Obama's supporters not in favour of giving Clinton a Cabinet post]

New York, Nov.19 : Supporters of US President-elect Barack Obama don't seem to be too happy over the prospect of a Cabinet post being offered to former US First Lady and now New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

According to Politico, there's a sense of ambivalence about giving a top political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten.

A Democrat close to the Obama campaign was quoted as saying: "These are people who believe in this stuff more than Barack himself does. These guys didn't put together a campaign in order to turn the government over to the Clintons."

The clearest opposition to the Clinton appointment comes from Obama's backers on the left of his own party, whose initial support for him was motivated in part by a distaste for the Clinton dynasty, and who now view her reemergence with some dismay.

"There's always a risk of a Cabinet member freelancing and that risk is enhanced by the fact that Hillary has her own public and her own celebrity and that she comes attached to Bill," said Robert Kuttner, a Clinton critic and co-editor of the American Prospect whose new book, Obama's Challenge, implores the president-elect to adopt an expansive liberal agenda.

"The other question is the old rule - never hire somebody you can't fire. What happens if her views and his views don't mesh?"

Kuttner hastened to add that Clinton is "very smart" and capable, and that her appointment would be "greeted very well worldwide.

ANI