So it looks like Hillary Clinton’s appointment as Secretary of State is about to be officially announced. One advantage of Hillary at State that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is that it keeps a potential rival out of the country often enough to weaken her ability to create a problem for Obama domestically. That could backfire, of course, because there’s nothing that says Hillary couldn’t have turned out to be a strong ally in the Senate. But more than keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, thisseems like a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies out oftown on business trips.
