I am currently traveling in the Philippines, so I am a bit late to comment on the prevalent scuttlebutt about Hillary Clinton getting appointed as secretary of state. But I would nevertheless like to add my voice to the general chorus acclaiming this–if it happens–as a smart move. I have gotten to know New York’s junior senator a bit over the years, from serving with her on an advisory panel at the U.S. Joint Forces Command, and I have found her to be serious, incisive, and nonpartisan in her approach to some of the most thorny issues confronting the U.S. military.

Her Republican Senate colleagues have, I believe, drawn the same conclusion. I was a bit dismayed during the Democratic primaries to see her moving to the left on a host of issues after having established a generally centrist reputation in the Senate. But I am ready to write that off as an election-year aberration. Even Joe Lieberman, after all, lurched left in 2000, when he was in the thick of national politics. And it is to Hillary’s credit that she never went nearly as far left as the most rabid Democratic partisans wanted her to do. She refused, for instance, to call for an immediate pullout from Iraq (as did another possible secretary of state and onetime presidential candidate: Bill Richardson). If Obama settles on her, it will confirm the moderate tenor of his other rumored appointments. The appointment of a John Kerry or Bill Richardson would signal a disquieting move to the left.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 8:31 AM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.