According to reports, President-elect Obama is considering naming Hillary Clinton Secretary of State.  Though there are more experienced foreign policy experts I believe she is capable of doing the job.  My question is why would she take it?  I can understand why President-elect Obama would name her to the post–it silences his only potential Democratic rival in 2012.  Every post-war president who faced a primary challenge did not win re-election:  Johnson in 1968; Ford in 1976; Carter in 1980; and Bush Sr. in 1992.

I wonder how Vice President-elect Biden feels about this?  Wasn’t he chosen by Obama for his foreign policy expertise?  Now Obama may choose the only person with a stronger personality to run foreign policy.  Maybe Biden made one too many gaffes during the campaign to suit Obama.

Hillary Clinton is the only Democrat capable of mounting a primary challenge against a President Obama, if for some reason he falters as president.  By putting her in the cabinet, she will be forced to tow the administration’s line.  More importantly, a Secretary of State Clinton would only be able to comment on foreign policy and not on issues like the economy, health care, and women’s issuses.

If Hillary Clinton remained in the Senate, she would have free reign to talk about all of these issues without feeling the contraint of having to defend the president.  In addition, she could spend all of 2010 going around the country campaigning and holding fundraisers for hundreds of Democratic politicians–and placing herself as an alternative if things are going bad. 

There is a silver lining for the Republicans.  Right now Senators Obama and Biden are leaving the Senate, with a possibilty of Clinton as well.  Though the governors of Delaware, Illinois, and New York get to choose their replacements (all are Democrats) and they will pick Democrats, it will require special elections in 2010 to choose their official replacements (if he had lost, Senator Obama would have been up for re-election in 2010.)  Without popular incumbents running, Republicans may have a chance to pick up a seat or two in the Senate.  If a President Obama picks some other senators–according to politicalbase.com, Jack Reed (D-RI) is being considered for Defense and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is being considered for Energy–the Democrats would be required to defend even more open seats.