Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team.
Clinton, the former first lady who pushed Obama hard for the Democratic presidential nomination, was rumoured to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the top US diplomat in an Obama administration.
The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere on Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.
The two Democratic officials who spoke yesterday did so on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Obama and his staff. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines referred questions to the Obama transition team, which said it had no comment.
Other people frequently mentioned for the State Department job are Sen Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican; Sen John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and New Mexico's Democratic governor, Bill Richardson, who is Hispanic.