Well, I was wrong. Yesterday, after publishing the article about Hillary and Ségolène in which I wrote that I was not expecting news on the next two days I had a second feeling that with these two matters of choosing the leader of the Socialist Party in France or the Secretary of State in the United States things could not stand still during the weekend. And so it has been. Here in France, people, specially the socialists, are asking themselves ‘what next?’ Last evening many French went to bed thinking the problem would be non existent today and they would have a new socialist leader. It has been so in a way as after the counting of the votes it seems that the winner is Martine Aubry. The problem is that she only defeated Ségolène Royal by 42 votes out of the more than 130,000 that were cast. This prompted some in Royal’s camp immediately to demand a rerun of the two-day nationwide party ballot. The result is that after a long and full of animosity night, in which Royal first refused to concede, then insisted on a recount, the party looks as divided as ever. A high-profile supporter of Royal, Manuel Valls, said another ballot should be organized next week. Martine Aubry and her followers quickly responded that there was no reason a new vote should be held.
Again, I will say, tune in, an answer should arrive soon. Or so I hope.
Going back to the other side of the Atlantic, we encounter the matter of Hillary’s decision about what to do with the post of secretary of state. The latest news, leaks and commentaries incline one to think she is going to go for it and we should know just after Thanksgiving Day. I think she will do a great job but I have some reservations about why she was offered it. And therefore I wish her the best. The problem is that Hillary probably could not see a great future in the Senate and at the same time she probably had accepted that it could be very difficult to run again for president. In that case being secretary of state could give her the opening to make a mark in public life. As long as she has been able to make clear that her role in an Obama administration would give her assurances to go directly to the president and not have to go through a national security adviser as it has happened in other administrations, she is mostly safe. It has been assumed that Hillary got these assurances together with the authority to pick her own staff at the State Department.
What I am wondering though is about the role of Joe Biden who after all was chosen as vice president mostly for his expertise in foreign policy. I imagine not all are “happy faces” at this Obama’s decision!
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