Local Dems: Hillary great pick for Secretary of State

LYNN – Rick Vitali has won a few legal fights in his career, but the Lynn lawyer could not be happier these days than when he pushes back from his Andrew Street desk and contemplates Democratic party domination in Washington, D.C.The avid primary election supporter of vice president-elect Joseph Biden and, later, Obama backer sees the president-elect building his foreign policy around Biden as a top adviser, former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and Sen. John Kerry as his top U.S. Senate ally.All the political chips have yet to fall where they may, but political speculators have touted Clinton for the secretariat and Kerry is in line to be Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman.”We need to rebuild on the reception Obama’s election got around the world,” Vitali said, adding he thinks Clinton is well prepared to be the point person for U.S. foreign policy.”She is a global traveler. She can go anywhere and doors open for her. She needs no on the job training.”People familiar with the vetting process used to screen a candidate for a presidential cabinet job say the Clinton review has gone smoothly. Others have pointed to potential obstacles Clinton faces.Bill Clinton’s network of business deals and charitable endeavors became an issue during Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination.The former president has engaged in other deals that could complicate his wife’s work with foreign governments as secretary of state. Records show he raised money for his foundation from the Saudi royal family, Kuwait, Brunei and the Embassy of Qatar, and from a Chinese Internet company seeking information on Tibetan human rights activists.Local Democratic activist James Carrigan said Clinton’s qualifications for the State job contrast with her prospects for playing a major role in the Senate.U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy sees Clinton as an ally, if not a leader, in his quest to make universal health care reform a reality. But, noted Carrigan, the Senate “seniority system may work against her doing significant work.”While many people familiar with the New York senator’s thinking say she is inclined to take the secretary of state’s job if it is offered, others say she is also considering the consequences of leaving the Senate, where she had hoped to take a leading role on health care reform and other issues.”Would she be willing to give up her independent stature in the U.S. Senate, Robert F. Kennedy’s seat, to be in the Cabinet? It will be a considerable decision for her,” said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton adviser not involved in the vetting.Clinton declined to discuss any part of the selection process Tuesday. “I’ve said everything I have to say on Friday,” she said.