Samantha Power Working On Obama's State Department Transition Team

WASHINGTON — An adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign who was forced to resign earlier this year after calling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster" is now working on the transition team for the agency Clinton is expected to lead.

State Department officials said Friday that Samantha Power is among a group of foreign policy experts that the president-elect's office selected to help the incoming administration prepare for Clinton's anticipated nomination as secretary of state. The Obama transition team's Web site includes Power's name as one of 14 members of the "Agency Review Team" for the State Department.

Clinton's role at State is expected to be announced after the Thanksgiving weekend. Power's apparent rehabilitation is another sign of that impending move.

Clinton's office declined to comment on Power's inclusion in the State Department transition, but an official close to the Obama transition team said Power had "made a gesture to bury the hatchet" with Clinton and that it had been well-received.

Power has been given an official State Department e-mail address and has been seen in the building, said the State officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the transition. A State Department spokesman referred questions to Obama's transition team, which later declined to comment.

Power, a Harvard professor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and noted commentator on genocide, is dealing with global humanitarian issues as part of the team, according to the officials. It is not clear if she is in line for any State Department job, they said.

Power made headlines in March during the height of the fierce fight for the Democratic presidential nomination when she called Clinton "a monster" in an interview with a Scottish newspaper, setting off angry exchanges about the tenor of the campaign.

Power told the Scotsman newspaper that Clinton would stop at nothing to defeat Obama. "She is a monster, too," Power said in the interview. "She is stooping to anything." Power added that "the amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

A few hours after her comments were published, Power announced her resignation, saying the remarks were inexcusable and contradictory to her admiration for Clinton.

At the time, Power said that Obama had rebuked her for the comment and "made it absolutely clear that we just couldn't make comments like this in his campaign."

Clinton's campaign seized on the remark, sending an e-mail to supporters telling them about the "monster" comment and asking for contributions to "show the Obama campaign that there is a price to this kind of attack politics."

Comments

[scientist4obama]

Samantha is one hell of a smart person. I am her big fan. Never miss any opportunity to go listen to her talks. She runs the Carr Center at Harvard. Read her books. Her and Susan Rice will be true foreign policy forces to reckon with.
I think they should make her book America and the Age of Genocide a Must Read for every college student.

[Figerre]

Powers is an excellent choice for Africa and other world issues. Anyone that has read anything she's written or heard her speak knows she is a voice for women's issues and against genocide. Clinton will just have to get over it, if she didn't already agree to, in order to become SoS. Powers is well respected and a hard worker - Clinton still has to prove her worth in this area. It will be interesting.

[ObjectiveRealist]

I have a feeling Hillary knows that her smears in print and televised debates were truly monstrous. And I'm absolutely certain Ms. Powers has learned the Obama Method for replying to non-substantive, partisan & personal attacks. You don't call the attacker "monster," you objectively & dispassionately tell the voters the relevant facts that led you to conclude that the attacker is a monster, then you hope the voters agree. I'm certain that after watching from the sidelines while Obama beat both Hillary and McCain with this strategy, Powers has learned the lesson well.

I only became an admirer of Samantha Powers when she was reported saying that Hillary is a monster. Refraining from telling the truth just because the truth is unflattering to somebody I don't like anyway is challenging for me also. For example:

[
Clinton will just have to get over it, if she didn't already agree to, in order to become SoS. Powers is well respected and a hard worker - Clinton still has to prove her worth in this area. It will be interesting.
]

I wonder whether Hillary is adult enough to be a professional alongside former rivals, and I hope that if HIllary fouls up Obama will fire her as quickly as he fired Powers. I'm extremely suspicious of the emerging Bush / Clinton Dynasty. The Clintons would certainly be the lesser of those two evils but that is not good enough to support a pair of ruling families.

[PatrickforO]

Glad to see Samantha back.

[vegasobserver]

Hillary's first act as Secretary of State will be to post Samantha Power to work as a negotiator in the war zone in East Congo.

