***Obama Team Offering Clinton Health Secretary Post in Deal for Her Surrender***

[ballsalicious]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/democrats/2058907/US-Elections-Hillary-Clinton-to-be-offered-dignified-exit.html

Hillary Clinton to be offered dignified exit

By Tim Shipman in Washington

Last updated: 2:07 AM BST 01/06/2008

Hillary Clinton will be offered a dignified exit from the presidential race and the prospect of a place in Barack Obama's cabinet under plans for a "negotiated surrender" of her White House ambitions being drawn up by Senator Obama's aides.
The former First Lady would get the chance to pilot Mr Obama’s reforms of the American healthcare system if she agrees to clear the path to his nomination as Democratic presidential candidate.

Senior figures in the Obama camp have told Democrat colleagues that the offer to Mrs Clinton of a cabinet post as health secretary or to steer new legislation through the Senate will be a central element of their peace overtures to the New York senator.

Mr Obama said on Thursday that he believed he would have secured the support of enough delegates to make him the standard bearer of his party in November’s presidential election by the end of this week.

After today’s primary election in Puerto Rico and Tuesday’s final contests in Montana and South Dakota, the remaining super-delegates will come under huge pressure from fellow party grandees to declare their hands.

The Obama camp, however, remains nervous about Mrs Clinton’s intentions and ambitions, and is preparing a face-saving package that will allow her to continue to play a role in health care reform, which has been her signature issue for more than a decade. Despite pressure from some Clinton allies, Mr Obama and his advisers do not wish to ask her to be his vice-presidential running mate. “They will talk to her,” one Democrat strategist close to senior figures in the Obama camp told The Sunday Telegraph. “They will give her the respect she deserves. She will get something to do with health care, a cabinet post or the chance to lead the legislation through the Senate.”

Another Democrat who has discussed strategy with friends in the Obama inner circle said that Mr Obama was openly considering asking Mrs Clinton to join his cabinet, alongside two other former presidential rivals: John Edwards, who is seen as a likely attorney general; and Joe Biden, who is a leading contender to become Secretary of State.

Mr Obama hinted at the plan last week. “One of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln,” he said. “Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his cabinet because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was 'how can we get this country through this time of crisis?’ And I think that has to be the approach that one takes.”

Informal talks have already begun between Obama and Clinton fundraisers to discuss a merger, enabling Mr Obama to pay off Mrs Clinton’s campaign debts of $11 million (£5.6 million). The third element of a peace deal was being worked out last night as Mr Obama’s allies tried to arrange a compromise over the delegates from Florida and Michigan — states which Mrs Clinton won but which were stripped of their voting rights after moving election dates in breach of party rules.

Hundreds of Clinton supporters, mostly women, gathered in Washington yesterday to protest at what they saw as an injustice, as the Democratic Party’s “rules and bylaws committee” worked on a way of ending the controversy.

Delegates are likely to be awarded in proportion with the votes cast, but in only half the numbers originally intended, a move that would help Mrs Clinton save face but would not challenge Mr Obama’s delegate lead. “Hillary will get a win, but a small win,” said the first Democrat strategist.

Tentative contacts have already taken place between Obama and Clinton aides over the endgame, but there have been no formal talks. Mrs Clinton’s aides, while acknowledging that she will have to abandon her White House dream, do not feel they are in a position to negotiate on her behalf. “She has not surrendered in her own mind yet and until she does it’s very difficult to have these conversations,” the second strategist said.

Dee Dee Myers, the former press secretary to President Clinton, said: “It seems clear to me from watching her, and talking to people, that she doesn’t really know what she wants.” But after 17 months of campaigning, and $150  million (£76 million) spent, the question that haunts the Clinton camp is: how did someone who a year ago had unrivalled name recognition, a legendary campaign organisation and more money than her opponent contrive to throw it all away?

The answers come down to wrong message, wrong tactics, complacency, character – and, ultimately, the opponent. Even Clinton aides agree that she wrongly sold herself as a candidate of experience, when voters yearned for Barack Obama’s message of change. Her campaign machine then failed to win January’s crucial opening Iowa caucuses, handing lethal momentum to Mr Obama.

Her staff mistakenly believed they could knock her rival out by “Super Tuesday” on February 5, when 22 states voted. When that did not happen, she had neither the resources nor the organisation to compete in the succession of caucuses that followed, allowing Mr Obama to build the delegate lead he maintains to this day.

Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster not affiliated to either camp, told The Sunday Telegraph: “We have known for two years that Democrats and voters in general are much more interested in change. Yet for reasons that are inexplicable, the Clinton campaign chose to be on the short end of that message stick.”

Backed into a corner, Mrs Clinton responded with increasingly outlandish claims about her qualifications, including a ludicrous statement that she had braved sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia.

That, plus her subsequent insistence that she had merely “mis-spoken” rather than admitting she had got her facts wrong, raised new issues about her character.

In any case, Mr Mellman believes the decisive factor in her defeat was the one she couldn’t control. “The most important thing was that she was up against Barack Obama. He is enormously talented.”

[Yael]

1. So she can lose again?

yay.

[zulchzulu]

14. That was my first reaction

Great...so healthcare reform is FUCKED...

:puke:

[eridani]

60. Get something straight. Real health care reform must be driven from below

Obama would not let her hold meetings in secret. If health care activists can get our act together and push for passage of HR676 ASAP, both Clinton and Obama would go along with it. They have both stated in public that of course single payer is the best system, but offer other plans becsuse of the politics involved. It is up to WE THE PEOPLE to change the politics.

[zulchzulu]

80. If Clinton is Sec. Of Health, you can bet there will be no healthcare reform

Look at two things. She failed in 1993. She can't run a decent campaign.

Her divisiveness and visceral nature will only hurt the Obama administration. She should run for NY governor or whatever else. Now is not a time to appease her with something as important as the issue of healthcare reform.

We need fresh faces and new leadership to make powerful yet incremental change.

[Yael]

84. Indeed -- agree fully.

[eridani]

86. She failed because she cooked up the pfan behind closed doors

Obama flat out won't allow that--he's pretty committed to more government transparency. With significant public input, I really think we can get it done. Clinton is on record (back in 1994, and more recently) as saying that single payer is the best option, though in her opinion not doable politcally. Obama has prety much said the same thing. What we need to do is to give them cover for saying "Hey, the public made us do it" to the insurance companies.

We are in really deep shit economically and cannot afford incremental measures that subsidize insurance companies. Even if we are forced into incrementalism, insisting on single payer from the start will get us a better deal. If you want 50% of your legislative agenda enacted, ask for 150%. If you want $3000 for your used car, ask for $5000. If you want a kitten, ask for a pony.

[SwampG8r]

69. its a cabinet post think about it

what happens to cabinet officials who embarass the administration?
its a ticket on the fast track to nowheresville
i believe the japanese would say "she has been given a window seat"

[Occam Bandage]

2. Good. That's the one issue on which I prefer her to Obama.

[cali]

49. um, hillary would be a lousy choice for Sec of HHS

and it's a second tier cabinet position anyway. I much prefer Howard Dean for that post. He's far more qualified. He's worked on the issue for years. He's had success implementing innovative healthcare coverage programs. He's run large organizations successfully, and he works well with others.

[woolldog]

3. Health Secretary?

:rofl:

[RL3AO]

11. What is that? Like 12th in line for the Presidency?

[Midwestern Democrat]

45. Yeah, this is ridiculous. Edwards and Biden were my two top choices

for this year, but I can't see how Hillary wouldn't see this as a massive insult - Edwards and Biden taking two of the four top tier cabinet posts, with Hillary getting a less prestigious post! The Obama camp isn't this stupid - this is just B.S.

[Bicoastal]

4. BREAKING: Hillary turns down deal, tells Obama "I haven't yet ruled out you being my VP""

"Plus a set of steak knives and a vacation to BEAUTIFUL Costa Rica! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?!"

[DesEtoiles]

87. Hillary - one too many Crown Royals

[rurallib]

5. After her last foray into healthcare -- don't know if that is a good idea

This will be one of the signature issues of the Obama presidency.

[NotThisTime]

22. Yeh, but he'd have the biggest seat at the table and don't think for a second he wouldn't oversee it

[WeDidIt]

6. We'll find out just how much she cares about Health Care

some time next week, then.

[Major Hogwash]

7. Yeah, right. And there's a bridge in Brooklyn for sale, too.

There is no way - no way - she would work in Obama's cabinet.

Just no way.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. Oh Fuck. Just When I Thought We'd Have Health Care Reform.

Goddamn it. Just what we need, another Clintonian boondoggle to blow up, killing the prospect of reform for another decade or two.

Fuck.

[OzarkDem]

23. Obama doesn't back universal health care

or anything remotely close to real reform. He's already backtracked on promises made at the beginning of his campaign. The health insurance industry has played a major role in this primary and he is their chosen Dem candidate.

Health care reform is a serious issue, not to be taken lightly.

[lligrd]

28. He Does Too

Just said he couldn't implement it now. His plan is basically the same as Hillary's without the mandatory.

[OzarkDem]

29. Sorry, no excuses

its an issue I follow very closely. Its doable and he's chosen not to do it.

[lligrd]

31. Hillary Wasn't Doing It Either nt

[Indenturedebtor]

76. Don't feed the trolls! They eat logic and reason with their anuses

And vomit poop at your from their mouths.

I doubt she'd take the post. And honestly I'm not sure she wouldn't screw it up again. But I can't think of another post to offer her. VP is completely out of the question imo.

[gateley]

34. I didn't like ANY of the candidates' plans, with the exception of

Kucinich and (maybe?) Gravel.

[lumberjack_jeff]

51. A "Universal" health care plan without the mandatory is what we have now. n/t

[rebel with a cause]

66. Who are you argueing with

I don't see anyone there. :rofl:

[Carolina]

39. oh, go away

Hillary botched it once and still believes in corporate insurers as the best answer.

[eridani]

62. Nether candidate does. It is up to us.

Let's get fucking ORGANIZED and pass HR676!

[newmajority]

65. Neither does Hillary.

Forced corporate healthcare is NOT universal health care.

[Why Syzygy]

75. We sure will miss you when you're gone.

But I can't wait to deprive myself, so that is the last post of yours I endure.

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. What led you to believe we'd have health care reform?

Optional coverage is exactly what we have now.

[OzarkDem]

9. Is that another Pelosi rumor?

Her office has been behind a lot of these rumors of late.

[KittyWampus]

10. I doubt it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Standard, not surprising

[dana_b]

13. she probably won't accept but

she'd be perfect in that role. just sayin'.

[derby378]

15. Nowadays, I'm not so sure Hillary would be the best one to fix American healthcare

A lot has happened between 1994 and now, and with legitimate concerns that Hillary might be on friendly terms with some health insurance bigwigs, someone would need to keep an eye on her.

But on another level, I say Hillary should go for it. Never give up a sure thing for a mere possibilitiy. In other words, Hillary...

[PretzelWarrior]

16. Senior figures in the Obama camp have told Democrat colleagues that...

It's DEMOCRATIC, you stupid British ass hats.

[ruby slippers]

17. too bad, I'm just not one for mandates. I'd rather see her elsewhere like

Senator of New York

[eridani]

64. Mandates work just fine for your fire department

You pay your property taxes (or your landlord does), and if your house catches fire, they send a truck out. No horseshit about "choosing the best fire protection for your family." The problem with the Clinton mandate is that (like in Massachusetts), it is a subsidy to private insurance. Mandated Medicare works fine--just get rid of insurance companies and extend it to the whole population.

[blonndee]

18. "She has not surrendered in her own mind yet and until she does it’s very difficult to have these

conversations."

