There’s a small sliver of us out there who tend to view Hillary Clinton under an immutablely negative light. Sure, she’s smart, cunning, and determined, but most of her actions are politically motivated, making her a classical cold politician.

And as she was given consolation as the next Secretary of State, Obama’s choice had an underlying political motive that shows early on how he plans to govern.

Rather than observing the broad field of options with an objective eye, Obama looked to enliven the old Clinton supporters, many of whom did not vote on Election Day. With Clinton on his closest team, Obama will attempt to prove to those supporters who remain apathetic that they too can be represented, which will translate to extra votes for him in 2012.

And of course it is completely fair that Obama, like any politician, wants to get re-elected. But his Clinton pick strikes me as a decision rooted in shrewd political craft rather than an accurate look at the best fit for the job.

Obama’s choice of Clinton is also a statement to the country of renewed party unity in the Democratic Party. Everyone on TV centered their discussions around the history of the Democratic Party through the election, wondering if the bitter fight between Obama and Clinton would split the party at its seams. This uncertainty has been covered up now with Obama’s choice.

And Clinton carries a lot of baggage––I mean in the political sense––with her. She has a waning star for a husband who will seek to extend his influence as deep into the White House as he can, and she has inflated her relatively thin record of experience with other countries since her election bid kicked off in the Iowa caucuses.

Although she has travelled the world and has given important speeches from Ireland to China, she most certainly is not the most qualified figure for Secretary of State within the context of all other military personnel and other politicians.Amongst the more qualified was Bill Richardson, the governmor of New Mexico. He served as ambassador to the UN and has shown good judgement throughout his career––a significant quality that is needed in the Secretary of State.

There are also many military personnel, such as Colin Powell, who have shown strength and honor in dealing with other nations.

Obama promised to bring in people from all sides of the aisle. Yet in choosing Clinton, he takes the risk of bringing political drama into the White House.