Clinton accetta la nomina a segretario di Stato
PETER BAKER e HELENE COOPER
Il nuovo gabinetto – Perchè Obama corre un forte rischio con la Clinton
● Accordo tra i due più aspri concorrenti Democratici da decenni alla presidenza americana, il neo-eletto presidente Barack Obama e Hillary Clinton, per la nomina a segretario di Stato.
● Obama ha voluto trasformare la rivale in socio, Hillary ha valutato che come segretario di Stato potrà esercitare una maggior influenza nella politica USA e sulla scena internazionale, che non rimanendo in Senato.
o Accettare la nomina a segretario di Stato significa per la Clinton accettare anche l’idea che potrebbe non riuscire mai ad assumere la presidenza.
o Come ex First Lady, la Clinton ha un’esperienza di 8 anni in cui ha incontrato i leader di 80 diversi paesi, visitato villaggi …
– [Die Welt, 22.11.08] La sua nomina non ha causato reazioni positive alla Borsa (come per Geithner), ma dichiarazioni scettiche: può Obama tener sotto controllo Bill ed Hillary Clinton (Bob Woodward, colui che ha rivelato l’affare Watergate).
● I rischi per Obama non sono piccoli: Hillary Clinton diverrà presto la reale vice-presidente, che metterà da parte il vice-presidente nominato, Joe Biden.
● La nomina della Clinton è una decisione inedita, in quanto essa ha un peso simile a quello del neo-presidente Obama. Finora i segretari di Stato sono stati funzionari senza una loro base di potere, la loro autorità dipendeva esclusivamente dal presidente; occorre tornare fino a Lincoln per trovare un ministro Esteri che dello stesso partito del presidente, con cui era stato il competizione, fallendo, per la carica presidenziale.
– Per i giornalisti americani la nomina della Clinton equivale ad una ammissione di debolezza politica di Obama, che si vede un erede politico di Lincoln.
– Dati gli impegni che assorbiranno Obama per affrontare al crisi economica, la Clinton avrà nel frattempo spazio per la politica estera.
– Le divergenze in politica estera tra Obama e la Clinton emerse nelle primarie emergeranno ora:
o Iran, la Clinton ha votato per misure più aggressive, anche di quelle che l’Amministrazione Bush avrebbe osato prendere, come il dichiarare organizzazione terroristica straniera il Corpo delle 125 000 guardie rivoluzionarie iraniane (secondo gli esperti come se l’Iran avesse dichiarato terroristi le forze armate americane, solo perché obbedivano agli ordini di Bush). Obama non si è recato a votare, ma ha dichiarato che vi si sarebbe opposto.
o La maggior divergenza tra Obama e Clinton è stata sulla possibilità di negoziare con l’Iran, questione che potrebbe essere presto all’O.d.G. per la Clinton segretaria di Stato; secondo i consiglieri di entrambi la divergenza sulla questione sarebbe solo di percezione e non di sostanza.
o Israele, la Clinton è fortemente filo-israeliana.
o Nella squadra di Obama entrerà di fatto anche l’ex presidente Clinton, che ha trovato un accordo con Obama sul suo ruolo; ha ad es. accettato di comunicare il nome di tutti i 208mila donatori della sua biblioteca e fondazione, dalla cui presidenza si dimetterà, limiterà il numero delle sue conferenze retribuite.
o Prima di accettare la Clinton avrebbe chiesto assicurazioni di poter conferire direttamente con Obama, e non tramite un consigliere alla sicurezza nazionale, e di potersi scegliere il proprio staff, cosa per lei importante perché durante le primarie si sono rovinati i suoi rapporti con alcuni personaggi della squadra di politica estera,
o come con Gregory B. Craig, che ha rotto con i Clinton, pur essendo loro legato da lunga data, per appoggiare Obama; Craig è stato scelto come consigliere della Casa Bianca, e allontanato dagli incarichi diretti con il segretario di Stato.
o La Clinton ha voluto evitare si ripetesse una situazione come quella vissuta dall’ex segretario di Stato, Colin Powell, che si è trovato un falco neocon come John Bolton nominato nella sua squadra per ricoprire alte cariche.
o Sarebbe però increscioso che nella segreteria di Stato ci fossero solo lealisti della Clinton e nel Consiglio per la sicurezza nazionale quelli di Obama.
o Non si sa come la nomina della Clinton condizionerà il ruolo e l’influenza del vice-presidente Joseph Biden jr., scelto da Obama per la sua preparazione in politica estera.
