Hillary Clinton told Wolf Blitzer of CNN that she would not stay on for a second term as Secretary of State if Obama is re-elected. She also said that she would not run for either president or vice president in 2012. Her reason? According to Clinton, after being Secretary of State there is nothing she could possibly do to have more impact.
OK, so let's stop for a moment. Obviously, Hillary knows full well that being president has more responsibility and more impact. Her reason for stepping down after the current term is obviously flawed and she knows that anyone with half a brain will understand that.
If you couple Hillary's statement with the recent comments from Bill Clinton on energy prices and drilling in the USA, you get what seems to be a coherent plan by the Clintons to distance themselves from Obama. bill Clinton actually said that it was crazy to keep a drilling moratorium in place given the rising price of oil and thebad effect that such a price rise has on the US economy.
So why would the Clintons put distance between themselves and Obama? It has to be one of two answers: First, Hillary is preparing to run again in 2012 or 2016 and wants to be free of her ties to Obama. By making clear that she is leaving, Hillary clearly loosens her bonds to the administration. Second, the Clintons recognize that Obama is in the process of melting down as president. After a short bump following the election Obama's poll numbers are back in the toilet. To make matters worse, the numbers are heading in the wrong direction and the latest events make it likely that the economy will also be heading south as we move into 2012. So, neither Bill nor Hillary want to be associated with Obama the loser.
In my view, both reasons are plausible, and I think that they are both correct. If Obama truly melts down, Hillary and Bill are positioning themselves to pick up the pieces and get her the nomination for 2012.
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