Hotline After Dark -- Flattery Will Get You Somewhere
Pres.-elect Obama announcing NM Gov./ex-UN Amb./ex-Energy Sec. Bill Richardson (D) as his nominee for Commerce sec. was the talk of TV:
CNBC's Harwood: "Some of that is flattery. You're trying to make somebody who aspired to be secretary of state, himself, feel better about the job that he ended up getting. But look, I think the consistent pattern we're seeing from Barack Obama is he is picking people who by the traditional standards with which we measure these things are bigger than the jobs they're getting" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/3).
FNC's Garrett: "Richardson's most immediate tasks are these, overseeing the conversion from analogue to digital TV on February 18 and preparing for the census in 2010. Governor Richardson, welcome to the Commerce Department" ("Special Report," 12/3).
Chicago Tribune's Page: "Ronald Reagan wanted to get rid of the Commerce Department until he realized it was a great place to park people you owe favors to" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 12/3).
New York Daily News' Louis, on some Hispanics saying, even with Richardson, there aren't enough Hispanics in Obama's Cabinet: "I think people who are complaining are, number one, jumping the gun a little bit. That plumb book of all the top appointments is 8,000 deep. There's lots of commissions and sub-Cabinet positions that are very high-profile, EPA, FCC. ... So, we're not done yet" ("No Bias, No Bull," CNN, 12/3).
After the jump, B. Clinton's role in the admin. and the return of Jeb Bush.
(KATHERINE LEHR)
READY, WILLING & ABLE
Pundits responded to Bill Clinton's interview with CNN, where he said he's planning on only being "a helpful sounding board" for his wife, unless Pres.-elect Obama asks him to do something specific.
Washingtonpost.com's Cillizza: "What I think Bill Clinton was saying there is, 'Yes, I am going to clearly play a role in this. I envision it as a private role. If Barack Obama wants to envision it as a public role, I'm open to that, too.' He's a good politician. He leaves all his options open" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 12/3).
Ex-adviser David Gergen: "It is clear he will not be called upon for a full-time job. But it may be that he would be asked to take on a specific assignment, especially in the Middle East. ... I could see Bill Clinton joining up with Tony Blair to work on trying to bring peace of trying to work on some of the negotiations, if the president wanted him to do that. We could have the Bill and Tony show. That would be a fascinating new chapter. But I think it's going to have to be, as he said, at the president's request, certainly not at Hillary Clinton's request" ("AC 360," CNN, 12/3).
MSNBC's Matthews: "The South Asians, for some reason, love him, the Pakistanis, the Indians. ... They love him in Africa. I thought he was running for general secretary of the U.N. there for a while. ... The role he'd play? I would say special envoy in South Asia with regard to the Kashmir dispute. I would say backing up any effort to try to pull together a peace deal with regard to the West Bank, bringing his political capital, as well as his foreign policy chops. I think there's going to be a role there for this fellow, and he's not about to retire" ("Hardball," 12/3).
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
And ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush (R) considering running for Sen. Mel Martinez's (R-FL) seat in '10 generated a lot of discussion:
FNC's Barnes: "If Jeb Bush says he is considering running, that means he is probably going to run. But for the moment, it freezes the field. No other Republican is going to get in because they know they couldn't get any support. Everybody will wait for Jeb" ("Special Report," 12/3).
GOP strategist Rich Galen: "The people of Florida are smart enough to remember which one's George and which one's Jeb. Jeb left office with a more than 60 approval rating when his brother was still president. And, so, they get the difference. It's not a problem" ("Situation Room," CNN, 12/3).
CNBC's Harwood: "I think one of the questions about whether he gets in the race or not, is whether someone with his temperament, which strikes me as very much an executive temperament, would want to go to the Senate, or would need to go to the Senate. Look, his time for running for president might be the 2012, against Barack Obama. But I think what he's weighing right now, is that ... at a time when the Republican Party is so down right now, could he, even if he doesn't aspire to be one of 100 senators, would he warm to the idea of coming back, being part of the rebuilding process, part of the recovery process for Republicans?" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/3).