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Thursday, NBC's Andrea Mitchell filed a brief stand-up from Washington to tell us that Hillary Rodham Clinton had been added to Barack Obama's shortlist of Secretary of State candidates. As the New York Senator traveled to Chicago for talks with the President-elect, all three networks assigned correspondents to the job interview. ABC had a breathless Jake Tapper lead its newscast with the prospect. He overpitched the story seeing a "bold and stunning move" with Rodham Clinton keeping "an uncharacteristically low profile" visiting Obama "surreptitiously" in order to hold their "top secret meeting."
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin snared free publicity for her book on Abraham Lincoln's cabinet Team of Rivals, since Obama himself had mentioned the appeal of having erstwhile political opponents join his administration. CBS' Chip Reid noted that Obama and Rodham Clinton had "reconciled" since the end of the primary season as she "threw herself" into his General Election effort. NBC's Mitchell quoted Kearns Goodwin herself and commented on the appeal of the job for Rodham Clinton: "It would be a way out of the Senate where more senior senators are blocking her from taking the lead on healthcare or becoming Majority Leader." Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer (no link) opined on CBS that Rodham Clinton would likely become the next Madame Secretary: "I do not believe the Obama people would have risked embarrassing her by leaking her name and then passing her over."
ABC's Tapper, quoting Team of Rivals, noted that Lincoln put three of his fellow Presidential contenders into his Cabinet. So, Joe Biden is already there; and Rodham Clinton may be second; who would the third rival be? Dennis Kucinich at HUD? Sarah Palin at Interior? Mitt Romney at Commerce? John Edwards as Attorney General? Just askin'.
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