I think a significant Obama win in WI today would mark the time for Clinton to start considering what she’d want in exchange for quitting the nomination race. So I got to imagining where she might be an asset to Obama’s administration. She’s competent, experienced in the ways of DC, and ambitious. She could be a significant asset But doing what?
Turns out to be a harder problem than I first thought. She has focused heavily on child welfare, so maybe Sec of Education. But she seems committed to the oppressive testing program and federal busybodying that characterize NCLB. I think states or other local governments need funding without all the bureaucracy. Would she be willing to make the transition?
Or there’s Health and Human Services. But Bill’s “welfare reform” makes that seem kind of iffy. And the shadow of her health-care disaster would be a barrier. Still, she could probably be counted on to get the theocracy out of the department’s policies, which would be a big step forward from what we have now.
As AG, she’d certainly put a shitload of fear into the hearts of a bunch of Republicans. But where does she balance between civil liberties and the appearance of security? I’d worry that she’d tilt pretty far toward the latter.
Maybe the best spot, to my mind, would be Social Security administrator. Her administrative abilities and committment to SS might bring much-needed retooling. But would that be a visible enough position to interest her?
That’s as far as I got. How about you?
