The Obama Transition Team announced today that there will be no cabinet appointments this week. Good. Now we have a whole other week to speculate and scrutinize!
Secretary of State is pretty much the coolest job in the world other than “President of the United States,” “Video Game Tester,” and “Victoria Secret Photographer’s Assistant.” Bill Clinton has held three of the top four. That’s just how cool he is.
Maybe it’s time Bill got the fourth gig too…
Yup, my pick for Obama’s Secretary of State is former President Bill Clinton.
A great Secretary of State must have three qualities: 1) Complete fluencey in world affairs and leaders, 2) A love of travel, and 3) An affable personality with the people and the press. Rice might know a lot and be the most traveled StateSec in history, but no body likes her. Colin Powell knew plenty and everyone liked him, but he never hit the road. Madeline Albright had all three qualities in spades and do you remember who chose her? Billy Boy.
But, choosing Clinton has an extra special political bonus for Obama: It gets the former President the hell out of the country for weeks at a time. We all know that Bill was a tepid supporter of Obama’s. Does that mean he’ll be an energetic critic? Clinton is going to be a huge name and considerable political force for the foreseeable future. Obama should use a little political jujitsu and put Clinton’s talent to work for him, rather than risk the possibility certainty that Clinton works against him through the press.
Plus which, Clinton would be great at it. I mean, spectacularly great. The man has the most informed and nimble mind in politics. Obama might surpass him by the end of his first term, but as of Day 1, Clinton is too big an asset to let putter around Harlem. The world is angry and disappointed with Bush’s America. They feel used and betrayed by the country they trusted and loved so much. And who has more experience with that scenario than Bill Clinton? If he can keep Hillary after Monica, he can keep the world after Guantanamo.
Of course there are plenty of big names who would also be good. John Kerry has taken out full page ads in Variety and Ebony. He was going to do sky writing, but Al Gore told him that was bad for the environment. Al Gore anyone? Oh, we’d all like to see Al get something official, but if you won a Nobel and an Oscar in the same year, would you go back to a government salary? I’d love to see John Edwards take his anti-poverty crusade global, but right now he’s more toxic than AIG stock. There are rumblings about Gov. Bill Richardson. He’d be an interesting pick. He’s held every other job in government, including U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
A Richardson pick might mean that Obama wants to focus most of his diplomatic energy on South America, which would be a good idea. Brazil is energy independent, Venezuela is emerging as a real international power, Cuba is in a weird period with the Castro Brothers, and Peru has the oldest pyramids in the world. That’s right. Older than Egypt. Did that just blow your mind? Let’s get Bill Richardson on it.
A Kerry pick, then, might mean that Obama thinks Europe is either where the most trouble will be or from where the most help can come. Europe was stunningly quick and capable in their response to their economic crisis. Russia seems to be acting up again. More European troops could help pull Americans out of Iraq or support them in Afghanistan. The First Lady of France is crazy hot. Kerry speaks French and his wife speaks all of the other languages (although, in each of them, she still sounds like she doing an invented accent).
