Remember when there was a prohibitive favorite for the party nomination who breezed into the primary season thinking they had it and the presidency in the bag. Then from out of nowhere came this guy from Illinois who changed history at the last minute. Then he graciously appointed his former rival as Secretary of State.
I remember that situation. It was Abraham Lincoln and William Seward.
When Lincoln assumed office, Seward assumed he was the real president. He compared himself to a Prime Minister or a power behind the throne. Seward had the experience and the connections while Lincoln was a nobody from Illinois. When Seward started making deals behind Lincoln's back, the president called him to the carpet in private.
Lincoln used a folksy down home style to mask a precise legal mind and a sometimes ruthless mentality. Opponents and even friends underestimated him because of the is purposeful front he built. Dwight D. Eisenhower operated in the same manner and people fell for his facade as well.
The question here is, when Hillary asserts herself how will Obama respond? And how many friends does he have? He has surrounded himself with Clintonites as opposed to bringing in new blood. A liberal friend asked me the other day who else I expected him to choose since the Democrats have so little government experience. (Duh! This is why we voted for John McCain!)My response was that in domestic policy, certainly there are some governors, big city mayors, or former congressmen that could be helpful. Honestly how do you claim to be for change, then appoint virtually the entire Clinton Administration?
I am sure that more than a few Obama supporters have quietly asked teh same questions.
This means Hillary has more friends than Barack and Bill is still out there playing the free agent. A situation such as this could turn decisively ugly if not handled correctly. Let us hope it does not endanger the nation in the process.
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