Susan Rice made the smart move and got President Obama out of a bind. It was virtually impossible for her nomination to be confirmed in the Senate, leaving Obama the awkward choice of fighting a futile battle -- when he already has so many of those on his hands -- or be seen as caving to Republican opposition.
Liberals are quick to call this a smear campaign, but there's clearly more to this whole Benghazi affair than meets the eye and Rice may not be wholly innocent.
More to the point, however, is that she would have been a lousy choice for secretary of State. She has by all accounts been a bully and a remarkably undiplomatic diplomat throughout her career at State. Her version of Realpolitik with regard to African dictators hardly recommends her. She will doubtless do well in the private sector if she now chooses to leave public service.
This probably opens the door for John Kerry, after all, even with the risk that brings for his Senate seat. There's no reason to think he wouldn't be a very good secretary of State. A lot of us thought he would have made a good president.
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