● La nomina a consigliere del presidente per la sicurezza nazionale del generale in pensione James L. Jones, ex comandante della Marina e supremo comandante Nato, è vista come contrappeso alla Clinton.
– L’ex segretario di Stato con Bill Clinton, Warren Christopher si è espresso positivamente sulla nomina della Clinton, dotata di un “talento diplomatico naturale”.
o Obama, rendendosi conto della gravità dei problemi che dovrà affrontare, avrebbe scelto la Clinton per la sua personalità e le sue capacità.
o Molti degli assistenti di Obama nella transizione sono ex funzionari dell’Amministrazione Clinton, come Rahm Emanuel, il nuovo capo dello staff, e John Podesta, il co-presidente di transizione, ammiratore della Clinton.
Scontentati diversi sostenitori di Obama, che nelle primarie ha parlato della necessità di andare oltre l’era Clinton.
Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position
By PETER BAKER and HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat to become secretary of state in the Obama administration, making her the public face to the world for the man who dashed her own hopes for the presidency, confidants of Mrs. Clinton said Friday.
– The accord between the two leading figures of the Democratic Party was the culmination of a weeklong drama that riveted the nation’s capital. President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Clinton fought perhaps the most polarizing nomination battle in decades, but in recruiting her for his cabinet, Mr. Obama chose to turn a rival into a partner, and she concluded she could have a greater impact by saying yes than by remaining in the Senate.
Her selection is still to be formalized and will not be announced until after Thanksgiving. It would be yet another direction in the unlikely journey of a onetime political spouse in Arkansas who went on to build a political base of her own and become a symbol of achievement to many women.
– The role, though a supporting one, would make her one of the most influential players on the international stage, and it would represent at least one more act for one of the nation’s most prominent public families, as former President Bill Clinton would also become an ad hoc member of the Obama team.
The sometimes awkward dance between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in the eight days since he invited her to Chicago for a meeting culminated in a telephone call on Thursday. Before the call, Mrs. Clinton was skeptical about the prospect of joining the cabinet, said her confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. But Mr. Obama addressed her concerns about access, personnel and other issues, leading her to conclude she should take the job, they said.
“She’s ready,” one of Mrs. Clinton’s confidants said. The first meeting in Chicago “was so general” that she needed to have a better sense of how she would fit into Mr. Obama’s administration, and the call helped her “just getting comfortable” with the idea of working together, the confidant said.
– Mr. Obama’s advisers said that although no offer had been formally accepted, her nomination was “on track” and would probably be announced after the holiday. Mrs. Clinton’s Senate office broke a week of silence to acknowledge the talks but cautioned that they had not been made final.
“We’re still in discussions, which are very much on track,” said her spokesman, Philippe Reines. “Any reports beyond that are premature.”
– Mr. Obama wants to announce the members of his national security team at once. Advisers said he was weighing whether to make retired Gen. James L. Jones, a former Marine commandant and NATO supreme commander, his national security adviser, installing a formidable counterweight to Mrs. Clinton. The president-elect was still trying to decide whether to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on an interim basis or install another choice to run the Pentagon right away.
The choice of Mrs. Clinton pleased many in the Democratic establishment who admire her strength and skills, and they praised Mr. Obama for putting the rancor of the campaign behind him. “Senator Clinton is a naturally gifted diplomat and would be an inspired choice if she is chosen by President-elect Obama as secretary of state,” said Warren Christopher, who held that job under her husband.
– But it could also disappoint many of Mr. Obama’s supporters, who worked hard to have him elected instead of Mrs. Clinton and saw him as a vehicle for changing Washington. Mr. Obama argued during the primaries that it was time to move beyond the Clinton era and in particular belittled her claims to foreign policy experience as a first lady who circled the globe.
– Advisers said Mr. Obama concluded after the election that the problems confronting the nation were so serious that he needed Mrs. Clinton’s stature and capabilities as part of his team, notwithstanding their past differences. The bitterness that inhabited the Obama team for much of the year has faded with time, advisers said.
– And many of the aides working on the transition with Mr. Obama are not campaign veterans with scars from the primaries, but rather former Clinton administration officials like Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, and John D. Podesta, the transition co-chairman, who admire Mrs. Clinton.
