A report in The Guardian:
Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.I'm not correcting their grammatical errors at the moment though.
Obama's advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton's foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.
Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops.
Clinton, who still harbours hopes of a future presidential run, had to weigh up whether she would be better placed by staying in the Senate, which offers a platform for life, or making the more uncertain career move to the secretary of state job.
All eyes appear to be on Bill Clinton though.
Former president Bill Clinton's business and international work is being closely examined in hopes of clearing the way for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to become secretary of state, several people familiar with the process said Monday.
They did not describe President-elect Barack Obama as having formally offered her the job but said that there is an understanding that if Clinton can sort out her husband's global work -- which has made him an international philanthropic powerhouse but also earned him millions in speaking fees from foreign companies, creating obvious potential conflicts-of-interest -- she would have a good, if not completely certain, shot at it.
"There's a lot of momentum in the direction of this happening," close Clinton friend James Carville said. He said that the former president's work -- both past and future -- is a complicating matter. "She's not married to Todd Palin," Carville said.
Reports of the move, which first surfaced last week, have stunned some Obama loyalists who said they fear the administration is becoming an all-Clinton operation, with the transition run by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta. Greg Craig, the former special counsel during the Clinton impeachment, is slotted to serve as White House counsel (he is much less of a Clinton partisan, having backed Obama during the primaries). Rahm Emanuel, who was political director during the Clinton administration, is now Obama's chief of staff.
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