There are arguments to be made for Clinton's future presidential aspirations getting more bounce from the Senate than from Secretary of State, but I nevertheless think she would be a remarkable Secretary of State.

It's all in the second to last line above though. Bill showed remarkable prowess at screwing up the Democratic nomination for Hillary. Not to practice amateur psychology, but does he need her to fail?

Few people would question Hillary Clinton's intelligence, determination and need to serve America. But Hillary and her husband (face it, we can't have one without the other) have become more drama than they are worth, in my opinion.

They have perfected the ability to suck the air out of any space. The Clintons -- at this, one of the most critical times in the country's economic history -- manage to muscle in on daily headlines as if their personal needs, agendas and aspirations are as important to the country as are a tanking economy, bailout controversies and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By all means, let them serve -- Bill can continue his globetrotting goodwill out from under the microscope; Hillary can wait (be patient, girl!) for a seat on the supreme court where her influence would be far more lasting than a cabinet post. But can we please stop putting the baby pink spotlight on them-- if we want to watch the soaps, check the television listings

The Hillary supporters I knew all voted in the general election for Barack Obama. I have not personally met any angry hillary fans, though I have seen some on the news. Most appeared to be early-days feminists exhibiting a lot of complicated anger that no doubt had some roots in gender bias.

The points you make about Hillary's preparation, e.g., member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spending two years of her presidential campaign proving she was ready to be commander in chief, make me wonder if she shouldn't be offered the Secretary of Defense (SoD) job instead?

Based on what we know about her views on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East in general, and judging from the way leading Republicans have come out in support of her for SoS, she wouldn't be that far apart from say Bob Gates, who Obama is rumored to want to keep as SoD. Plus, appointing Hillary as the SoD would be a real groundbreaker. After all we have now had two previous women SoSs...Albright and Rice. Appointing a woman as SoD would be more meaningful, in my opinion.

Lastly, I don't just see how her experiences you cite make her more suitable for SoS than say Bill Richardson or Richard Holbrooke, both of whom have some actual boots-on-the-ground experience in foriegn policy.

christine writes: "... does he need her to fail?"

It was shockingly unprecidented for Hilary to coyly NOT concede the Presidential nomination to Obama. Instead of sucking it up and pledging the support of herself and her followers, with a hrumph she took home her basketball and enflamed rather than dispersed the campaign contention between herself and Obama. I've never seen anything like it and it's just another example of the no-nuts Dem Party leadership that they didn't come down on her crass self-partisanship which created a permanent 'base' of irate fem-bots who dithered away their potential support for the Dem Nominee by griping to anyone who would listen about how X, Y & Z was so unfare and they're not going to vote for the Dem Nominee who 'stole' the Presidency from her. The support Hilary received from the Dem Party during her campaign was a quid pro quo - D-uh! - that she reneged on with distasteful flamboyance. The only good thing to come of it was that, in response, the GOP impulsively latched onto their own FemBot Palin in a scramble to attract the discontented of Hilary's followers, which of course was just another factor of this astounding election's Perfect Storm. Har-har, Sarah really did do God's Will - by being her ignorant bumpkin self.

I really can't imagine Hilary attempting such brazen power-monging as she did, if Bill had vehemently tried to dissuade her. Really, any other male OR female in politics who tried to pull such as stunt would have acquired the permanent Dem Party cold-shoulder for not 'playing the game', and rightly so. The only reason imo she didn't receive the big-time smackdown from Party Leaders is that she is couched in Bill's Former-President aura, like a self-indulgent Cleopatra flipping-off Rome all because the might of Marc Antony is behind her. This in itself is a repugnantly NON-feminist action - acting bratty because Daddy keeps everyone at bay.

I thought Bill's presumed support for Hilary's splinter-Base was certain to have deep passive-aggressive underpinnings. But, now, having read how Post-Presidency Bill is himself conducting his life in a slightly-manic and unseemly manner, I figure if he rooted her on for her power-grab, it was to forstall his boredom. Nonetheless, if her gambit had ultimately failed, too bad, so sad, and he'd return to dipping his Jet-Set wick, no doubt, I really have to imagine, with a small chuckle hidden deep within.

