Outside the Beltway

Report: Obama Has Selected John Kerry For Secretary Of State

Doug Mataconis
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Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that President Obama has made his choice to replace Hillary Clinton at the State Department:

President Barack Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to be the next secretary of state, a source has told Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed.

This doesn’t really come as a surprise, of course. After Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration, Kerry was really the only name on the short list for the position, and the fact that he has been widely praised by Republicans ranging from John McCain to Kelly Ayotte suggests quite strongly that his confirmation process will be relatively smooth.

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16 responses to “Report: Obama Has Selected John Kerry For Secretary Of State”

  1. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    Republican fecklessness likely caused Obama to make a far better choice than he would have left to his own devices. Oh, the irony.

  2. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    The fact that Kerry is “widely praised by Republicans ranging from John McCain to Kelly Ayotte” is greatly reassuring to most Democrats, right?

    I’m sure that Republicans would be pleased if Obama nominated Jim DeMint to run the Federal Reserve if Ben Bernanke steps down.

  3. Sejanus Avatar
    Sejanus

    “the fact that he has been widely praised by Republicans ranging from John McCain to Kelly Ayotte suggests quite strongly that his confirmation process will be relatively smooth.”

    Meaning that they want a special election in Massachusetts so that Scott Brown, or another Republican contender, will be able to take Kerry’s seat.

  4. Ben Wolf Avatar
    Ben Wolf

    @James Joyner:

    Republican fecklessness likely caused Obama to make a far better choice than he would have left to his own devices. Oh, the irony.

    I wish I could have hit the Like button more than once on this comment.

  5. michael reynolds Avatar
    michael reynolds

    Obviously someone misplaced my resumé.

  6. OldSouth Avatar
    OldSouth

    He’s a known quantity, vetted (and bruised) by a Presidential campaign. He is definitely an establishment East Coast liberal, but does not owe a bit of his career success to Obama and Company, or to the Clintons either. He has his own world of friends in the Senate and elsewhere. He is independently wealthy, which is a virtue (unless you are not a liberal, of course).

    All these facts will allow him the freedom to speak his mind, and give him the ability to walk away if need be.

    The Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be obliged to listen to him.

    A good choice, given our circumstances. And none of that embarrassing little Benghazi episode need be mentioned during the confirmation hearings…

  7. OldmanRick Avatar
    OldmanRick

    All vets need to contact their senators and remind them how scary kerry lied about the Vietnam vets.

    Visit wintersoldier.com to find out the truth about this slug. No offense to slugs.

  8. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    the fact that he has been widely praised by Republicans ranging from John McCain to Kelly Ayotte suggests quite strongly that his confirmation process will be relatively smooth.

    Oh come on Doug. You’re not actually suggesting that the Republicans actually like John Kerry and think he’ll make a good SecState, do you? Republicans’ support of Kerry is 100% because they think Scott Brown will win his seat, taking a seat away from Democrats. That is the ONLY thing they care about here.

  9. Robert Prather Avatar
    Robert Prather

    This is an unforced error by Obama. Scott Brown is on his knees thanking God.

  10. Robert Prather Avatar
    Robert Prather

    BTW, of course fellow Senators are OK with this.

  11. Commonist Avatar
    Commonist

    In other words, he just elected that idiotic pretty.boy Brown to the senate again, all thanks to the infantile Bengahazi obsession.

    I hope we never find out more about those events, just to spite bastards like McCain.

  12. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    @OldmanRick:

    All vets need to contact their senators and remind them how scary kerry lied about the Vietnam vets.

    Visit wintersoldier.com to find out the truth about this slug. No offense to slugs.

    So, those slime, the Swift Boat Veterans For “Truth” will be back?

  13. rudderpedals Avatar
    rudderpedals

    @Robert Prather:

    This is an unforced error by Obama. Scott Brown is on his knees thanking God.

    If it happens, maybe. The source-who-cannot-be-named has even less behind it than Benghazi.

  14. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    In other words, he just elected that idiotic pretty.boy Brown to the senate again

    I think we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here. That this is a potential pickup opportunity for the Republicans is obvious. But the idea that a man who just lost by 7 points to an opponent with a lower favorability rating than himself is somehow a shoo-in for Kerry’s seat is, at the very least, premature.

  15. Tsar Nicholas Avatar
    Tsar Nicholas

    From the lofty heights of James Byrnes and George Marshall down to Hillary Clinton and now to John Kerry in a lot ways mirrors the corresponding U.S. declines in other areas, most notably the economy and our fiscal situation. We’ve really slipped. It’s getting worse. And perhaps the scariest thing is that with Kerry we actually dodged a bullet.

  16. Whitfield Avatar
    Whitfield

    I wonder if anyone will bring up the Montagnard and Vietnam human rights issue.

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