Barack Obama's Debt To Hillary Clinton

Jeffrey Toobin on CNN points out there were polls earlier in this race showing as many as half of Hillary Clinton supporters would not vote for Senator Obama and now we're seeing data showing that almost all of her supporters did end up voting for Obama. Toobin credits that to Hillary Clinton's tireless stumping for Obama. And I would add that even former President Clinton, no friend of Senator Obama, came out with great fervor for him toward the final days of the campaign. Has Obama repaid the favor?

Has he, as was touted right after Senator Clinton conceded, helped retire her massive campaign debt? Not so much, or possibly not at all.

Does he owe her a cabinet post? I can't conceive of a cabinet position she would want, can you? Secretary of Defense, perhaps, to shatter yet another glass ceiling (since there have already been two female Secretaries of State.)

What about Senate Majority Leader? With major gains in the U.S. Senate, one can hardly envision even a President-elect Obama wresting that prize from Harry Reid's possession.

Supreme Court justice perhaps? It is rumored that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and/or David Souter may retire soon after the election. Nonetheless, one wonders whether Clinton's presidential ambitions have eased enough to allow her to consider such a low-profile post.

Part of the fun of an Obama transition will be watching what he will do to return the Clintons' major favors.

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By Bonnie Erbe