President-elect Obama reaches out to former rivals

President-elect Obama reaches out to former rivals

www.huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON — Presidents typically say they want to be surrounded by strong-willed people who have the courage to disagree with them. President-elect Barack Obama, reaching out to Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republicans, actually might mean it.

Abraham Lincoln meant it. He appointed his bitter adversaries to crucial posts, choosing as war secretary a man who had called him a "long-armed ape" who "does not know anything and can do you no good."

You could say his Cabinet meetings were frank and open.

Richard Nixon didn't mean it.

"I don't want a government of yes-men," he declared. But among all the president's men, those who said no did so at their peril. He went down a path of destruction in the company of sycophants.

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And bush minor certainly didn't mean it... he surrounded himself with cronies is the finest third world dictatorship fashion... He would have made Papa Doc or Ferdinand Marcos proud... or even should we dare say... Saddam Hussein.

It is only by the free and open exchange of ideas and ideals can anyone who hopes to lead reach a consensus.

Lincoln governed via the old adage... Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

... and it looks like Mr. Obama is taking it to heart and we could all benefit as a result.

www.huffingtonpost.com
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Obama may have done a deal with Hillary along the lines of in exchange for dropping out of the race she gets the Secretary of state position in an Obama cabinet . Time will tell if Obama is interested in bi partisanship or if he is just interested in a PR stunt and painting the Republicans as the bad guys .

Cheers xpert11 .

At the World Economic Forum's 24th India Economic Summit in New Delhi, India, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said of reports that President-elect Obama is considering Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as Secretary of State, "I believe it would be an outstanding appointment. If it is true, it shows a number of things, including great courage on the part of the President-Elect. To appoint a very strong personality into a prominent cabinet position requires a great deal of courage."

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I am not so sure an endorsement by Kissinger is all that good of a thing.

reply to post by grover


It depends on how one defines republicans or conservatives. Many conservatives feel McCain is more of a centrist than true GOP. I'm inclined to believe Obama will include some "centrists" (if McCain is an example of the definition), but I doubt he'll be appointing any "true conservatives." This is a good time for democrats indeed. With the republicans coming so close to "the center," Obama has a pool of more moderate conservatives to reach out to.