Politico overreaches

November 18, 2008 1:05 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

We're not sure Ben Smith really came up with the goods to back up Politico's provocative headline, "Cabinet post for Clinton roils Obamaland."

The entire piece only quotes one person on the record who raised doubts about Clinton as a possible Secretary of State, and that person's not even connected with the campaign. Even the anonymous quotes are pretty tame.

We suspect If Obamaland (i.e his campaign and legions of supporters) was truly roiled, than Smith would have found more people who were willing to give better/more passionate quotes.

It makes us wonder whether the article was just the latest example of Politico pushing the media's beloved Obama/Clinton "soap opera" narrative.

UPDATE: As Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic notes today: "It's kind of amazing, if you think about it, that Obama, according to reports, is a step away from picking his chief political rival to be Secretary of State, and not one hint of serious anxiety about the choice has gotten out."