And then Hillary will order secret arms shipments... to both sides.

JOKE. JOKE. JOKE.

[truthseeker7]

hold that thought!

[Nancyann]

No Joke !!!!! Seems plausible to me....

[blood1]

I, like so many of you, dislike the half truths and lies that get spread around during a political campaign, but Obama has won and he wants to bring the "Best" people to Washington. For those of you unfamiliar with Samantha, check out her interview on Charlie Rose...she is a real smart person and I am glad that she re-emerged after her unPC comment. I am guessing that Hiliary was glad to see Sam go during the campaign...but SHOULD BE more than happy to have her around the State Dept...if not, I will be more disappointed with Hiliary than Sam!

Welcome Back Sam!!!!

[falcao]

arizona: there most certainly was a kitchen sink strategy and it was attempted twice over ... once by team hillary and then again by mccain and company ... don't know which campaign you were watching -- water under the bridge ... i'm sure that clinton and power will get along well and get down to business

[max]

omg, she's so hot !

[TR12]

I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with you

[apoliticalchick]

Oh, the irony of Powers heading up Hillrod's state dept transition team!
http://democralypsenow.blogspot.com/

[jeanrenoir]

Don't be silly. Everyone's a big girl.

[GetSome]

The bottom line is that we play the nice guy too much. What I mean is that if it sounds "rude" or aggressive it is repudiated. Well, that is just plain ol'dumb.

Look, if you can't speak your minds and that means sometimes with strong, or harsh or straight out f-bombs then you should go to your room and watch Sesame Street.

I am so da.m.n tired of having to 1) carefully pick my words and 2) the whining from these pus.s.y arse people who can't stomach four letter words and 3) having to add #$%^&* on blogs like this one because weak, yellow spined people get offended.

Offended? !!! Maybe each and every butt-wipe that gets offended and crys and complains about language useage should see that in this world, this world right here n-, this world right here n- has far more things to decry.

Ms. Powers is an intelligent, compassionate person with convictions and I am tired of silly religeousee goodie toshoos trying to dominate people and how they express themselves

[Livy]

Samatha POwers is extremely bright and talented. It is great to have her on teh Obama team. We al need to put the Hilary comment behind us and move on. Sha wil be a great asset.

[felric]

Was wondering when Samantha would be back especially after the Lieberman pardon from the pres-elect.

[Lan2]

Exactly what did Clinton do during the campaign to merit the horrible comments made here? Please be specific.

[tdpubs]

The Clinton machine was using the "kitchen sink" strategy to bring the Obama character issues front and center. They were the precursor to the McCain "kitchen sink" strategy. This strategy turned off a lot of Democrats and Independents as it did when the McCain team tried it as well.

[arizonawonder]

There was no "kitchen sink" strategy. That is a made up term used by the media. Stop being a mouth piece for nonsense. Read a book!

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

glad to have you back, samantha!

please keep an eye on that b*tch

[ESerafina42]

Evidently, Ms. Powers is a hypocrite, since she will say anything she has to and work together with the "monster."

[jkminwa]

Sadly, being a grownup sometimes requires one to work with or for people one does not respect or like. Of course, she is working on OBAMA's foreign policy, not Hillary Clinton's.

[eastutican]

Yeah for Power. She is a human rights historian, advocate and strategist.

The Secretary of State-to-be will be able to work smarter due to Power's assignment.

[Yermammy]

So if the moderator doesn't like the direction or opinion not fitting for the direction this thread wants to steer people, it just gets deleted. Shades of China. That makes you quite the hypocrite.

[eastutican]

This just doesnt make any sense. China?

Oh, I get it. Moderation should mean nothing. You get to post drivel or nonsense and because it is speech, you have a right to have it posted. I have seen no "steering" here. Do you have any concept of editorial work or are you just on a rant. That, by the way, was rhetorical.

Hypocrite ? China ?

Given the content and comment on this website, you are worse than kidding. You are just making this stuff up in a pathetic attempt to force your comments to be viewed. And that is selfish.