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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Europe loves Hillary Clinton, but as Secretary of State?
Europe loves Hillary Clinton more than any other part of the world. But the idea of her being the next U.S. Secretary of State has drawn a tepid response from Europeans.
Simon Tisdall, an editorial writer for London’s Guardian newspaper, said the choice of Clinton would make no one happier than the Republicans. “In their jaundiced view, it would be a first, encouraging indication that the president-elect, who has sometimes seemed to walk on water, is capable of making unforced errors,” he wrote.
He wrote that the choice of Clinton would give the Republicans a familiar target. “The resulting uproar might quickly become a serious distraction for Obama just as he tries to seize the political agenda,” he wrote.
Even Bronwen Maddox, the chief foreign commentator for the London Times — and a female — said that Hillary is not the right woman for the job.
“It’s not that the choice would be terrible for U.S. foreign policy. She would surely do an excellent job - thorough, detailed, tenacious - as she has in her eight years as senator for New York,” she wrote. “But it would hand the rebuilding of America’s worldwide reputation - one of the defining themes of Mr. Obama’s campaign and presidency - to someone who has her own strong views. Not disastrous views, at all, from what we know. But different from his; sometimes subtly, sometimes sharply, and very definitely hers.”
In the end, she wrote that: “There is an old principle that you shouldn’t hire someone you can’t fire. That is why Barack Obama would make a huge mistake if he were to pick Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State.”