Now where have I heard that before???

[madrchsod]

19. those crazy brits

ya never know what they think about their colony....

[crankychatter]

20. I can't read all that tonight... if true, we need to declare SINGLE PAYER WARFARE nt

.

[book_worm]

21. why put somebody who failed on health care in '93 in charge again in '09?

I don't see Hill giving up a senate seat for a cabinet post.

[OzarkDem]

24. GOP talking point

another sure sign Obama and his supporters are opposed to health care reform.

[blonndee]

27. Truth = "GOP talking point"? So we DO have universal health care? Well, I'll be damned. Thank you

Ozark"Dem" for clearing that up.

[lumberjack_jeff]

54. Our current system is "universal" in exactly the sense that Obama's is universal.

Everyone has the ability to purchase coverage, if they wish.

[blonndee]

56. So we DO have universal health care? Well, I'll be damned. Thank you, lumberjackjeff,

for clearing that up.

[boppers]

72. Actually, not everybody can buy coverage.

People with pre-existing conditions are generally unable to purchase coverage, and most coverage is cost-prohibitive to the poor.

So, we need to handle those problems. The first problem is easier to handle, and as to the second, we haven't had a candidate offer a solution that would cover the non-working homeless.

[lumberjack_jeff]

81. Optional. Affordable. You may pick only one.

Under the Obama plan, a rational person will opt to purchase insurance only when they become ill, since the penalty for waiting until you get sick is small.

In fairness, it may marginally reduce bankruptcies as a result of illness, but it is implausible that it will reduce costs for people in general.

[book_worm]

33. Why would I take seriously a charge from you? who will not vote for Obama in November

Who will not vote Democratic for president in November and may help allow McCain to win. You are a GOP talking point.

[Ichingcarpenter]

50. LOL..... Good one...... You are a mockery of mock within a mock

[redstate_democrat]

61. Um I've been a Democrat my entire life. My mama is a Democrat.

My daddy is a Democrat. My grandparents are Democrats, EVEN though they were denied equal access to the ballot in Mississippi before the Voting Rights Act, and every damn body I know is a Democrat.

I don't support forcing poor ass people to BUY medical insurance from billion dollar insurance corporations. That isn't mandatory health care, that's a mandatory bill every month. Poor people don't need another mandatory bill right now. If you can't give us free health care, don't force us to buy it either. I'm all for CHOICE. Freedom to choose what I will buy and what I won't. Maybe some of you Hillary supporters can afford to BUY insurance, but I know MANY MANY MANY poor working folks who can't afford to be FORCED to BUY a an insurance product. And if they don't BUY it, then have their wages garnished or be fined. That's stupid. It doesn't SOLVE the problem, it merely forces the BURDEN on the poor person so that more well off middle class people don't have to pay high premiums. Yeah, rob the poor to help the suburban folks.

[rebel with a cause]

67. Just what I have been saying

but much more colorful and thought out. Amen and Amen again.

They tell us that is will be free for the poor, but the rich determine who is the poor. The poverty level now is so low that those below it cannot afford to live, and those just above it can't either. Let me determine where the poverty line is. or people like me. We know what it is to be poor and we know what it would take to live like we mattered again.

Ahmmms Ahmmms Ahmmms for the poor sir. (hand stretched out) ;)

[lumberjack_jeff]

82. We don't need more disinfo.

# The Same Choice of Health Plan Options that Members of Congress Receive: Americans can keep their existing coverage or access the same menu of quality private insurance options that their Members of Congress receive through a new Health Choices Menu, established without any new bureaucracy as part of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). In addition to the broad array of private options that Americans can choose from, they will be offered the choice of a public plan option similar to Medicare.

# A Guarantee of Quality Coverage: The new array of choices offered in the Menu will provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan offered to Members of Congress, which includes mental health parity and usually dental coverage.

and

Senator Clinton’s plan will:


* Provide Tax Relief to Ensure Affordability: Working families will receive a refundable tax credit to help them afford high-quality health coverage.

