Senator Bill Clinton?

This is a wildcard, but certainly an interesting choice. One of the choices being tossed about to replace Hillary Clinton is Bill Clinton.

There are some obvious advantages if he took the job. He knows Washington and would have immediate influence in the Senate.

But is Bill Clinton really interested in being a Senator, and a junior Senator at that?

That is doubtful.

Right now he has a great job jetting around the world working on whatever problem catches his attention. There is also the possibility that the Obama administration will use him in a capacity as a goodwill ambassador or world hotspot troubleshooter.

This is not an idea that just popped up. Some discussed it as a possibility when Hillary was still the Democratic frontrunner.

It is significant that Bill Clinton has not squelched the idea in all that time.

The call rests with New York Governor David Patterson. He has a pack of decent candidates to choose from – Andrew Cuomo, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr., and a range of state officials and members of Congress. Patterson could also pick a wild card besides Clinton, like Robert Kennedy, Jr., or Caroline Kennedy.

It is because Patterson has so many choices to choose from that some think Clinton is an out. By picking Clinton, Patterson avoids making enemies. If he picks the mayor of Buffalo, for example, a lot of candidates might think they were just as qualified. Yet if he picks a former President and husband of the Senator he is replacing, no one can say he or she is just as qualified. These remarks in the Washington Post carried that spirit.

Hence the appeal of Bill Clinton. Who in his party could question so historic and dazzling a choice? In a stroke, the appointment would provide Sen. Clinton’s indefatigable husband with a fitting day job, serve the interests of a state beset by a meltdown in its most vital economic sector and offer a refreshing reverse twist on a tradition whereby deceased male senators, representatives or governors are succeeded by their widows.

Yet who really thinks Bill Clinton wants the job? In the end, he gives up being a former President to being a Senator who is a former President. It is another title, but Bill Clinton does not need that nor does he probably want it.