@like-mind:

The first part of Brown's argument was either A)too subtle for you or B)worth nothing to you. Calling women "fem-bots" is both inflammatory and derogatory. Women who decide to stand up for women's rights should be admired, not derided. To assume that women who have power are "power-hungry" shows an astounding lack of knowledge and understanding, especially when, as Brown points out, 81% of all women in this country believe that the media and political system is biased against them. How else will a message get across if not through some force of will?

A person such as Hillary Clinton, a person with powerful political and historical connections to the world, not just the White House, should be seriously considered for Secretary of State. The fact that she's a woman is icing on the cake: countries that respect, educate, and foster women's power are the most advanced countries in the world. Where women are derided, mocked, condescended to, pandered to, and ignored, societies fail.

"... eight in ten upper-income women say that women have received unequal treatment in politics." Huh? Hillary Clinton went from having held no elective public office to the US Senate. If anyone received favorable unequal treatment, she was the recipient. If women, who make up more than one-half of voters, had wanted her to be the nominee, she would have won the primaries, which she did not. On the other hand, she'd probably be darned good as Sec of State.

1. Hillary will make an incredible SecState. (If Bill doesn't screw it up for her.)

2. "Today's Daily Beast poll shows that by an overwhelming 61 percent to 19 percent margin, women believe there is a gender bias in the media." So, um, shouldn't women be taking on the media, as opposed to the government?

If Bill looks like he's a distraction, it's time to formalize a legal separation. He can do his thing(s), both official and avocational; and she can do hers. Chelsea's all grown up; Hill's paid her dues...nothing to say they can't remain friends, but let him make the scandal sheets on his own.

Tina, where were these statements during the primary. Is this an afterthought. It reminds me of what's happening in Cali with prop 8. All the hoopla after the fact. If these issues were put forth by "feminists" during the primary campaign Hilary could very possibly had won over some of the young female vote. Probably cut into it deep enough to win.

Then I take issue with the idea that Hillary is this stand alone figure that can be taken down by Bill. Stop. You can't have it both ways. I agree with your thesis, but women are making the same mistake the Sharpton / Jacksonesque folk make, by continuously leaning on perceived victimhood. Yes blacks have been oppressed. But women are the most oppressed group on the planet. I say that as a black male. But if we watch how Obama never made excuses, or how Margaret Thatcher never made excuses we would see how you win a political war against backwards thinking people. You can't convince them to change, but you can convince them to vote for you. This is where Mark Penn failed her. For God's sake...if Obama can tout his community organizer chops surely Hillary can whisper forthrightly regarding her amazing accomplishments on woman's rights issues. You think.

Hillary Clinton takes a back seat to nobody. Not even Bill. She is a stand alone qualified public servant. We must start treating her as such and stop looking for excuses as to why she did or didn't succeed. Admittedly, I'd prefer a fresh face in the State department. A Susan Rice, Sarah Sewall, Mona Sutphen, Nina Hachigian, are some women who come to mind as people to be considered for high diplomatic posts. Samantha Power also is a wise person to be considered. Hillary's portfolio is large enough, I hope that if she does get the post she's in it for the country not just broadening it further.

Our country needs to get over all this nonsense about Hillary and Palin, they both lost their respective races and that is just the facts.Obama like any smart leader is reaching out and providing Bill can passs the so called smell test she will be a wonderful Secretary of State who gets along well with Biden and will free the new President to concentrate on the economy and in her global travels may even play a part in this recovery as well. Wise people pick wise people and that is waht I see in this effot. Maybe we should put away all our petty biasis and get this country moving again. Finally Palin was not the answer and in my opinion was used and abused by the McCain team, it was a shame.Maybe if we stop trying to stir the pot we will all be better off.

I am not a friend of Hillary. She does not represent me in any way. I don't owe her anything; and I want her to go away. It is always infinitely interesting to me the way that non-minority women think that they represent all women. I don't know of any feminists who are not White.

The veiled racist comments that informed this season's political rhetoric has caused more damage than anyone has realized. It seems to many of us, that it is okay to be a little racist but to insult anything about a White woman is akin to treason itself.
Hillary is not the first working mother. She was not the most qualified applicate. She interviewed for the job and did not get the position.
Hillary and her husband owe the African-American community that they took for granted a Real Apology. Until that is done, there is no forgiveness.
Incidently, it would be wonderful of the even the non-MSM took interests in the very real racial violence this political system has wrought; not through the eyes of White America; but no-White America too.

I saw Tina Brown on Morning Joe - she was brilliant and blunt! She told them (I think she was speaking directly to misogynist Mike Barnacle) that the media (especially this network - MSNBC) were guilty of sexist coverage during the election season, particularly in the coverage of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Oooohhh, misogynist Mike didn't like that and kept trying to challenge her, but she didn't back down! Yeah Tina Brown!

Please keep calling out the MSNBC FRAT BOYS on their bias and sexist remarks! Remember, frequent MSNBC contributor Mike Barnacle is the fine fellow who said something along the lines of: Hillary Clinton's voice reminds every guy of the voice of their ex wife outside probate court.

And his pal Chris Matthews, who famously disclosed that he felt a tingle run up his leg at the thought of Barack Obama as President and that he felt it was his duty to do everything in his power to support his presidency (while calling himself a journalist), said this about HRC early on in the race: "the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around."

David Schuster, the go-to guy for Matthews on Hardball, is the only frat boy to have been publicly disciplined for his overt sexist commentary - opining that the Clinton's were "pimping out" Chelsea.

And now Matthews is trying to stack the deck once again against HRC by devoting much of his program to discussing whether the Clintons can be vetted enough for HRC to be offered SoS.

Apparently, although 18 million votes were nearly enough to potentially elect HRC as POTUS, that's not enough vetting for SoS!

So, frat boy Matthews brings on Christopher Hitchens to rail out-right against HRC while Matthews fans the flames.

Oh, and if reports are to be believed, Matthews can't even help himself from publicly blasting HRC to a stranger on a train after enjoying an open-mouthed snore.

And, of course, there is their frat boy leader, Keith Olbermann, who once mused on air that someone needed to take HRC in a room and only "he comes out" implying that someone needed to resort to physical violence to force HRC to drop out of the Democratic race in the spring.

Overall, MSNBC management is to blame for allowing these men to gang up like a mad pack of dogs on attack. They have NO credibility.

Let's get one thing straight, Hillary was not entitled to the nomination, she was not entitled to be chosen as VP, and she's not entitled to a cabinet position.

Hillary ran a poor campaign, and failed to capture a plurality of the pledged delegates, once she failed at that she was left with the argument that Obama was unelectable and we've seen how that turned out. Further it's the president's duty to choose a VP who he wants to help him govern. While Hillary is experienced, it's dubious to suggest that she's more experienced than Biden.

It's fine to be disappointed that your candidate lost, but please keep it in perspective and lose any sense of entitlement.

Feminism" threatens to go the way of "Black Power." The young who are not gnarled and knocked around by the old fights are tired of the overtones of special pleading. It's like the difference between the Barack generation and the Jesse generation."
Thank you, Ms. Brown!! Finally a journalist and "feminist" over 45 who gets the new "feminism"..the 21st century "feminism". No more fighting, screaming, shouting, burning bras or playing the victim. It's about hard work, learning from men, supporting other women and balancing the entire act of work and family. And there's a whole new generation of young men who get it.
Hillary will do just fine, so long as the old guard..Ferraro and Steinem..stay out of her way. We love them, we respect them, we are grateful, but it's the 21st century and we're moving on to fight another way.