* Limit Premium Payments to a Percentage of Income: The refundable tax credit will be designed to prevent premiums from exceeding a percentage of family income, while maintaining consumer price consciousness in choosing health plans.

* Create a New Small Business Tax Credit: To make it easier-not harder-for small businesses to create new jobs with health coverage, a new health care tax credit for small businesses will provide an incentive for job-based coverage.

* Strengthen Medicaid and CHIP: The Plan will fix the holes in the safety net to ensure that the most vulnerable populations receive affordable, quality care.

* Launch a Retiree Health Legacy Initiative: A new tax credit for qualifying private and public retiree health plans will offset a significant portion of catastrophic expenditures, so long as savings are dedicated to workers and competitiveness.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/Issues/healthcare/summary.aspx

[sfam]

25. Why doesn't he offer her a pony as well...

Seriously, I don't see Hillary taking this severance package.

Perhaps that plus free reign in remaking the DNC primary rules...

[lligrd]

26. Should Have Been Secretary To The Health Secretary

I wouldn't even hire her for that. Maybe she'd make a good drill sargent somewhere.

[gateley]

30. So...

She gets a prestigious appointment, help paying off her campaign debt. Why?

But if that's what it takes to get her to quit, it might be worth it, but I'm not sure she'll even agree to that.

I think it's telling that all these possibilities are being discusses "informally" and among aides.

THIS is what concerns me:

“She has not surrendered in her own mind yet and until she does it’s very difficult to have these conversations,” the second strategist said.

And until she does, regardless of the bait we dangle in front of her, I think she'll keep on keepin' on.

[bain_sidhe]

32. Stay in the Senate, Hillary! Stay independent!

Don't put your future under Obama's thumb!

[Abacus]

35. Nooooooooooooooooooo...fine, make her VP.

[anonymous171]

36. Hopefully she learned her lesson after from her last attempt at HC reform.

Her years as a senator would also come in handy too.

[Cha]

37. Personally, I can't see the

Obama campaign "nervous" about anything. hilary's some shit..fucking rewarded for bad behaviour? I don't think so.

[Carolina]

38. no surrender, no appeasement

She has earned contempt
She deserves contempt.
She has proven Samantha Power right: she is a loathsome, power-mad monster.

Do not put her anywhere near an Obama administration because she will sabotage and undermine him at every turn. Her word truly means nothing, her pledge means nothing. She cannot be trusted.

[rebel with a cause]

68. If I hated Puerto Rico I would suggest

her for president of the island. After all she is saying that it is P.R.s time NOW. They will give her the win that matters.

Okay riddler, riddle me this. If the caucas states don't matter, and the little states don't matter, how does a territory that can't vote in the GE become so important? Don't get me wrong, for me it matters because I like the island's people but how does it matter to her so much. Only because she can win it?

[WilliamPitt]

40. Better that than VP

[CPschem]

42. that about sums it up for me too.

n/t

[karynnj]

41. This newspaper was printed speculation throughout the campaign

The only thing consistent in their comments is that they have pretty much been consistently wrong.

Obama could put HRC in as Secretary of Health and Human Services (the real name of the cabinet position).

As to the Senate, this is not something Obama can offer. The seniority system is very strong and she is not a senior member of that committee. Assuming that Kennedy is healthy enough to be active in the Senate in 2009, he will likely lead on healthcare - it is his committee and he and his staff are the leaders on this. If not Kennedy, there are others on that committee who have far more seniority than Clinton. Dodd is the number two ranking Democrat and he has worked with Kennedy on healthcare for decades. He and Kerry (not on the committee) were the 2 co-sponsors on S-CHIP while Kennedy and Hatch were the sponsors. From the campaign, it is known that Kennedy did not think that HRC's approach would work. She also has no track record in getting coalitions behind major (or even minor) legislation. Not to mention the arm twisting of super delegates including her Senate peers likely did not help.

