Clinton Hit List Is Talk of the Beltway

Commerce gig seats him next to rival Clinton

(NEWSER) - Bill Richardson appeared to make a peace offering to the Clintons today in his speech accepting Barack Obama's nomination to be Commerce secretary, writes Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post. Richardson, whose relations with the power couple turned icy after he endorsed Obama in the primaries, objected to the term "team of rivals" in his speech because "rivals implies something harder edged and less forgiving." More»

If Barack can do it, anyone can—except Muslims, gays, atheists ...

(NEWSER) - A self-described “black man with a funny name” is now the most powerful person on the planet. So which minority group will next see one of its own in the Oval Office? Mark Oppenheimer considers the contenders in Slate:

• Women: Not technically a minority, which means that if “they choose to unite behind one of their own—as many of them were inclined to do in 2008—they'll be the not-so-little voting bloc that could.” Candidates: Hillary Clinton, Kathleen Sebelius, Claire McCaskill. Not a chance: Sarah Palin.

Blacks 'incensed' by former president's conduct in campaign

(NEWSER) - South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn slammed Bill Clinton’s “bizarre” campaign-trail conduct in an interview yesterday with the New York Times, saying that “black people are incensed” over Clinton’s remarks about Barack Obama. Clinton earlier compared Obama’s win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s 1988 success there, then Monday claimed the Obama campaign had “played the race card on me” by making an issue of it. More»

Kerry, Richardson, Reich: stalwart Clintonites are jumping ship

(NEWSER) - As more longtime Clintonites succumb to Obamania and Hillary Clinton's superdelegate lead gradually diminishes, the former first couple is left to sift their friendships into past and present. But while the Clinton camp sees shifts toward Barack Obama as acts of betrayal, others consider them comeuppance for the Clintons' habit of collecting political allies and taking them for granted, reports the New York Times. More»

NM governor backed Obama after Hillary got aggressive

(NEWSER) - Bill Richardson says negative ads and arm-twisting phone calls from the Clinton camp pushed him to back Barack Obama last month, the Los Angeles Times reports. The New Mexico governor, labeled a "Judas" after supporting Obama, says he almost backed Hillary until her "3 a.m." ads came out—and Clintonites called saying he owed her support. "That really ticked me off," he said. More»