Some might say, “Chuck, you are nuts!” Maybe, but think about this as a Chicago Politico would. Obama had to win the nomination. In order to win the nomination, Obama needed Caroline Kennedy’s endorsement to give him the appearance of acceptance of the ‘old-school’ Democratic leadership. Once Obama had the nomination, he then had to follow up on his deal with Kennedy, which meant dealing with Hillary Clinton in order to move her out of the Senate. If he put Clinton on the ticket with him as VP and the New York seat opened, his deal with Kennedy would then be complete. The problem here was simple. Putting Hillary into the VP’s chair could be very dangerous for a new President, especially understanding Clinton’s own desire to be President. Therefore he witheld the VP nomination, offering instead a position everyone knew she would accept – Secretary of State. In that position Obama already knows she will not be a team player, most likely running around the world for almost two years, grabbing every headline she can in preparation for running against Obama in four years.
So why would he name her Secretary of State? He had a Chicago deal to pay off. I feel that Obama named Hillary as Secretary of State in order to give Caroline a Senate Seat. He can deal with Hillary later, but for now, he would be the President. All of this was possible because of his political upbringing steeped in Chicago backroom kingmaking.