There also is no great need to reward HRC. It is in her vested interest to gracefully drop out and it is likely that her ability to create chaos is rapidly ending. As the likelihood for success becomes zero, all any nonsense could do is further destroy the Clintons' reputation and legacies. Can you give me one example where someone else was given a "concession prize"? The Clintons refused to concede party leadership to the last two standard bearers - both of whom won the nomination divisively and nearly won (or did win) the election. The Clintons in fact were likely behind the whispers in early 2005 - denied by Reid and Kerry - that they were at odds because Kerry acted as one of the party leaders. They both ran high road campaigns that Democrats could be proud of - with none of the base nastiness HRC showed.

[Why Syzygy]

78. Thanks. She has thrown pretty much everyone who could have helped her under the bus.

[Lerrad]

43. Oh this is just great...

>>Senior figures in the Obama camp have told Democrat colleagues that the offer to Mrs Clinton of a cabinet post as health secretary

Didn't she have failed attempt at this once before?

There goes any health care that we may have had, right down the drain.

[mystieus]

44. Sounds like a great idea, what better person to push universal heath through

[Triana]

46. Problem: See Chart (Insurance, Lobbyists, Pharmaceuticals):

Think Hillary is gonna "reform" healthcare to the benefit of anyone other than those who funded her? Probably not.

[Arkana]

47. Yeah, she'll take this when hell freezes over.

She's hell bent on the Presidency--even if it means torpedoing any chance we have to win this year so she can try again and screw someone else in 2012.

[NashVegas]

48. Why Should She Give Up a Senate Seat For That?

[lumberjack_jeff]

52. She could do good work there.

But I don't think she'd give up her senate seat for it.

[beachmom]

55. The article is from JANUARY from a Murdoch paper. It was also posted on Kos.

What is going on here? Why are people posting an old article now?

[RoadRage]

57. It's from Today - June first.. "01/06/08 = June first.. Europeans put day/month/year

I had to look at it twice myself..

[beachmom]

58. Oh, okay. Thanks. That clears it up for me. nt

[ballsalicious]

59. wow... didn't know I had to clear that up?

[RoadRage]

63. No worries.. I saw 01/06/08..

but as soon as I read the story, i realized it was from today because of the contents - and after I looked at the date again, i figured it out.

It doesn't help that it's 11:30pm, and i'm already half asleep. ;)

[hulka38]

70. Who is Tim Shipman in Washington?

[Kitsune]

71. Neither Obama nor Clinton are worth jack on this issue.

Hopefully, however, the House and Senate will be thoroughly ours after this election, and the bill has to come from there anyway. Once it's passed, I can't see Obama vetoing it.

Now, all we need to do is ignore Hillary in the process of writing that bill, seeing as she's a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance companies...

[AdHocSolver]

73. NO position of ANY kind for Clinton in an Obama administration.

She has proven herself untrustworthy as a Democrat with her backstabbing Obama and her vindictiveness toward the Democratic party leadership.

She would most likely run a cabinet position like HHS in the same way she has run her primary campaign, and set back meaningful health care reform another fifteen years.

This country cannot afford any more contentious politics. Clinton has not shown herself capable of dealing with sensitive political issues in a dispassionate way.

Her "It's all about me" attitude may have been one reason that she failed to achieve meaningful health care reform back in the 1990's. This country cannot afford another failure at health care reform. Health care is in far worse shape today than it was back then.

We need competent adults in an Obama cabinet, and Clinton has proven to me beyond a doubt that she is not qualified.

[Why Syzygy]

74. HOWARD DEAN should have that spot. He's a doctor and the ONLY

one of them to ever actually implement a plan.

[VotesForWomen]

77. she won't and shouldn't make any deals. the convention is months away.

[bigdarryl]

79. This sounds like total bullshit no way she takes a job like that

health secretary PLEASE!!!!! thats beneath her.

[shayes51]

83. But it IS the perfect place for a woman.

Don't ya think????:sarcasm:

[greguganus]

85. The War Mongress deserves nothing. Let her pay off her own damn debts and go back to NY. n/t