clinton's lucrative activities will not present a conflict of interest. The former President's Clinton Foundation has raised more than $500 million, mainly from foreign donors, but Bill Clinton has always refused to divulge his list of donors. The Foundation has been criticized for lack of transparency and Bill Clinton has been suspected of "having acted without too many scruples." Grangereau also questions the "newness' of the Obama team, noting that several of its members are former Clinton advisors.
Hillary Clinton candidate for the job of Secretary of State, L'Express, November 14, 2008
L'Express, a leading French weekly magazines, says that that appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State could help to calm tensions inside the Democratic Party, following the anger that erupted among Clinton supporters after Obama did not offer her the vice presidency. But it adds that if Clinton took the job, she might conduct tougher foreign policies than those Obama promised during the election campaign, for example over the need to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.
