This is just now breaking by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Apparently during a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show Jill Biden let it slip that her husband had been given his choice by Barack Obama between being Vice President or Secretary of State. I guess he tried to change the subject and everyone looked a bit surprised.
I'd heard this before from at least one reporter, I can't remember who is was now. I'd also heard some speculate earlier on that Biden was probably disappointed at being V.P., that he'd probably have preferred Secretary of State. I guess that can now be put to rest!
Any thoughts? Do you think this was a surprise to Hillary Clinton and if so, do you think she'll be upset by this news?
Annie
[question posted by anniepa]responses and comments:
I don't think that it would surprise her a bit, but my question is how did Obama give him the choice for VP or secretary of state? I mean he had to run for VP with Obama and Obama can not appoint secretary of state till he has won. Just how did he know for sure he would win? Sounds like he did and it was rigged the whole time! However that does not surprise me at all. [baileycows]
Come on...talk about conspiracy theories...lol! Obviously, if Obama didn't win he wouldn't have been either, would he? Annie [anniepa]
Hmmm... Does that mean that Hillary could of end up being VP? I hope it doesn't upset Hillary to hear that, maybe she already knew it. Maybe Joe won't tell his wife important things like that any more, if she is going to "spill the beans". [iriscot]
How about it! She's an intelligent woman, though, and she's been around politics for years so I'm thinking it probably wasn't that big of a secret within the team. Annie [anniepa]
Why should she be upset? The post is hers. Why worry about something that didn't happen? Also, I don't think it is a big deal. Just think about all the things you don't hear...all the deals that go down that are shady. Only a handful get caught. No big surprise here if the news is indeed true. I wouldn't be surprised if it is just another ploy for making the news. Gessh, I'll be so glad when all this hoopla is over. What a waste of the taxpayers money! [kareng]
Who cares? lol. I don't think Hillary would be upset about any of this. I'm sure lots of discussions went on before anything was decided and she officially threw her support behind Obama. She got a high profile job that'll keep her in the news and might put her on the favorable side in the public opinion circus. Then she'll just have to bite her time until she can run again in eight years. Biden on the other hand... let's just say I think it's safer to have him in the VP position. Too many slips of the tongue he does himself;) [jonesy123]
Maybe she was offered a choice too? This is the first I have heard of this, and it's interesting. I hope that Hillary will not be upset because I think that she is well placed as Sec of State. Of course it could be that he wasn't actually offered the job but asked which he preferred as part of the vetting process??? I don't know. I'm just so very excited that the day is almost here!!!!! [tentwo67]
Curiouser and curiouser. I wonder if hillary was presented with options as well or if she was out of the loop. Biden is an ok guy, despite the polar opposite ideolgy he has from mine, but the Secretary Of State should be an articulate and sure spoken person.....Biden, well...is...how do I say this.......um.......yeh...you get the idea. [xfahctor]
Thats the thing about Politics..they all know whats up before we even get a right to vote on it..and I bet Hillary is just glad she got something out of it.. [Rosekitty]
I don't see where this is such a big surprise. It could have been a conversation as simple as Obama saying, listen, I want you on my team. If you don't want to campaign with me as my VP nominee, would you be interested in the sec of state when all is said and done? I think Hilary is fine with her position. Otherwise she could have just stayed in the senate. I'm sure that most of the Washington insiders heard rumblings of this long before it got to us. [uicbear]
I know, that rumor had been circulating since election day practically. Annie [anniepa]
No I do not think she will be upset. IMO she has more leeway to show what she can do as Secretary of State. Barring anything unforeseen happening to the President I do not think the VP has any real decisions to make. [whiteheather39]
Also, she's very well-known and well liked and respected around the world and I think that counts for something. Annie [anniepa]
Honestly I think it would have been better with Biden as secretary of state and Clinton as VP, because Clinton has experience being a personal counselor to the President and Biden has extensive foreign policy experience. I was thinking that he probably let Biden pick. It's too bad, I would have liked him for secretary of state. [murderistic]
I know where you're coming from but I have a feeling they're going to work together as a team, so to speak. Clinton and Biden are rather close, I've heard, and while they may have minor disagreements now and then I think they'll work together well. Annie [anniepa]
I don't know what scares me more, Biden being a heartbeat away from the Presidency or Biden appointed as Secretary of State. He definitely has a loose lips problem which probably would have come out during the campaign had it not been for the extreme focus put on Sarah Palin. I'm happy with Hillary as Secretary of State but would have been happier with her as the VP candidate. Another poster mentioned something about whether Hillary was offered the same choice. I can tell you that she was not. The Obama campaign didn't vet her at all for consideration as the V.P. candidate, something that caused a lot of issues with her supporters. I don't think that Hillary will be upset by the news at all. I believe that she took the position to increase her visibility and to demonstrate how ready she is. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she made another run for it in the future. Best of luck to President-Elect Obama and his administration. What a mess to have to walk into! [LaurenInLA]
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm no Sarah Palin fan either but even though Obama was my candidate, I do have to admit that the coverage was quite lopsided. Any time Biden talks for a long period of time, some pretty bizarre things come out of his mouth. [LaurenInLA]
Surely she's fully aware of this. Maybe being vice president would have felt very much like second-class citizenship to her, since she tried to be president. In any case, she seems to be a wonderful candidate for Secretary of State! [cobrateacher]
