John Kerry
In reply to the discussion: Ah, so Kerry WAS Obama's first choice for Secretary of State [View all]JI7
(89,244 posts)started pushing the story.
i think Susan Rice's people knew Kerry was likely to be picked so they started on the media campaign. that's how those media stories started and that's where republicans picked it up and started using it for their own benefit. what they did was still ugly and there is no excuse for it though.
but this is why the KErry as Defense Sec story started also. it was a way to say to Obama that he could still have Kerry in the cabinet and still make Rice sec of state.
Kerry's name was always the name that came up. Rice's name would come up along with others who were not likely to be picked .
i wonder if Rice didn't make a mistake in not trying to have better relations with Hillary Clinton. they are closer in their views on issues . but it speaks well of Kerry that Hillary would still prefer him even if they are not as close on issues and even politically he endorsed Obama right after Hillary's big NH win and took attention away from that. many Hillary supporters have not forgiven him for that though Kerry and Hillary and even Bill seem to get along well.