For Mrs. Clinton, becoming secretary of state would require her to sacrifice the independence that has come with a Senate seat and the 18 million votes she collected in the primary season. She has found it liberating the last eight years to speak for herself, not as someone’s spouse. But friends said she could still have her voice while subordinating her ambitions to Mr. Obama’s agenda.
“Hillary Clinton will always be seen as her own person,” said Mickey Kantor, a longtime friend who served as commerce secretary in her husband’s administration. “But you know, Hillary Clinton’s a terrific lawyer. She knows how to represent a client, and she’s good at it. And I don’t have any doubt in my mind that she’ll be a team player.”
– Mrs. Clinton had to accept that she might never become president, a former aide said. “There’s a very small chance that she could run again,” he said. “You’re not going to be the president, so you want to make sure your next few years, which may be your last in public life, really make a mark.”
– Two advisers to Mrs. Clinton said she was concerned about establishing her role in the administration before agreeing to the job. She wanted assurances that she would have direct access to Mr. Obama and not need to go through a national security adviser, they said. And she wanted the authority to pick her own staff at the State Department.
– This was particularly important because her relationships with members of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy team fractured during the bruising primary season. Gregory B. Craig, a longtime friend of the Clintons who broke with them to back Mr. Obama and helped savage her foreign policy background during the primaries, was selected as White House counsel and removed from direct involvement with the secretary of state.
– Mrs. Clinton wanted to avoid the situation that faced another celebrity chosen as secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, who found hawks like John R. Bolton given top jobs under him after he took the job under President Bush.
– “Powell had to take neocons like Bolton, and that just created problems,” said one Clinton adviser. “On the other hand, it would be dreadful if only Clinton loyalists worked at State and Obama loyalists at the N.S.C.,” the National Security Council.
– It is also not clear how Mrs. Clinton’s selection would affect the role and influence of Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose expertise in foreign policy was a main reason Mr. Obama chose him for the job.
Another complication was Mr. Clinton, whose extensive business and philanthropic activities around the world could pose conflicts of interest. Lawyers for both sides spent days combing through his finances and crafting guidelines for his future activities.
– People close to the vetting said Mr. Clinton turned over the names of all 208,000 donors to his foundation and library and agreed to every condition requested by Mr. Obama’s transition team, including restrictions on his paid speeches and his role at his international foundation. The lawyers agreed to notify all of the donors that their identities would be revealed to the Obama team, but it was not clear if they would all be made public.
– Mrs. Clinton would bring a distinctive background to the State Department. As first lady, she traveled the world for eight years, visiting more than 80 countries, not only meeting with foreign leaders but also visiting villages, clinics and other remote areas that rarely get on a president’s itinerary.
While Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama agree most of the time on foreign policy, during the campaign she made a point of highlighting their differences, seeking to paint him as unsophisticated. Now those differences will be brought into stark relief as she seeks to become into Mr. Obama’s emissary to the world.
– On Iran, for instance, Mrs. Clinton staked a position during the primaries to the right of Mr. Obama. She voted in favor of a measure more hawkish than what even most of the Bush administration had been willing to venture, asking Mr. Bush to declare Iran’s 125,000-member Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization. Mr. Obama did not show up to vote that day but said that if he had, he would have opposed the bill.
– Many Iran experts criticized the bill, saying it was similar to Iran’s declaring the United States military a terrorist organization because it carried out Mr. Bush’s orders. Even some members of the Clinton campaign’s foreign policy team at the time privately disagreed with the vote.
– But the bigger fight between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama was over the issue of talking to Iran, which Mrs. Clinton could soon find at the top of her portfolio. When during a debate Mr. Obama termed “ridiculous” the notion of not talking to adversaries, Mrs. Clinton sharply criticized him, calling that position “irresponsible and frankly naïve.”
– The difference between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama on the issue is more perception than reality, advisers to both now say. Mr. Obama has said he would have a lower-level envoy do preparatory work for a meeting with Iran’s leaders first, and Mrs. Clinton has said she favors vigorous diplomacy and lower-level contacts as well.
“She’s not against talking to enemies; it was a question of how it’s done,” said Martin Indyk, the former United States ambassador to Israel. “That was the critical issue.”
