NEW YORK – Rush Limbaugh has seldom been a fan of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the conservative radio pundit has given his blessing to her selection as the next secretary of state.

He calls it “a brilliant stroke” by President-elect Barack Obama, who opposed Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

Limbaugh weighs in on the new administration as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2008,” which airs Thursday on ABC.

Says Limbaugh: “You know the old phrase, ‘You keep your friends close and your enemies closer?’ How can she run for president in 2012? She’d have to run against the incumbent and be critical of him – the one who made her secretary of state.”

On Monday, Obama announced Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state.

“By going out and screaming gloom and doom, the Secretary created unnecessary panic in the market.”

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for the former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who fought hard for the presidency.

It’s Washington’s favorite parlor game during a presidential transition: trying to figure out who’ll land a top spot in the new administration. President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials.

Just like the stock market, names rise and fall weekly, some zooming to the top, others dropping out of contention. Hillary Rodham Clinton suddenly is considered the top prospect for secretary of state, although other names remain in the mix. It looks like Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general, is on track to become attorney general.

Some of those who are the subject of speculation already have been chosen by Obama to serve as part of his transition team. For example, former Sen. Tom Daschle was picked Wednesday to lead Obama’s working group on health care, the same day word surfaced that he’s accepted Obama’s offer to serve as secretary of health and human services.

Some names being floated are surprising, such as former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell for education secretary. Others are high-profile governors or members of Congress. Many are also little known to the general public – and may remain so.

—

DEFENSE SECRETARY

Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

—

TREASURY SECRETARY

Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president.

—

SECRETARY OF STATE

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, former first lady and one-time rival of Obama’s for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 2004 presidential nominee.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

—

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

—

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

—

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

—

CIA DIRECTOR

John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center

—

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

Tim Roemer, former Indiana congressman and member of the 9/11 commission.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of House Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee.

Jami Miscik, former head of CIA’s analytical operations.

—

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser.

Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

—

ENERGY SECRETARY

Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, former assistant energy secretary in charge of efficiency and renewable energy programs in the Clinton administration.

Former Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., president of Resources for the Future think tank.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

—

INTERIOR SECRETARY

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department.

—

EPA ADMINISTRATOR

Lisa P. Jackson, commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board.

Kathleen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

—

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.

Renee Glover, head of Atlanta’s housing authority

Nicholas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies

Shaun Donovan, commissioner of New York City’s housing department.

—

LABOR SECRETARY

Ed McElroy, former president of the American Federation of Teachers

Former Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri

Linda Chavez-Thompson, former AFL-CIO vice president

Former Rep. David Bonior, member of Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Maria Echaveste, former Clinton White House adviser.

—

COMMERCE SECRETARY

Laura D’Andrea Tyson, former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton.

—

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR

Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.

—

EDUCATION SECRETARY

Colin Powell, former secretary of state, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools.

Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent.

Linda Darling-Hammond, education professor at Stanford University.

—

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of House Transportation Committee.

Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., member of the House Transportation Committee.

—

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union.

Former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas.

John W. Boyd Jr. of Virginia, president of National Black Farmers Association.

—

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran and Illinois veterans affairs director.

Former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who had three limbs amputated after a grenade blast.

Current VA Secretary James Peake.

CHICAGO – Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to publicly disclose the names of most donors to his presidential foundation and library, a significant concession aimed at helping smooth the path for his wife to become the next secretary of state.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, was expected to decide soon whether to take the job, which associates said she believes is hers if she wants it. Transition officials for President-elect Barack Obama said the former first lady had not formally been offered the job and other candidates have been vetted. But several Clinton associates said Obama has told her she is his top pick.

Bill Clinton’s decision to open up his donor list for scrutiny was the former president’s latest effort to lift concerns about any potential conflicts of interest for his wife.

Officials with knowledge of the vetting said the former president would agree to make public the names of all donors who had given at least $250 to the foundation. He has long insisted on keeping the names private, a decision that created controversy for his wife during her run for the Democratic nomination.

Advisers said they were still trying to figure out what to do about donors who had contributed to the foundation on the condition they would remain anonymous. Breaking that agreement with donors could hurt the foundation’s fundraising.

Bill Clinton has also agreed to several other concessions, such as submitting his speeches and public speaking schedule for the State Department to review during the time his wife serves and alerting officials there about any new sources of income. He also has indicated he would step away from day-to-day management of his foundation, where he has raised millions from foreign governments and companies to help fight poverty and AIDS in the developing world.
 
Bill Clinton briefly addressed questions about the vetting process in New York on Wednesday.

“I’ll do whatever they want,” the former president said at a ceremony renaming the Triborough Bridge for the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Bill Clinton’s post-presidential ventures around the globe were heavily scrutinized this week during two days of intense negotiations in Washington between transition officials and a team of lawyers representing the former first couple.

Transition head John Podesta led the talks, along with Obama adviser Todd Stern and Tom Perrelli, a classmate of the president-elect from Harvard Law School. The Clintons were represented by longtime advisers Cheryl Mills, Doug Band and Bruce Lindsey.

The face-to-face meetings ended Tuesday, but aides to the president-elect said some final vetting is still under way.

