secretary of state

Where to place Mitt Romney in the next Cabinet? – Well, SecState works.

So, basically, Mitt Romney’s on the short list for Secretary of State.

Those that have spoken with Romney say the pain and introspection over his 2012 loss hasn’t completely subsided. In February, during a private dinner at Adelson’s home before a group of Jewish Republican donors, the former governor held forth on foreign policy, analyzing the turmoil abroad. “He said he wished he could be president, because he wanted to deal with these problems,” said one person in the room.

At other times, he seems to reflect on his failings as a candidate. “In my case there were a long list of mistakes. So which one is at the top I can’t judge,” he joked lightheartedly to reporters on Friday.

Continue reading Where to place Mitt Romney in the next Cabinet? – Well, SecState works.

The cold mathematics of letting the John Kerry Secretary of State nomination slide.

46 > 45.

This is a few days old, but Buzzfeed seems to be a little upset that the Swift Boat people can count:

Leading figures in the controversial conservative group that attacked — and at times distorted — John Kerry’s military record to derail his bid for the White House say they won’t actively fight his nomination as Secretary of State.

Let’s leave aside for the moment the slanted commentary in the sentence above; what’s really torquing people on the Left off about this is apparently that, given a choice, conservatives would rather have Hagel’s scalps than Kerry’s. This should not be surprising, though. If John Kerry becomes Secretary of State, that’s it. He’s gone from everybody’s lives in four years, maximum. And we have an excellent shot at acquiring that seat. And, as some of the Swift Boat folks noted, it’s not like Kerry was up for SecDef. That might have started a fight. Continue reading The cold mathematics of letting the John Kerry Secretary of State nomination slide.

So, John Kerry for SecState.

I first saw this reported by the New York Times; it was later confirmed by the President. Well… elections have consequences, huh? Here’s one. And I’ll be honest: I don’t think that we can derail this nomination, particularly if we want to also derail the nomination of apparently-not-too-fond-of-teh-gays-either Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. There’s a finite amount of political capital available; some of it got spent killing the Susan Rice nomination; Kerry is merely seriously despised on one side of the aisle, while Hagel-loathing is shaping up to be more bipartisan; and if we pop Kerry out of that seat we could very well replace him with a Republican – and don’t undervalue that: Scott Brown stays bought.

Yeah, I know. I’d love to torpedo this one, too. But we’re on a budget, here.

Moe Lane

Fomer Obama staffer arrested in Iowa Secretary of State identity theft investigation.

Reports are coming in (via @CFHeather) that a former Obama ’08 staffer – one Zach Edwards, formerly with the 2008 Obama campaign in Iowa and ~~currently~~ up until the arrest working for Link Strategies*, a company affiliated with Sen. Tom Harken (D, IA) – has been arrested for identity theft. The Iowa Department of Public Safety puts it fairly succinctly: “According to the Criminal Complaint, on June 24, 2011, Edwards fraudulently used, or attempted to use, the identity of Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz and/or Secretary Schultz’s brother, Thomas Schultz, with the intent to obtain a benefit, in an alleged scheme to falsely implicate Secretary Schultz in perceived illegal or unethical behavior while in office.” In other words: Edwards is accused of trying to pretend to be Schultz in order to get Schultz in trouble. The crime is listed as an ‘Aggravated Misdemeanor,’ but if convicted Edwards could face jail time. Continue reading Fomer Obama staffer arrested in Iowa Secretary of State identity theft investigation.

Michigan school district caught interfering in recall efforts.

The alternate title for this is “Elections have consequences, Michigan edition.”

The short version (H/T: Instapundit) is that the Lawrence Public School district of Michigan got caught abusing their emergency broadcast system to explicitly notify people of an ongoing campaign to recall new Governor Rick Snyder, to the point where they gave directions and times for people who wanted to sign a petition. When this was noticed, Lawrence Public School District Superintendent John Overly fell all over himself admitting the mistake – although apparently this was not enough of a mistake to actually formally bring before the school board. And then there’s this exchange:

Capitol Confidential asked Overley if that meant he had known ahead of time that something concerning the recall was going to be sent out.

“We’re not going to ever let this happen again,” Overley asserted.

That would be a ‘yes,’ then. Continue reading Michigan school district caught interfering in recall efforts.