– On Israel, the other chronic foreign policy issue that will bedevil the next secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton would bring baggage as well. She is seen as fiercely loyal to Israel, which can be both a plus and a minus, Middle East experts say.
– While her pro-Israel record as a senator from New York might cause her to be viewed with suspicion in the Arab world, it could give her credibility to ask Israel to make tough choices for peace.
Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting from Chicago, and Jackie Calmes from Washington.
Von Torsten Krauel 22. November 2008, 17:07 Uhr
– "Sie macht es", schrieb die New York Times und meinte damit, dass Hillary Clinton US-Außenministerin wird. Medien und Politik streiten über Obamas Entscheidung. Skandalautor Bob Woodward ist überzeugt: "Schnapsidee, oder da steht jemand unter Drogen." Sicher ist: Obama geht damit auf volles Risiko.
Hillary Rodham Clinton scheint tatsächlich Barack Obamas Außenministerin werden zu wollen. Die Gerüchte verdichteten sich am Freitag durch Äußerungen aus dem Umfeld beider früheren Rivalen fast bis zur Gewissheit. Zwar sagten offizielle Sprecher Clintons und Obamas nur, es gebe noch Dinge zu klären. Die Gespräche seien „auf dem richtigen Weg“ (Clintons Sprecher sagte sogar: „auf einem sehr richtigen Weg“).
Mehrere namentlich nicht genannte Vertraute Clintons streuten aber in mindestens zwei amerikanischen Zeitungen, Hillary Clinton habe sich entschieden. „Sie weiß, dass es richtig ist, die Aufgabe zu übernehmen. Sie brauchte nur Bedenkzeit, um sich ganz sicher zu sein“, sagte ein solcher Berater der Washingtoner Zeitung „Politico“. Die „New York Times“ berief sich auf zwei Vertraute. „Sie macht es“, zitierte das Blatt einen von ihnen. Verkündet werden soll die Nominierung nach dem Erntedankfest, dem höchsten amerikanischen Feiertag. Er wird am Donnerstag begangen.
– Mit Clinton, seinem Vizepräsidenten Joe Biden und dem wahrscheinlichen Handelsminister Bill Richardson holt Obama drei ehemalige Mitbewerber um die Präsidentschaft in das Kabinett. Als weitere sehr wahrscheinliche Schlüsselpersonalie schälte sich Freitag Timothy Franz Geithner heraus. Der 45-Jährige soll Finanzminister werden.
– Die bisherige Gouverneurin von Arizona, Janet Napolitano, wird aller Voraussicht nach das Heimatschutzministerium übernehmen. Sie gehört zum maßvoll konservativen Flügel der Demokraten und ist im Heimatstaat des republikanischen Präsidentschaftskandidaten John McCain sehr populär. Mit ihr könnte Obama weitere politische Sympathie bei Mittewählern gewinnen. Als neuer Nationaler Sicherheitsberater ist General James Jones in der engsten Auswahl. Der Kritiker des Irak-Kriegs war von 2003 bis 2006 Nato-Befehlshaber.
– Neuer CIA-Chef wird wohl John Brennan. Der Antiterror-Fachmann gehört zu den Republikanern, die Obama im Wahlkampf unterstützten.
– Die wichtigsten Namen aber sind Geithner und Clinton. Das Gerücht über den neuen Finanzminister sorgte am letzten Börsentag der abgelaufenen Woche für einen Kurssprung auf Wall Street. Geithner hat als bisheriger Chef der New Yorker Filiale der amerikanischen Notenbank sehr umsichtig gehandelt, als im März die Bankenkrise ausbrach. Ihm gelang es damals, den offenen Zusammenbruch der Bank Bear, Stearns zu verhindern.
– Im September war er maßgeblich an der Blitzentscheidung beteiligt, einen Kollaps des amerikanischen Bankensystems durch den zeitlich befristeten Staatseinstieg bei Banken und Versicherern zu vermeiden. Geithner arbeitete von 1988 bis 2001 schon einmal im Finanzministerium. Er kennt die asiatischen Gläubiger und Partner der USA gut. Geithner hat Ostasienwissenschaften studiert, versteht Chinesisch und Japanisch, und hat in Indien, China, Thailand und Japan gelebt.
