I really don't want to see anymore Republicans (even though they are moderate) rewarded when there are so many qualified and deserving Democrats available. Screw bipartisanship, especially after the treatment of Amb Rice.

Today, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, led a group of 28 Senators in sending a letter to Dr. Donald Berwick, the Administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging him to reconsider Indiana's Medicaid State Plan, which restricts funding to health providers that perform abortions, that CMS refused to approve on June 1st. In addition, the Senators warn the Administration against cutting off Indiana's Medicaid funding.

"We ask for your swift reconsideration of Indiana's SPA 11-110. Indiana's proposal should not only be approved, we believe it serves as an important model for every state. We fully support the intent of HEA 1210 to prevent taxpayer dollars from subsidizing the operational costs of abortions; and more broadly, we support the right of states to administer their Medicaid programs in a manner consistent with the values and needs of their citizens," the Senators wrote.In addition to Hatch, the following Senators signed the letter: Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), James Risch (R-Idaho), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

But he IS a Retired Army Colonel who supports and has voted for President Obama, and former Chief of Staff of then SoS Colin Powell to whom he's also a loyal friend. This man is intelligent, strong, and perfect as SoS.

I would rather have Senator Kerry remain in the Senate as well.

placed that stuff after their names not in front of them.

Yes, Colonel Wilkerson is a Republican, but he's enraged by his party these days. He would serve President Obama well IF he is chosen as SoS.

His committees alone justify this commitment from the rest of us to support someone just as good as he would be for SOS.

that seat.

That may be a good point, especially after Romney's really very bad loss.

and at his farewell speech on the senate floor, he appears to be expecting a comeback.

I hope for MA that they've learned their lesson from the last time, and will have a strong and popular Democrat ready to hit the ground running should Senator Kerry be chosen as the SoS.

That is, if Kerry goes to State.

to campaign for Senator Kerry's seat should he be chosen by the president to succeed SoS Clinton. I know he's just a young person, but he appears to be really popular in MA.

Also, it appears that Rep. Markey has over $3 million in his war chest while Brown-noser has less than half a mil. But I know the Koch Bros will immediately send millions to support him in a bid to win the seat for their boy so it could still get sticky.

or lure a Republican out of their seat, then fire them later.

Eom

Period !

.

Brown for Kerry's seat then it's got more problems than Texas.

Why risk it now? They'd have only a 145 day period in which to choose a candidate and run for it. OTOH, Brown just campaigned for a senate seat. Wouldn't take a lot of heavy lifting to gin it up again and keep on running. The people might just think he's okay enough to return him if he's facing a lackluster, no-name candidate (like last time). Granted, he lost his seat to Warren, but again, a nobody candidate might give him the boost he'd need to just get a handful more votes and he's likely to outrun someone that's not well known and politically polished.

Whose side are you on?

and we can only hope the White House and the DSCC will help us this time.

reconsider you point of view, if you will.

Or not, 'cause that's okay too.

(not you ) who want Kerry to stay put will follow what he does as Senator Kerry? It's interesting to see people come out the woodwork and say how "effective" Kerry is as Senator, but didn't K or R threads where he did positive things.

energy development.

As I understand The Real Deal in '04 was predicated on that work.

...................................

(I won't remind us all how sad it is that he lost.)

Would be ok with General Clark or Richardson. The real, genuine concerns about Kerry staying put me can understand, the others who are just using this as "I am soooo scared of Brown" seem questionable.

Hopefully, both he and Obama will do what is best. (they will).

too, just uncertain of him in relationship to MIC with all of this ENERGY stuff going down.

I trust everyone around him, a la the Geitner-esque cohort.

he was being vetted and all of the sudden he wasn't being considered due to circumstances -- still not sure what those were. Does anyone know?

Look into what happened with the NM vote - especially in Native American areas - in 2004. In addition, he has BAGGAGE.

the vote topics you suggest.

What's Bill Richardson up to these days?

Besides this thread does nothing but bring out Kerry bashers/haters alike.

Mad the bullies won, but it probably means that Obama didn't want this fight. Instead, just going to continue to watch and let the POTUS make the final decision.

by others here on DU that I like are Robert Reich and Wesley Clark..

but, I think he's the odds-on-favorite right now.

