Hillary Clinton: Soon to be Madame Secretary? The speculation–following Andrea Mitchell’s breaking of the Obama’s-considering-Clinton news yesterday–has been rampant. The Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney, citing “two senior Democratic officials,” is reporting that Obama has, indeed, offered his former rival the Secretary of State position. The Washington Post‘s Anne Kornblut, citing “several people involved in the process,” reports more modestly that Clinton “is now considered a top contender for the role of Secretary of State in the Obama administration.” The New York Times‘s Jackie Calmes, even more modestly, reports that, as of Friday afternoon, “it was unclear how seriously Mr. Obama was considering bringing Mrs. Clinton, his onetime rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, into his cabinet.”
So uncertainty feeds frenzy, and frenzy feeds humor. Making the following line, which Clinton trotted out at a conference hosted by the New York Public Transit Association earlier today–a conference attended, for, um, some reason, by “a couple dozen reporters and photographers”–extra-humorous: “I have to start by saying I’m very happy there is so much press attention and interest in transit,” Clinton joked.
Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.