Desi - No comment on Hillary, since I agree. I wonder though if this is just another rumor to be denied sometime today. Team Obama has been pretty good about not leaking.

Anyway onto your ps - where did you hear Larry Summers had been dropped from consideration?

No to Hillary at State. It's been a decade since a white dude represented America to the world. It's time. We organized for Obama, we gave money, we voted. We white guys have been marginalized long enough.

Unless, of course, you're ashamed of us. Don't think we're smart enough to speak foreign? Well, parlez vous le ha ha on you - we've been studying. Afraid we'll drop Cheetos down between the cushions on those fancy couches at them palaces? Well, we figured out napkins, pal. I'm wearing a couple right now as a matter of fact. And while you're feeling so smug, just remember, it wasn't a white guy SecState that threw up on the Japanese PM.

Or are you a hater, stuck in the stereotype that all we white guys want to do is start wars? Sure, we like wars as much as the next guy. But it's not like we'd just fly off the handle & start one up with anyone. Though I'm still not sure I trust those Japanese. (And don't even starte on them Chinese.)

Look. The SecState is supposed to be the face of America to the world, right? The face of ALL Americans. Sure, you'll "let" us run all the domestic stuff - Treasury, Energy, Health - and I think it's safe to say we've proven ourselves there. But we're starting to feel like you got something against letting us out on the world stage. It's time, Desi. Time for a little boldness. Time to think big. Big, brassy and bipartisan.

It's Al Haig time, Des. For America. For all of us.

Des, I am so hoping Hillary stays in the Senate. I don't wanted her to be the Colin Powell of the Obama Administration rolled out to take the blows and put her credibility on the line so he doesn't have to. If people wanted a 3rd Clinton Administration that was more progressive, they would have voted for Hillary. Instead, they'll get a third Clinton Administration that is way more moderate. Don't blame the Clintons, blame Obama. These are his choices, not theirs. And if offered Secretary of State, I'd hope Hillary has the good sense to turn it down without a second thought.

Regardless of what her official role is in the Senate, who do you think people are going to listen to more: Harry Reid or Hillary. She's got a lot of pull now and can use her influence in the Senate to have an impact much more effectively than in the Obama administration.

Good points. I'd add that running a huge Federal Department, like State, would give her the executive experience check-mark currently missing from her resume.

If Hillary runs in 2016, she'll likely go up against Governors (Palin, perhaps?) who would otherwise have that claim over her.

I think that there are people who would do a better job as secretary of state than Hillary so I am not sure about this.

I had thought she would want a different post. I too would like to see her stay in the senate. There are not enough tough democrat senators and I think that they need every woman in the senate that they can keep.
However if it's what Hillary and Barack want to do... so be it.

I think Bill Richardson would be the best secretary of state and because he is a governor, it would not remove anyone from the senate. Though I don't know who would run for governor to replace him.

I think that Sen Clinton would be an excellent Secretary of State. Indeed, I think that goes without saying. I am still skeptical that she would want the job, but I think that the nation would indeed be indebted to her if she were to take it. Like Ben above, however, I am of the opinion that this is likely as not to be nothing more than a rumor.

No.

Just no.

Yes! If she wants it, that is.

Internationally, Clinton is one of our nation's most recognized and respected politicians. I see some TPMers don't like her much, but who cares?
She has huge international appeal and can get things done, and she already has established relationships with many of the world's leaders--she's a better politician than Richardson too. The only candidate that would be better than her, frankly, would be Bill Clinton.

Anti-Clinton Folks, stop and take a look: There's a reason Obama is tapping many of the Clintonians for his team. It's because the Clinton's are the smartest, most savvy political family alive today, and they tapped some (not all) of the best that America has when they were in the W.H.

But I don't know why Hillary would want to give up a Senate seat -- but for the challenge of working to restore America's face in the world. That's a big job, but she's the most qualified.

I'm really surprised, quite frankly, by all the positive comments here. What happened to all of those who voted for Obama for President precisely because he was not as hawkish as Hillary? That's where a lot of Obama's support came from - especially the early support.

So now he makes her SoS? That makes no sense. Have you all forgotten her (unrepentant) vote on the Iraq War? And her statements during the campaign?

Clinton certainly has earned a place in the Obama administration, and she's a person of tremendous talent that should be put to work in support of Obama's goals, but Hillary should not be put anywhere near foreign policy. First Emanuel and now Clinton - this is very disappointing and doesn't bode well for the US taking the role of an honest broker in any Mideast peace deal.

I haven't been hanging around TPM as much as I used to so I don't know - were all of you Clinton supporters in the first place?

HRC is a poor choice -- someting BHO has made few or none of.

HRC is wired to be legislative -- incremental, consensus-building, solicitous even of dreadful people, detail-oriented, personable, etc. She even has the weapon of offering to do -- or not do -- fundraising for her colleagues since she's, you know, a celeb.

Putting her anywhere else introduces a great big pile of baggage -- will Bill go along with her on overseas trips? Will foreign leaders be excited and re-connecting with Bill? Will HRC be able to carve out her own platform on the global stage.

Yuck. Just yuck, which is how I imagine BHO & Co. look at it. She's valuable as the wise and venerated smart-guy (girl? Is "guy" unisex?) in the Senate, which we'll really need given the overall agenda of passing legislation with votes from both sides of the aisle.

All this HRC for Veep and State and Treasury and UN smacks unmistakably of "consolation prize," something that is frankly demeaning to someone who built an exciting movement on her own.

No, not Hillary. Please! I realize she's got some rabid supporters yet, but give it a rest already! I was always a Hillary fan,... until this summer, when I began to wonder if the Hillary-haters might not have been right after all.

No, I haven't gone that far, but I can't see that she would bring anything to Barack Obama's Cabinet except a whole lot of baggage (including Bill). And I can't see why she'd want it, either. She's assured of a long career in the Senate, after all. That's not enough power and glory for her? She could do good work there!

We voted for change, so let's see change. I have nothing against experience (though I've never understood why Hillary Clinton is supposed to have any), and certainly nothing against those Democrats who cut their political teeth in the Clinton White House, but let's move FORWARD, not back.

This has got to be an excruciating choice for Obama. He has so many qualified people who want the job, and at least a few of them were big supporters during the primaries (Bill Richardson and John Kerry come to mind). But there's only one position to fill, and he really needs to pick the strongest possible choice. I didn't support Hillary for president, and I've never counted myself among her fans, but I've gotta say I think she'd be my choice as well. This position, in this particular administration, was tailor-made for Hillary.

I don't understand why, in the end, the appointment of Secretary of State is going to change the policies of the president. Barack Obama will be the president, and I believe he has been given a mandate to set policy and I have every reason to believe that Barack Obama will set American foreign policy as he rightfully chooses to set it. I think the issue with Hillary Clinton, were she selected and were she inclined to accept the position, is whether she would be good at the job. I think so but I could just as easily be convinced otherwise.

The real interesting thing to me is this notion held by lots of smart folks (around here and beyond) that the orientations of the two with respect to foreign policy are all that different. I guess this partisan hack favored Clinton because I thought she was more experienced and better prepared, and she is my senator and I knew her and trusted her. That was then, but, with respect to that very ancient history, I never for one millisecond held a belief that the approach of the two with respect to matters of foreign affairs--certainly in a first term--would be distinguishable in any meaningful way.

Frankly, I continue to be surprised that people who live for this stuff and who hold strong, fundamental, informed and principled views would have reason to think otherwise. I guess I would be interested in hearing from other folks who know a heckuva lot more than I do about this stuff on that issue.

I agree that Hillary as SOS would work, but I don't think she even should be mentioned as a Supreme Court Justice. That would KILL the Supreme Court. A well-known politician should not be a justice in this day and age. It would politicize the hell out of the position and harm the judicial branch in the long-run more than Scalia and Thomas combined. Don't get me wrong, I think she would do a great job. I just think the politicizing would be a terrible terrible idea.

I know you never said she should be a justice, but you mentioned it, so I thought I would give a quick rant as if you did. I'm just frightened by the proposition. Taft may have worked back in the day (and there are probably a couple others), but it just wouldn't work now.