Nonetheless, several Clinton friends said that she continues to be conflicted about the prospect of giving up her Senate seat from New York and that questions about her husband’s business ventures would not be the deciding factor. She has been eager to work on expanding health care, a goal potentially made more attainable by the prospect of a new Democratic administration and several new Democrats joining the Senate.

“The issue for her is simply whether she wants to do it,” said an associate not authorized to speak publicly for Clinton. “She’s 61 years old, and it’s been a very hard fought few years. Would it be good for the Senate, the country, the world for her to take it? Those are the things she’s considering.”

CHICAGO – Two Democratic officials say Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state.

The New York senator, who campaigned hard against Obama for the Democratic nomination, was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the nation’s top diplomat.

The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.

By Scott Hollifield
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

As an objective journalist, it would be unethical for me to publicly lobby for a high-level cabinet position in the Obama administration.

That’s why I hired Cousin Junior, owner and operator of Cousin Junior’s Small Engine Repair, Discount Taxidermy and Certified Lobbying Services, to do it for me. I now turn this column over to him.
***
Dear President-Elect Obama,

This here is Cousin Junior, owner and operator of Cousin Junior’s Small Engine Repair, Discount Taxidermy and Certified Lobbying Services, where our motto is, “We’ll Fix It, Stuff It Or Buy ‘Em Off To Keep You Feeding At The Public Trough.”

You might remember me from your rally over in Asheville. I was the one in the “Sarah Cuda” T-shirt, yelling “Socialist!” and smacking hippies around until the police Tasered me.

I was pretty drunk, so I hope you’ll cut me some slack. Let’s let bygones be bygones, leave the rancor of the campaign behind and move toward a brighter tomorrow, a tomorrow where someone like me can land a government contract to service all the White House lawn equipment since my pending government contract to stuff the hundreds of moose and polar bears Sarah Palin would have shot over the next four years is now null and void.

To the matter at hand, sir. I believe my client, Scott Hollifield, would be a valuable addition to your cabinet, despite the fact that he is currently a member of the leftist lying liberal drive-by news media I often rant about. I’ve known him my whole life, watching him grow from a snot-nosed young ‘un to a snot-nosed man, a man who rose from humble beginnings to achieve something no one thought he could — a low-level management position in a dying medium.

My I suggest you consider my client for the following cabinet positions:

– Secretary of State. I believe he would be perfect for gallivanting all over the world (as long as you keep the keys to the hotel minibar away from him), talking about loose nukes and what-not with that fellow in France or that gal in Germany or that dude in Russia with the big mole on his head if he’s still in charge. My client was always bird-dogging the foreign-exchange students back in high school, so I believe he’s got a knack for international relations.

– Secretary of Treasury. There’s about $48 in change rattling around the floorboard of his truck, so he knows a little something about saving money. His economic stimulus plan, which in part involves federally mandated two-for-one table dances, is truly ground breaking.

– Secretary of Defense. My client favors the 3-4 because the extra linebacker makes for more effective blitzes. You might also consider him for Secretary of Offense, since many of the e-mails and letters he gets begin with, “I was offended by your ridiculous column on…”

– Secretary of Energy. We all know the Good Lord put dinosaurs here 10,000 years ago so we could eventually fill the tanks of our Peterbilts with sweet, sweet diesel fuel, but unfortunately, He put most of them where the foreigners live. That’s why my client, as Secretary of Energy, would favor a wide ranging approach that includes solar, wind, nuclear, off-shore drilling, off-creek-bank drilling, drilling anywhere you darn well please, hyperactive children running on electricity-producing treadmills and huge piles of used tires set ablaze to generate heat.

In conclusion, Mr. President-Elect, let me cut right to the chase. The boy is hanging on by the skin of his teeth and nervous as a chicken at a Sanders family reunion. When they turn out the lights at the last newspaper, he’s out of a job and out in the real world where he’ll have to make a living somehow.

I figure about the only other place a fellow can succeed with no useful skills is smack-dab in the middle of Washington, D.C.

Scott Hollifield is editor/general manager of The McDowell News in Marion, N.C. Contact him at P.O. Box 610, Marion, N.C. 28752 or e-mail rhollifield@mcdowellnews.com.

NEW YORK – Scott McClellan, President Bush’s former press secretary who angered old colleagues with a tell-all book earlier this year, said Thursday he is backing Barack Obama for president.

McClellan is the second former administration official to back the Democratic candidate this week. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell came out Sunday for Obama.

While Powell chose “Meet the Press” to make his news, McClellan did it at the taping of comedian D.L. Hughley’s new talk show, which is premiering 10 p.m. Saturday on CNN.

Hughley found a little begging helped.

“We are a new show and your endorsement would probably mean a lot,” Hughley said. “But don’t look at the fact that I am black or, no pressure. Endorse somebody, damn it!”

McClellan, who was Bush’s chief spokesman from July 2003 to April 2006, said he’s always planned to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done.

“I will be voting for Barack Obama,” he said.

McClellan is also giving an extended interview on “Larry King Live” on Friday to talk about his endorsement.

McClellan grew disillusioned after leaving the administration and wrote a book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” that surprised many for its blunt talk. He admitted to being part of a White House effort to shade the truth about the case for war in Iraq.

The White House said Bush was surprised and saddened about the book.