TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Justice Hillary Might Be Best Bet

ADVERTISEMENT

By ROBERT D. NOVAK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 9, 2008

If Barack Obama is elected president, mutual friends say the best course for Hillary Clinton might be nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court rather than staying in the Senate.

Clinton is also talked about as suitable for secretary of state in an Obama administration. The consensus among her friends is that she would not be content forging a lifetime career in the Senate, as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy did after he lost the 1980 presidential nomination.

A footnote: The last confirmed Supreme Court nominee without prior judicial experience was Lewis Powell, a prestigious attorney from Richmond, Va., named by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. No high court selection has had so modest a legal background as Clinton since President John F. Kennedy named football star Byron (Whizzer) White in 1962.

Sen. Emanuel?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reported to be privately talking about Rep. Rahm Emanuel, currently House Democratic Caucus chairman, as the next senator from Illinois if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidential election.

Emanuel told this column he is not interested in the Senate and has not talked to Pelosi about it. He also suggested that Pelosi might be saying she would regret losing him from her leadership team. However, the source quoting the speaker indicated she was enthusiastic about Emanuel's elevation to the Senate.

Vice President Jindal?

Retiring Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, a prominent Republican moderate publicly critical of his party's right wing, has joined conservatives boosting newly elected 36-year-old Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to be John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

Meeting with reporters, Davis said Jindal as the son of immigrants from India would add an ethnic element to the Republican ticket without turning off any voters. He noted that Jindal, who served briefly in Congress before his election as governor last year, has about as much federal experience as Barack Obama.

Robert D. Novak's column is distributed by Creators Syndicate Inc.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT