Susan Rice top contender to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State

[ashtonelijah]

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is emerging as the favored candidate to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, even with the political controversy over her remarks about the fatal Sept. 11 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Six current or former White House officials, who all spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Rice remains close to President Barack Obama and shares many of his views on foreign policy. They emphasized that the president hasn’t made a final decision, and Clinton may remain in her post for some months into Obama’s second term.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Susan-Rice-Emerging-as-Top-Candidate-to-Succeed-4020272.php#ixzz2BeO9NYFQ

[Jackpine Radical]

1. VP???

[niyad]

2. you might want to correct the thread title, since the discussion is about SOS, not VP

and welcome to DU

[HERVEPA]

3. Just want to make sure it's not Kerry. Don't want to lose his seat to Scott Brown!

[BeyondGeography]

4. SoS...it'll be Benghazipalooza at the confirmation hearings

But she's an FP whiz and a great choice.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Good...I think that's a reason TO nominate her

Let the GOPers make fools of themselves pushing crazy Benghazi shit on national television (and not just Fox). Rice will spank them for their troubles and still get the nod.

[BeyondGeography]

9. Yup, totally agree

We can count on our "friends" from across the aisle to overdo it every time.

[Anthony McCarthy]

5. I can't imagine Kerry doing a good job as Sec of State

I'd imagine he might find being a Senator would be a lot more attractive if they reformed the filibuster, secret holds, etc. I can't imagine those make being a Senator who wants to do things very satisfying.

[karynnj]

12. Why would you say that?

Kerry is exceptionally qualified - more so than any candidate for that office has ever been.

Obama has used Kerry as a diplomat in several high stakes places - most noticeably in Afghanistan and in keeping Pakistan from throwing the CIA out after the Raymond Davis incident.

As to foreign policy, he has been a strong member of the SFRC that he now chairs for 28 years. Biden spoke on the Senate floor in 2007 calling Kerry's support for an Iraq amendment important in the Senate as well as in the foreign policy world. He was universally praised for his leadership on the START treaty.

In fact, it is that Kerry may be TOO TALENTED in too many ways that would lead him not to become the SOS. He is very important in the Senate. In addition to being an exceptional chair of SFRC, his infrastructure bill, that Obama has endorsed could be the linchpin for improving and modernizing the crumbling American infrastructure. No one in the Senate is even close to Kerry as a leader on the environment. Kerry has also been a key player on finance issues. (If he does take SOS, one consequence could be that Warren could get a Finance committee seat - something she can't get if Kerry is on the committee.)

[Mass]

15. I disagree with your assessment of Kerry as SoS

but I am not sure he wants the job. As chairman of the SFRC with a president of the same party, he still has an important role in foreign policy, but gets to be more independent of the White House.

This said, Rice is fine as well. She is very qualified for the job.

[karynnj]

17. Not to mention his infrastructure bank bill may finally get passed

This is very important legislation that Obama has endorsed and which had Republican support. It could be the keystone to revitalizing our economy and fixing our crumbling infrastructure. In addition, Kerry worked extremely hard with everyone - on both sides of the aisle on climate change. He did not succeed - yet.

Not to mention, he seems to like being a politician - holding town halls and representing his state. His state would otherwise have the least seniority in the entire Senate.

[Whisp]

6. Susan Rice if more than capable of being SoS.

She is strong and very smart, what else do you need.

Yay, if she is chosen.

[AtomicKitten]

13. ^ ditto

[ashtonelijah]

7. Sorry bout the thread title!

But isn't it interesting--Bush and Obama in their second terms would have appointed black women named "Rice." I think she's a great choice, IMO. Not sure about the VP position though. LOL

[LynneSin]

10. Might I make a suggestion of who to replace Ms Rice as the Ambassador to the UN...

[godai]

11. Maybe not...

From the link...

At the UN, her often pugnacious style has by turns been admired and derided, diplomats there say. Behind closed doors, they say, she pulls no punches and uses colorful language to get her points across.
She has clashed with Vitaly Churkin, her Russia counterpart, most pointedly over Syria. At times their exchanges got personal, such as last year when he publicly chided her for an unusual outburst and said Syria wasn’t an issue that could be drowned by expletives.

and

Susan Rice was viewed by many officials and diplomats as very bright, but also as inexperienced and inflexible.[19] Rice was considered[by whom?] "young, brilliant, and ambitious." Though she worked to "integrate Africa in the global economy while at the same time aiming to increase U.S. national security,"[2] she was criticized by detractors who considered her "authoritarian, brash, and unwilling to consider opinions that differ[ed] from her own". Reportedly, the young Rice engaged in various disputes involving career diplomats within the State Department's African bureau.[2][6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Rice

[Mass]

14. A ton of papers saying it's Kerry. Others saying it's Rice.

I trust Obama to make the right choice, whoever it is and wished people do not leak information as there is no way to know what is true or not.

[Zorra]

16. Ugh. Another center right globalist neo-liberal paving the way for the Planetary Dictatorship

of the Corporations.

“Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will they find that money cannot be eaten." Cree prophecy


The US, the entire world, desperately needs to move away from corporate neo-liberalism if democracy and the planet are to survive.