Senate Dems say Clinton leadership spot doubtful

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) imminent return to the Senate does not mean she will be greeted with a newly created position within her conference’s leadership, Democratic leaders said Thursday.

Clinton has not sought a special leadership position and has made clear that she is open to being Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) vice presidential nominee. If she does not get chosen for the No. 2 spot, some have speculated that Democratic leaders might carve out a special position within the leadership as a way to appease her supporters and bring the party together.

But so far, such a position has not been considered.

{mosads}“Nobody has discussed that, the least of which Sen. Clinton,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a high-profile Obama supporter. “She’s not asking for that consideration at this point.”

“We don’t have a special position, we haven’t created that for anyone," Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.), a Clinton supporter, said of candidates who have returned to the Senate after running for president.

“We’ve had a lot of senators return to the Senate that have run for national office and they are welcomed with open arms and given the possibility to work with us, and will continue to,” Murray said. “And Sen. Clinton has tremendous knowledge on many issues, and is tremendously respected in the Senate and I assume that she will be capable of leading us … wherever she is.”

Creating a special position would not be unprecedented. According to the Senate historian’s office, after former presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey mounted an unsuccessful bid for majority leader against Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) in 1977, Byrd created a special position for him as deputy president pro tempore of the chamber. 

Similarly, after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) helped give Democrats a Senate majority in 2006 as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) handed him the position of vice chairman of the conference.

Schumer said that Clinton would be a positive asset in the Senate and on the campaign trail.

“She wants to win, she has a great deal of skill, she has been through the campaigns,” Schumer said. “I know the Obama campaign and certainly we in the Senate want to utilize all of her talents and all of her support, and I think it will be given.”

Schumer also said that he thought an Obama-Clinton ticket would be strong, but said Obama should have time to make his own decision.

“It’s better to do it right then do it quickly,” he said.

Schumer added that Clinton’s Senate Democratic supporters assured her on a Wednesday conference call that she needed breathing room and did not need to be rushed to concede the race.

“Those of us on the Senate call … said, ‘You need a little space — you run for 18 months, and then all of a sudden it’s over,' ” Schumer said.

Clinton plans to suspend her campaign at a Saturday rally in Washington. A spokesperson for Clinton could not be reached for comment.