President-elect Barack Obama will confirm Hillary Rodham Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state today at a joint appearance in Chicago finalising the incoming national security team. The announcement will end weeks of speculation and behind-the-scenes negotiation, but in turn opens the latest chapter in the Clinton drama.Alongside the Clinton nomination, Obama is also expected to confirm his decision to continue with Robert Gates, the current secretary of defence, and to appoint retired US marine general James Jones as his national security adviser.
The path to the nomination was cleared for Clinton after her advisers and the Obama transition team agreed on measures related to the activities of her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and his charity, the Clinton Global Initiative. Most notably, Bill Clinton has agreed to divulge the identities of 208,000 donors to his presidential library and foundation. He also agreed to identify all future donors.
| Any word on whether Bambi's campaign has to disclosure all its donors? |
The potential conflict of interest between the former president's activities and his wife's new job offer was just one stumbling block to her accepting the nomination. Foreign policy was one of the major differences between Clinton and Obama during their long-fought battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Much of Obama's early campaign was centred on his position as the only major candidate to have opposed the war in Iraq from the start. His campaign made much of Senator Clinton's vote in favour of the war, while she in turn dismissed his opposition, remarking that "many people gave speeches against the war" in 2002.
"That was then; this is now," David Gergen, who worked in the White House under Clinton and Reagan, told Associated Press. "Campaigns are ever thus. There is a recognition that campaigns bring a certain amount of hyperbole, and when it's over you try to find the most talented people you can find to work with you."
However, some shadows remain from the primary campaign. Samantha Power, the Obama adviser forced to leave her post after describing Clinton as a "monster", has joined Obama's transition team, where she is advising the incoming administration on national security agencies, including Clinton's new fiefdom, the state department.
The strong foreign policy voices within the cabinet include not only Clinton, but vice-president Joe Biden, who has served as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee since January 2007.
| Oh lord, the MSM still believes Bumblin' Biden to be a 'strong foreign policy voice' ... |