Maybe Hillary Should Reconsider

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) scores an approval rating of just 38% in his home state and he’s polling well under 50% in his 2010 re-election bid. If the Democrats have to pick a new Majority Leader in two years (and I won’t shed any tears if they do), then Hillary Clinton may wish she were still in the Senate.

Full Speed Ahead

How ‘bout a high-speed rail service from Birmingham to Atlanta to Washington, DC, to New York to Boston? Hell yeah, I say.

How ‘bout financing it with $8 billion in tax-exempt government bonds? How about all the jobs that would create? Damn, I love having Democrats in control of government.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) just introduced a bill to make it happen, and 13 others have signed on as co-sponsors (including some of my personal favorites: Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, and Olympia Snowe). The high-speed trains wouldn’t be limited to the east coast. The plan also includes Chicago and California.

You know, it feels good to have a domestic agenda again. It’s great to see the federal government investing in our long-term strength as a nation.

President-elect Obama, get it done!

Vote "All of the Above"

Forget “Team of Rivals” – this is turning into a Team of Superstars! Biden, Clinton, Richardson, Daschle, Napolitano… wow. It’s like the Democratic Pantheon. Man, it was tough to pick just one for president; who knew we’d get ‘em all in the end anyway?

Hillary Says Yes

Good for her! I think she’ll enjoy life a lot more as America’s representative to the world rather than 1-in-100 in the Senate. Plus, Secretary of State is a much better path to the White House than 8 more years in the Congress. I think she made the best decision for her.

Still, I’ll kind of miss what might have been… The next Lion of the Senate no more…

Vast Right-Wing Fan Club

Here’s a fascinating article from the National Review on how Hillary Clinton went from the Demon Queen of the liberals, activists, Hollywood, gays, etc., to the Democrat that Republicans would trust most with the keys to the White House or, barring that, the State Department.

The article touches on (but I think underplays) how strongly this transformation demonstrates the Republican rabble’s lemming-like tendency buy into the latest spin and talking points from their “thought leaders” on Fox News, talk radio, and the blogs. Do you think the people spreading the spin really changed their opinion of Hillary or did they just change their talking points after Obama became the frontrunners -- and the rabble ate it up without a second thought?

Hmm… maybe the reason those Republicans are so obsessed with “media bias” is because they have some dim awareness of just how slavish they are to their own media masters?

Hillary and Holder

Will President-elect Obama offer Hillary Clinton the State Department? Will she accept it if he does? Oh, the drama!

Personally I think Hillary Clinton would make a great Secretary of State, but I hope she stays in the Senate. Why take a job with an expiration date? I think she’s better off as the next Ted Kennedy rather than the next Warren Christopher. With patience, she could become (probably should) Senate Majority Leader. She can be a dominant force in the Senate for decades if she wants.

Of course, Secretary of State is a better resume builder for 2016. Does that trump any other motivation or consideration? It might--and I wouldn’t hold it against her if it did.

Secretary of State is also more prestigious and glamorous, which probably makes it more fun. I also wouldn’t hold it against her if she just thinks she’d enjoy life more as head of the State Department, even if it’s just a one or two term gig.

Anyway, that’s a lot of words to say I’m happy either way. I think she’s probably sincerely agonizing over it. She’d have to give up a ton whichever direction she goes. However, there’s probably no wrong choice here. It’s great or great, just in dramatically different forms.

So what about Eric Holder as Attorney General? Meh.* He’s a Washington type, which is kind of disappointing. After the Bush Administration’s grotesque politicization of the Justice Department, I’d rather have someone not involved in game at all. Someone righteously outraged by all that crap. I’m sure he’ll be competent, but will he clean house like it needs to be done? We’ll see…

*Now officially in the dictionary!