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Report: Obama ‘Genuinely Conflicted’ Over Whether to Pick Kerry or Rice as Next Sec. of State — Choice Could Come Next Week

Dec. 5, 2012 12:42pm Madeleine Morgenstern

Report: Obama Conflicted Over Whom to Nominate as Secretary of State

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President Barack Obama is said to be “genuinely conflicted” over whether he should nominate U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice or Sen. John Kerry to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Two White House officials told the National Journal that both candidates are still under consideration, though Obama is leaning heavily toward Rice, one of his closest advisers since 2007.

“She and the president are on exactly the same page on all foreign-policy issues,” a White House official said, adding that “it would be clear to foreign leaders that when Susan Rice is speaking she’s speaking for the president.”

But Obama also “really respects John Kerry, who did an amazing job on debate prep. He respects Sen. Kerry as a leading figure in our party.”

Obama told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday no decision has been made yet, but the officials said the announcement could come as soon as next week, the Journal reported.

Rice has come under harsh criticism, primarily by Republicans, for her initial comments calling the deadly terror assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya a response to an anti-Islam film. Obama publicly came to her defense last month, saying senators who “go after” Rice have “got a problem with me.”

But according to the Journal, there are other concerns about Rice beyond Libya — whether she is “temperamentally suited for the job” as she reportedly does not take criticism well.

Clinton herself reportedly favors Kerry for her job. The Massachusetts Democrat and Senate Foreign Relations chairman has also been mentioned as a possible nominee to replace Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

A serious consideration in nominating Kerry to either post would be whether his vacant Senate seat could be left vulnerable for a Republican challenger, particularly the just-defeated former Sen. Scott Brown.

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Comments (106)

33sharks
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:23pm
dumb and dumber…..

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- doomytram
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:35pm
  The youtube video blamer and The Vietnam Vet! Obozo will stick with his muslim brethren and protect them from the youtube video. Obozo will burn a pallet of bibles to protect his brethren and stop everything if a koran get’s touch in vein.
  
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- Gold Coin & Economic News
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:55pm
  So thay have a choice between Lurch and The Liar, how about confirming neither?
  http://www.isthatbaloney.com/susan-rice-meets-with-3-republican-senators-and-digs-the-libya-hole-even-deeper/
  
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- SocialistSlayer
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:55pm
  Yeah,
  
  I can see how he would be torn — Which Idiot do I pick ??? The Black one or the Old Rich One ?????
  
  Report this comment
- Dismayed Veteran
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 2:04pm
  YouTube and Swifty. The cream of the Democratic Party.
  
  Report this comment
- jpcomposite
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 2:34pm
  which one is which or are they interchangeable?
  
  Report this comment
- sleepnomore
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 2:35pm
  yeah, such a choice, liar and liar. He gets me-hiding his boat for taxes I think, and he and his wife are RICH, and RICHER! No choice there.
  
  Report this comment
- HumbleMan
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 2:57pm
  What a joke. I don’t know which would be worse. It’s a real toss-up. Oh wait … maybe there’s someone who could actually do the job.
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:00pm
  Oh, the Ayatollah Obama is pulling a Bill Clinton and will be able to sweep Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the economy, et al, off the table by jumping into the war on Syria. The Secretary of State, whomever he chooses, will necessarily have to be a consummate liar.
  
  And, my friends, you have no idea what sort of hell Obama is about to unleash for us to endure while he vacations in Hawaii. The Russians and Iran jump nasty into the fray and gas goes to $20.00 per usg when you can find it. Food shortages, water supplies hit by jihadist cells, you name it. Yep, he’s going to fundamentally transform this nation all right.
  
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- pavepaws
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:08pm
  How about neither?
  
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- The-Monk
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:15pm
  Well, take a chance on losing a seat in the Senate or having the Clinton/Rice/Obama relationship exposed.
  
  “Ambassador Susan Rice Is Financially Tied To Keystone Pipeline Company”
  
  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/11/29/166166977/ambassador-susan-rice-is-financially-tied-to-keystone-pipeline-company
  
  Report this comment
- cmhemphill
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:40pm
  A puppet that throws racial cards or a stale pancake, flat and in need of being tossed out. Great. Just what we need.
  
  I wonder, how long did it take for BHO to get the ventriloquism down just right? He’s so good, he doesn’t even have to be in the same room. The talking points just fly out (of his…ya know).
  
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- fixer
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 5:02pm
  too bad he wouldn’t just pick his nose till his head caves in.
  
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- The_Jerk
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 5:10pm
  Let’s see, do I pick a Benghazi liar, or, do I pick a swift boat liar? Though choice.
  
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- SCREW-WINDOWS
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 6:47pm
  Whats the difference their both traitors to the country.
  
  Report this comment
mikem1969
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:23pm
obama and genuine in the same sentece, what an oxymoron.

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- ArmedAndReallyPissed
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:41pm
  LMAO……perfect.
  
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Cymry
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:21pm
kerry, hands down. lurch has it “owed” to him.

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jackact
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:20pm
One thing ‘fo sure.
If Obama picks Rice he’s a racist.
At least that’s what white people got labeled by his MSM when they voted for Romney.

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RIGS
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:18pm
WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Either one is a backside kissing KNUCKEL HEAD.

