Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) imminent return to the Senate does not mean she will be greeted with a newly created position within her conference’s leadership, Democratic leaders said Thursday.
Clinton has not sought a special leadership position and has made clear that she is open to being Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) vice presidential nominee. If she does not get chosen for the No. 2 spot, some have speculated that Democratic leaders might carve out a special position within the leadership as a way to appease her supporters and bring the party together.
But so far, such a position has not been considered.
“Nobody has discussed that, the least of which Sen. Clinton,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a high-profile Obama supporter. “She’s not asking for that consideration at this point.”
“We don’t have a special position, we haven’t created that for anyone," Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.), a Clinton supporter, said of candidates who have returned to the Senate after running for president.
“We’ve had a lot of senators return to the Senate that have run for national office and they are welcomed with open arms and given the possibility to work with us, and will continue to,” Murray said. “And Sen. Clinton has tremendous knowledge on many issues, and is tremendously respected in the Senate and I assume that she will be capable of leading us ... wherever she is.”
Creating a special position would not be unprecedented. According to the Senate historian’s office, after former presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey mounted an unsuccessful bid for majority leader against Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) in 1977, Byrd created a special position for him as deputy president pro tempore of the chamber.
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http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-dems-say-clinton-leadership-spot-doubtful-2008-06-05.html
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