– Die Nachrichten über eine wahrscheinliche Außenministerin Clinton führten nicht zu einem Kurssprung. Stattdessen gab es sehr skeptische Äußerungen, zum Beispiel von Bob Woodward. Der Enthüller der „Watergate“-Affäre und intime Kenner der Washingtoner Szene sagte in einem vorab aufgezeichneten Fernsehinterview, das heute ausgestrahlt werden soll: „Präsident zu sein – das bedeutet, die Kontrollgewalt innezuhaben, und man sage mir, wer jemals Bill und Hillary Clinton unter Kontrolle hatte.“ Es sei eine „Schnapsidee, oder da steht jemand unter Drogen“.
Bill und Hillary Clinton sind hinter den Kulissen offenkundig bestrebt, das Gegenteil zu beweisen. Binnen weniger Tage hat Bill Clinton mit Obama eine Abmachung getroffen, die die genaue Rolle des früheren Präsidenten präzise festlegt. Clinton wird keine bezahlten Reden mehr halten, er wird internationale Auftritte als Chef seiner Stiftung zurückfahren, und er hat Obama die vollständige Liste der Geldgeber für die Clinton-Bibliothek in Little Rock (Arkansas) übergeben. Die Liste war bisher streng geheim, weil dort möglicherweise auch reiche Ausländer als Spender verzeichnet sind. Bill Clinton tue alles, um seiner Frau den Weg zu ebnen, heißt es.
– Hillary Clintons Eintritt in die Regierung ist trotzdem ein beispielloser Vorgang. Man muss weit zurückblicken, um einen amerikanischen Außenminister zu finden, der vor dem Ministeramt aktiver Politiker war.
– Die Chefdiplomaten der vergangenen Jahrzehnte waren mit zwei unbedeutenden Ausnahmen meistens Rechtsanwälte, Professoren oder Generäle – Amtsinhaber ohne eigene Machtbasis, die ihre Autorität einzig und allein dem Präsidenten verdankten.Man muss bis Abraham Lincoln zurückgehen, um einen Außenminister zu finden, der in derselben Partei mit dem Präsidenten um das Weiße Haus gekämpft und verloren hat.
– Einen Außenminister, der vergleichbares Gewicht wie Hillary Clinton gegenüber Barack Obama besitzt, gab es nur in der Gründerzeit der USA. Das war Thomas Jefferson, erster Außenminister der USA unter dem Präsidenten George Washington.
– Amerikanische Journalisten spekulieren, dass Hillary Clintons Weg ins State Department das Eingeständnis politischer Schwäche sei. Die bisherige Senatorin des Staates New York habe nach ihrer Niederlage gegen Obama nicht recht Fuß fassen können. Im Oberhaus des Parlaments sei ihr die Übernahme eines wichtigen Ausschusses verwehrt worden.
– Als Ministerin aber hat Hillary Clinton eine herausragende Rolle. Barack Obama ist offenbar an Clinton herangetreten, weil er von Abraham Lincolns Konzept eines „Teams der Rivalen“ fasziniert ist und sich selber als politischer Erbe Lincolns ansieht. Das „Traumteam Obama-Clinton“ soll auch deshalb doch noch Wirklichkeit werden. Obama möchte sich außerdem zunächst auf die Wirtschaft konzentrieren. Er kündigte ein Konjunkturprogramm an, mit dem er bis zur Kongresswahl 2010 die Krise abmildern und 2,5 Millionen Arbeitsplätze schaffen möchte. Clinton, die Obamas außenpolitische ideen während des Urwahlkampfs scharf kritisiert hatte, wird viel Freiraum besitzen.
– Die Risiken für Obama sind nicht gering. Clinton wird rasch die wahre Vizepräsidentin sein, und den nominellen Vizepräsidenten Joe Biden an die Wand drängen. Noch Anfang November sagte sie, sie werde sich „voll auf die Krankenkassenreform, erneuerbare Energien und die Wirtschaft konzentrieren“. Erneuerbar ist auch ihr Wunsch, einen weiteren Anlauf für das Weiße Haus zu unternehmen.
Abraham Lincoln, schrieb die „Los Angeles Times“, habe sogar vier Wahlkampf-Rivalen ins Kabinett berufen. „Drei verließen es noch in der ersten Amtszeit wieder – einer in Ungnade, einer im Trotz, und einer angewidert.“ Das Traumteam wird viel Disziplin benötigen.