Key GOP voices including Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have tempered their rhetoric about Ambassador Susan Rice, who has been speculated as a possible secretary of State.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice listens during a news conference at the UN in June. Republican opposition to Rice's possible nomination to be secretary of state began to crack Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, as Sen. John McCain said she was 'not the problem' in the White House's explanation about the Sept. 11 attack in Libya.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
EnlargeIt?s looking more likely that if President Obama wants Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, as his next secretary of State, he?ll get his wish.
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Key Republicans are softening their opposition to any promotion of Ambassador Rice. Notably, Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona has replaced his outright opposition with a willingness now to hear her case, should she be nominated.
The less strident tone from Senator McCain and other Republicans over the weekend suggests that the hyper-partisan atmosphere that prevailed in the election campaign and in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Obama?s reelection may be ceding to a more bipartisan approach to foreign policy ? and to the general rule that, barring any egregious disqualifiers, the president should get the foreign-policy and national-security team he wants.
Opposition to Rice flared up over her depiction of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the US ambassador to Libya. Working from a set of talking points provided by the Central Intelligence Agency when she appeared on Sunday news shows Sept. 16, Rice described the attack as a ?spontaneous? act that grew out of a copycat reaction to widespread demonstrations against an anti-Islam video.
Prominent Republican senators including McCain and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina vowed to oppose Rice?s nomination to any higher office, while a group of 97 House Republicans took the unusual step of sending a letter to Obama saying they opposed Rice?s possible nomination for secretary of State ? even though the House has no role in approving presidential nominations.
A heated debate ensued that included charges from Democrats of Republican sexism and racism (Rice being an African-American woman). By the weekend, key Republican voices tempered their rhetoric.
McCain said on ?Fox News Sunday? that he?d ?be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with? Rice, while Senator Graham said on ABC?s ?This Week? that he blames the president more than Rice for the administration?s depiction of the Benghazi attack and its reluctance to call it a terrorist attack.
Still, Graham said that if Obama does nominate Rice, ?there will be a lot of questions asked of her about this event and others.? Also, he vowed to pursue an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack.
Over on NBC?s ?Meet the Press,? House Republican Peter King of New York lauded Rice?s work at the UN, particularly on North Korea. But as for the argument that Rice was speaking from vetted intelligence talking points when she went on national television five days after the attack, Representative King said that as a senior administration official, ?she has an obligation not to just be a puppet and take what?s handed to her.?
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