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- badswing
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:24pm
  obviously those that want kerry over rice are racist…is kerry over rice an indian dish?
  
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GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:18pm
This is just a charade trying to make Barry look good, as he was caring about something important for your country. He doesn´t need to think anything (He can´t anyway). He will do the same he always does: Asking Valerie Jarret, and she will tell him what to do. The fact is he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:49pm
  Tis quite the conundrum! Which of these one percenters should 0bama chose to fill such a position? Kerry to include his wife’s income are one of the wealthiest families with one occupying a senate seat. We already know where Theresa Hinds-Kerry’s income is from. Now Rice is an almost untold story. She and her husband are worth somewhere between 24 and 40 million and he is heavily invested in that God-awful, dastardly slime that oozes from the core of the earth…..petroleum, oil that is. Their investments are also in with the Keystone Pipeline. So, eenie…….meanie……miney…..MOE! Which evil wealthy person should he chose? Wonder if they get any special Jeff Immelt, GE type deals when it comes to taxes?
  Okay, my vote is for Lurch for Sec State. That way somebody else with more compassion for the military might get the SECDEF position. Rice can stand around point that pissed off puss at the UN Congregation as far as I am concerned.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:17pm
Translation – Headlines: Obama waiting to see which prospect gives the biggest bribe.

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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:11pm
If that means that they will have to visit “safe houses” in desolate locations under threat from attack then perhaps we can find a way for both of them to be Co-Secretaries.

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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:08pm
Liar A or liar B…that’s a tough one alright.

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cassandra
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:05pm
Well lets see Rice who lied to the country about the attack in benghazi or a liberal lying non-patriot who denounced his own country men during the Vietam war typical obummer choices radical or radical

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SamIamTwo
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:03pm
In a 2002 op-ed piece in the Washington Post, former Ambassador to Sudan Timothy M. Carney and news contributor Mansoor Ijaz implicated Rice and counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke in missing an opportunity to neutralize Osama bin Laden while he was still in Sudan in 1996.

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- rawmilker
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:12pm
  Where did Rice aquire all that money? She’s created quite a bit of wealth since working for the govt. Hmmmm…
  
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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:03pm
How about James Clapper? He always knows what’s going on.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:59pm
  JACKTHETOAD, Bwahahahahahahahahahaha! Excellent choice in my opinion. If anybody ever had that typical deer in the headlights look on his face, it is Clapper. Totally lost when answering questions…..no…..sorry, when asked even the simplest questions by the MSM. Clapper would also make for an excellent Czar Of Clowns.
  
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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:02pm
Don King.

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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:02pm
Yeah man….so hard to make up my mind……..what to do, oh what to do………do i choose the pasty old white man or the sexy momma that make my mich look like bigfoot………Which one…….which one………OK. sexy in, pasty out. Man, i spent more time thinking about that than i did about the Benghazi Murd…….oops…….Sssshhhhhhhhh.

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Silversmith
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:59pm
They are exactly the same. We lose either way

Silversmith

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MGrilla
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:59pm
2 intellectual traitors to the US. Their total lack of accountability, future foreign affairs should be a breeze for either one of them.

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CWPrequired
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:58pm
Wouldn’t he be a racist if he didn’t pick Rice?

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- Dkoonz
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:11pm
  Not if it was White Rice.
  
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freedomisasfreedomdoes
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:57pm
Mr. Heinz Ketchup is better (out of the 2)

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- MGrilla
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:01pm
  There is no better in equals.
  
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FalseFactBob
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:56pm
Fun Fact: When asked Hillary also said “We already had a great Sec. of State Named Rice and her first name was Condi, and all though Kerry did serve in Vietnam I believe the best choice to replace me and has the most incommon with every one in this administration is Bashar al-Assad, Its win win he can step down as president of Syria and become Sec. Of State.Why should he be limited to Syria if we can implement his policies which are our policies not only in the middle east but all over the world. Like I said its what our administration would like to see happen.”

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DarthMims
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:55pm
I thought they already picked Gus Malzahn.

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spfoam1
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:54pm
Obama will pick the one likely to be the most damaging to the nation. The question is which one is worse, the turd or the polished turd?

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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:52pm
I don’t know about Rice. Kerry was in Vietnam, you know.

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Marci
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:50pm
He isn’t “conflicted”. He is merely tallying up a score sheet and weighing the advantages. With “delicate flower” Rice, he has so much more advantage on ensuring she never is questioned now that the Looney Left has thrown down the gauntlet and declared any questioning of her sexist and racist. Welcome to Obama’s post-racial America. The new way is that you shall not question any leader of color or you shall be labeled racist. Granted—most of us do not care what he labels us, but his army of idiot bots do, and he has shown he is willing and able to dispatch them (SEIU-Kenneth Gladney, e.g. OWS, lawlessness) and allow them to attack without consequence.

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- dnha14
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:54pm
  But it will be OK to question Kerry because he’s rich. Oh wait a minute. There are no rich Democrats, right?
  
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RightUnite
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:49pm
Oh, I’m sure he’s losing sleep over it….

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- MDECKER
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 1:16pm
  Sure he is! He’s most concerned if John winds up in the Middle East, John may get lost in a herd of grazing camels.
  
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SUNTZU
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:46pm
Susan is my pick
She know how to take and carry out orders.

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