I miss that pickup truck!

Even Stupid had to call him in to negotiate with N. Korea when he'd bungled things so completely. He's known and respected around the world. He is simply the best choice.

The only question is whether or not he'd take it. Republicans would shriek, of course, they always do.

Though the Republicans don't like him, as much as they don't like Ms. Rice, he seems to be one of Obama's (and Biden's) most trusted advisors, and his name has been in contention. From a NYT article this fall:

no, thanks

the show was continued.

And those who don't consider him for SOS, SOD, or National Security, are foolish.

Pick the guy that WON his war.

Wes is perfect for the job and he's used to dealing and negotiating with heads of state.

Our choice would be meaningless unless John approves.

Just to watch the republican's heads explode.

I am for just about anything that makes Republican heads explode.

To really make heads explode

He did great work in Burma/Myanmar and laid the groundwork for Hillary to get reforms there.
He's a respected name with a good resume, and he'd take zero seats out of the senate.

If not him, there's always Richardson, Gore, Daschle and plenty of others that won't lead to Scott Brown 2.0 and give the GOP what they want.

My take was he just loathed the Beltway mentality and the hostile infighting in politics. Would he even be amenable to returning to D.C. so soon?

I do not want to reward McCain and his fellow idiots for their bad conduct

Sickening

a mistake.

That and there are approximately 115 million better democrats in this country.

the situation for encouraging his boss to disobey his boss?

Also, how do we know exactly what Wilkerson did or did not do? Couldn't he have had "the talk" and Powell decided against his advice?

If he did have "the talk" it is very likely that he should have had it in stronger terms than he apparently did, even to the point of offering to resign, so you point is valid, but I'm not sure that I know enough about this.

Did you see Wilkerson beat up on Cheney on the Ed Show Tuesday night? It was a genuinely wide-ranging critique. I was impressed. I was also impressed with him in '04 when he backed Kerry on energy issues against the War on Terror. He was saying then that the greatest threat to American security is environmental/energy not Muslim terrorists.

I really do like Kerry better and was a little surprised when he wasn't nominated in '08.

Think about it: governed a state with a significant international profile, already served in the cabinet, currently a very effective ambassador to China. He'd be a great choice.

very competent choice

Clark and Howard Dean are two great Dems Obama has failed to utilized.

and rationale for failure to make public use of Wes has baffled, puzzled, and annoyed me.

It's not Kerry's fault why Dean and Clark haven't been promoted. Don't know why people and Dems are making Kerry the enemy. He hasn't said anything.

If people have an issue with Obama slighting them, let him or the WH know.

That said, would not have a problem with the General in a cabinet spot.

(even tho he appears to have slighted Wes when deciding who would be his/kerry's V.P. nominee.)
AND at the moment I don't see Kerry as enemy, but am concerned about retaining his Senate seat.

The SOS position is going to require such a highly qualified skill set there
really are not that many candidates I feel comfortable with.

Kerry is absolutely qualified but there is the obvious "concern"
with 2014 not looking like an opportunity to pick-up many
senate seats elsewhere.

I want the President to call her into conference, reaffirm his faith in her for the job, and appoint her as his choice for SOS. I want him to show some leadership with some brass for a change.

you know why I missed your post?

Because I am so friggen pissed off I can't see straight!

Susan Rice.

He could easily present his resignation to the President and start his campaign. Granted since presidential campaigns now begin the day after the previous presidential election, he would have nearly not time to serve as SoS but service in the Cabinet doesn't make someone ineligible to run for President.

Wesley Clark would be my first choice, but I would also consider Richard Lugar (good on nonproliferation treaty), Jon Huntsman (although this would make him formidable for 2016), Bill Richardson and maybe Chuck Hagel.

For Secretary of Defense, how about Joe Sestak? Or Jim Webb? Or maybe it looks like it is going to be Hagel anyway.

Then there is always Joe Lieberman but I would vote to make him the first Ambassador to the new Palestinian State - that's karma biting you in the behind.

I do still have a soft spot for him, and all of his contractual/legal 'cannot take whatever position' stuff should be well-over by now ...

Here's a list of Ambassadors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassadors_of_the_United_States

He's probably the most qualified candidate for the job, given his experience in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.