State Job Isn't Guarantee She Succeeds Obama: Silver

Staying out of Obama administration, popular or not, seems better role
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2008 1:10 PM CST
State Job Isn't Guarantee She Succeeds Obama: Silver
In this Feb. 26, 2008 file photo, then Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., respond to a question during a Democratic presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

Hillary Clinton is a contender to be Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, but taking the job probably wouldn’t help her if she wants to succeed Obama in 2016, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight. Being part of a popular Democratic administration certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it would be easier for Clinton to distance herself from an unpopular one if she wasn’t part of it.

If President Obama is popular, Silver posits, Clinton will be able to capitalize on a strong Democratic brand whether she served in the Cabinet or not. But if the call for “change” is again popular in 2016, Hillary will be a stronger candidate for having some distance from the outgoing administration. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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