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Should Bill Clinton replace Hillary as Senator?On the day that Hillary Clinton was named the next Secretary of State, the drumbeat is starting over who Gov. Paterson should name as her replacement. Several respected news organizations, including the Washington Post and CNN are weighing in with a bold idea. Which is for Paterson to name Bill Clinton as his wife's replacement: The argument goes that whoever Paterson picks will make some people happy and piss off others. In New York state's political arena Paterson doesn't need more enemies. If he picks an up stater, he upsets the downstaters. If he picks a blac, he upsets the hispanics. If he picks a hispanic he upsets the blacks. Etc. Paterson has to run for re-election in 2010 and doesn't need people holding his pick against him. The way out for Paterson is to pick someone from outside the new york political scene. Someone that none of the interested parties will argue with. Enter Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton has had to agree to curtail his global activities and behave in order to get the Obama people to sign off on Hillary as Secretary of State. A lot of the things he's been doing will have to go on the backburner. He can't fundraise like he did before. So rather than sit in a corner and stay out of Hillary's way the next four years, he could use the opportunity to get back in government. By becoming the third former President to end up taking a seat in the Senate. So the scenario could see Paterson nominating Bill to replace Hillary. Maybe that deal was made when Hillary agreed to accept the Secretary of State job. Bill Clinton joins the Senate. Harry Reid immediately steps down as Senate Majority Leader and Bill is given the job by acclamation. He's a former president, he isn't joing the Senate to be a junior anything. So you then end up with a popular former President as a major player again in Washington. He's a political junkie, I bet he'd consider it. Also if Paterson nominates a Cuomo or a Velasquez he could be putting someone there who'll keep the seat for decades. Dashing his own Senate hopes someday. Whereas Bill Clinton might only serve out Hillary's term, and leave the seat open a lot sooner than it would be with anybody else filling it. There's no sign that Bill Clinton necessarily wants to do it or to what extent he has a real interest in New York political issues. But its a darn intriuging idea isn't it? Post new comment |
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Personally, no, I don't think he should replace Hillary. I have a whole lotta respect for Bill Clinton. But, to assume Hillary Clinton's Senate seat would only be a show of vanity. He is a former 2-term US President. He is the public face of the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a US goodwill ambassador (as a former President) and a diplomatic tool to be used to advance the cause and image of the United States.
Why - why, why, WHY would he ever want a return to the sausage factory of politics? And what's more, he has never served in the Senate. He doesn't understand its rules, doesn't understand its protocols, doesn't understand its pecking order, etc. He was a Governor, a centrist President, and now a global celebrity.
And the fact is that the Democratic party is moving forward. The Obama administration is going to be an opportunity to turn the page. The Clinton Administration will always have an important place in American history. But it is time for new ideas, for a new dawn. Hillary is no longer a voting Senator, she will be representing the United States on the world stage, speaking with the authority of the President himself.
If former President Clinton takes her place, I am not sure it won't become a vendetta against people who hadn't supported his wife in the primaries. Also, I'm not sure he will appropriately represent the people of NYC, I just don't. He's a good man, a good heart, a good vision, and a helluva wife who is going to kick some a** on the world stage.
But him taking her seat strikes me as stooping for purely political vanity ... and to be honest, I think it might be a bit unseemly, and would throw off the working of the Senate.