Well maybe Hillary was offered the same thing first? I don't think she will really care one way or the other. I really think she just wants to make things happen. [ZephyrSun]
I think that's what Hillary wants too. I have a feeling that if this story is true, she probably was aware of it. Annie [anniepa]
While he didn't deny it his spokesperson did. "The vice president-elect didn't deny her claim on the show, but Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander did three hours later in a statement e-mailed to reporters immediately after the exchange aired on television. "To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate," the statement said. "And the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/biden_oprah Odd... [Taskr36]
True. Most likely he asked Hillary first because he wanted to get her to step down from the primary. Biden wasn't really a priority in letting choose his position... Hillary probably agreed to be either VP or Sec. of State, so Obama let Biden choose. Jill went pretty in-depth about how they had to choose and the reasons that Joe decided to be VP instead (which ultimately, according to Jill, was so he didn't have to travel so much). [murderistic]
I watched Hillary Clinton when she stepped up to the mike when Obama announced she was his pick for sectary of state,I could not help but notices in my eye's Hillary Clinton did not appear to be very joyful. I noticed the same facial expressions as Barack Obama was talking about her as his pick she did not appear in my eye's to be overly delighted nor even very happy,could this be the reason? maybe. Makes me wonder if Joe Biden was Obama's first pick for such a big and very important job at this most serious time in our history would Joe Biden had been a very good pick in the first place as sectary of State? [kennyrose]
I'm not really sure what you're getting at, Rose. I didn't think Hillary looked unhappy or displeased when she was introduced as the new Secretary of State. Hillary isn't the "perky" type who goes around looking "joyful". I think she's more the type for quiet dignity in her public life but I understand in private she's loads of fun. I could certainly be wrong but I think if anyone is looking for some kind of a feud between or among any members of this new Administration they're probably going to be disappointed. I understand the Bidens and the Clintons are very good friends so it's my guess if this story is true it was common knowledge within their private circle. Clearly either Biden or Clinton would make excellent Secretaries of State. Annie [anniepa]
If you actually listened, Jill didn't say "Joe was offered the choice" or "Obama offered Joe the choice..." She said "Joe had the choice..." I can certainly see a conversation happening that went like - "Hey, Joe, I've heard you have ambitions of being SoS and buying keg pumps, but I'd really like you as a running mate. What do you think?" [chameleonsdream]
No, you didn't come across that way but I DID notice I may have worded my subject wrong. You're right, the media would love to be able to pick a fight in this, wouldn't they? Annie [anniepa]
Hi annie! That really is interesting! I don't know why if he was given that choice then that he did pick being VP if what he really wanted was Secretary of State then why didn't he take that position? And will Hillary Clinton be upset? Why should she? She is going to be Secretary of State! What difference does it make now! The decisions are made and it sure is too late to change their minds! Tomorrow Biden will be the Vice President! If he really did have the choice then he made it! [Opal26]
I think it was more like lots of people were assuming he wanted the Secretary of State position because he has so much foreign policy experience and seemed like a natural for that slot. I think his wife was being totally honest when she brought up all the travel involved in that job. I also think Hillary loves that kind of travel so she's a perfect choice for the Secretary of State. I think they got it right, no matter who chose what. Annie [anniepa]
Hilary was probly hoping he would take the sec. of state job so she could get VP. Of the two I would rather be Sec of state. But to each their own. He had his choice and he made it. The VP usually gets over shadowed by the president and in this case I think it will be especially true. [lilwonders456]
I know for a while there Hilary was pushing hard for the VP spot, as were her followers. So I don't know. But I do think she is a better fit as sec. of state than VP. With her and Obama being such prominate figures it would have been hard for either of them because one could have over shadowed the other. Which would have been bad if it had been Clinton over shadowing Obama. YOu don't over shadow the president. [lilwonders456]
This is what Joe Biden had to say about the Sectary of State offer made to him by Barack Obama on the Oprah Winfrey show when his wife told the public about her husbands two choices for offices from Barack Obama. (Chicago Sun Times Newspaper On Joe Biden Reply To Wife's Announcement On The Oprah Show) The wife of Vice President-elect Joe Biden let it slip to Oprah Winfrey Monday that her husband had a pick of two jobs in the Obama administration. Jill Biden said President-elect Barack Obama gave Biden the choice of being secretary of state or vice president. The vice president-elect tried to hush his wife as soon as the words came out of her mouth, with a loud "shhh!" that sent the audience into laughter. Chicago Sun Times January 19,2009 [kennyrose]
So HE didn't have anything to say unless you count "SSSHHH!" as a word...lol! Annie [anniepa]
Alls I can say is WHOOPS!!!!. Hopefully his lips will not be as loose when it comes to national news and will learn to be more descrete on when you talk and when not too. [OLIJULSAR]
I am just thankful we have a president in there that I believe is going to set this country on it's ears (so to say). I am so excited to see what changes are going to be made. He has already made some in Washington with freezing some of the wages. [OLIJULSAR]
This is interesting, and if this was so, when was this choice given to him? I have heard about this before watching the Oprah Show yesterday, and then while watching the Show and wish there was more said on this as well. Personally I cannot see Hillary being upset by it as she was never offered the VP position. But still this is quite interesting for sure. [KrauseHome]
Apparently at some point before he was announced as Obama's running mate. I'm not sure of exactly when. Annie [anniepa]
I had heard that, too. I'm glad he chose to be VP. I don't think it is very surprising, since he has a lot of foreign policy experience. [Bd200789]
I think he'll still have a lot of involvement in foreign policy matters. Annie [anniepa]