Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Clinton and Healthcare

For the past several days we have been subjected to endless hours of analysis from the cable pundits speculating about Senator Hillary Clinton's roll in an Obama administration. Was she offered the Secretary of State post? If so, will she accept it? Would Bill have a problem in the vetting process? If not, would he be able stay on the straight an narrow? How would it affect Bill's Global Initiative?

Or, is all this all just show?

In this morning's LA Times Noam Levery reports that Senator Ted Kennedy has offered Senator Clinton a lead roll in the new Senate healthcare team.


Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has announced plans to craft sweeping healthcare legislation next year, asked the former presidential contender to head a working group focused on insurance coverage.

The potential assignment comes a decade and a half after Clinton led a controversial effort to reshape the healthcare system as first lady during her husband's first term in the White House. That campaign collapsed amid bitter opposition from many in the healthcare industry and accusations that Clinton ran a secretive process that ignored input from important stakeholders.


Is this Clinton's out? Can she now turn down the Secretary of State job and work on the project that has consumed a good portion of her public life, and the one area--other than her vote to authorize use of force in Iraq--that arguably might be called her biggest legislative failures?



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