KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE, AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:  First, President Obama hands over the keys to the White House to Bill Clinton for a day, and now he raises Hillary to sainthood.  Is there a motive here? 

There is a growing bipartisan consensus that Hillary Clinton is the best ever Secretary of State, US President Barack Obama has said. His decision to appoint Clinton as the Secretary of State was one of his better decisions, the US President has said. 

Obama who made a rare appearance at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department to attend the holiday reception party hosted by the Washington's vibrant diplomatic community by Clinton said, "I think there's a consensus building that this may be one of the best Secretaries of State we've ever had in this country’s history."

"One of my better decisions," he said amidst laughter.

What's going on here?  Did Obama hear through the grapevine that Hillary might actually challenge him for the nomination in 2012?  Unlikely.  She knows she can't challenge him because of the critical black vote in the Democratic Party.  But she and Bill could conceivably orchestrate a quiet drive for Obama to remove himself before a 2012 disaster.  What better way to avoid such a fate than for Obama to flatter the Clintons.

Or maybe he actually meant what he said.  There's a first time for everything.

December 14, 2010