The author of the Clinton bio "A Woman in Charge" optimistically added, "He [Obama] wants a political consensus so he can do what other presidents haven't been able to do, which is to move the country in the direction he wants without division down the middle." Bernstein didn't explain how the liberal senator, who's lifetime American Conservative Union score is seven, would "unite the country."
On Monday, Bernstein appeared on CNN and suggested that members of the media should "ratchet down our own cynicism" regarding the Clinton nomination. He also marveled at the "sheer star power" of the New York senator.
A transcript of the exchange, which occurred at 7:55am on December 3, follows:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: What about Hillary Clinton, who some people in the '90s called Nixonian? Are you surprised-
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yes. Will she be the woman in charge of the State Department?
CARL BERNSTEIN: I'm not surprised she took the job. She didn't want to go back to the Senate. She would not have been very satisfied being one of 100 senators. You know, she is the biggest star of all, in many regards, in Washington except for the President of the United States. And to go back diminished would not have made her happy. What's so interesting here, though, Obama now gets the wisdom- and Bill Clinton has real wisdom when it comes to foreign policy- of Bill Clinton in this deal. Not only will Clinton not be sidelined, carping from the sidelines, he will be giving his thoughts about what he is strongest at. And, you know, there's been a lot of criticism during the campaign by Obama about Hillary Clinton on foreign policy, that she was weak on foreign policy. You wouldn't say the same of her husband and particularly the Palestinian question. She's got some real credibility. We are seeing Tony Blair who she and Bill Clinton are close with. That's going to be a focus of what she does. And the real thing about this appointment, though, is that Obama is assembling a group of people to unite the country. He wants a political consensus so he can do what other presidents haven't been able to do, which is to move the country in the direction he wants without division down the middle. And I think he's done a pretty good job of it so far.
BRZEZINSKI: Carl Bernstein. The book is "A Woman in Charge." Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning.
