DAY’S END ROUNDUP

President-elect Barack Obama appears to finally have filled two of his most important Cabinet posts, prompting instant reaction online. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) faces a daunting task as the next secretary of State, according to bloggers. The prospect of her foreign policy experts joining the State Department is causing frustration among some Obama backers, a blogger notes. Obama’s choice for Treasury Secretary, New York Fed Chairman Timothy Geithner, is already paying dividends, bloggers write.

Clinton could have a “poisoned chalice of a job” as the nation’s top diplomat, since she’ll be tasked with persuading other nations to contribute troops to Afghanistan, restarting the Middle East peace process and setting up face-to-face talks with dictators, writes The Campaign Spot’s Jim Geraghty. But by choosing Clinton, Obama has the potential of creating a legacy of freeing people, stabilizing countries and offering hope to oppressed women around the world, writes Taylor Marsh.

Clinton could bring to the Obama administration traditional foreign policy thinkers, undercutting the more liberal advisers Obama has relied on, writes The Washington Indpendent’s Spencer Ackerman. It would be a bad thing if the older Clinton advisers follow through on the threat they made during the primaries to punish the younger Obama foreign policy team for working against Clinton, writes Matthew Yglesias.

The decision to choose Geithner, who has called for a tougher financial regulatory policy, to head the Treasury Department has sent the Dow Jones index soaring 500 points, notes Political Animal’s Steve Benen. Geithner is more diplomatic and less controversial than another candidate for the position, Lawrence Summers, and knows his way around both Wall Street and the Treasury Department, writes Justin Fox at The Curious Capitalist.

FROM THE BLOGS:
What Has Hillary Gotten Into? – J. Geraghty, Campaign Spot
Will Clinton Fill State With Loyalists? – S. Ackerman, Wash. Indy
Pluses and Minuses – Steve Benen, Political Animal
On Hillary At State – Taylor Marsh
Wither the Subcabinet – Matthew Yglesias
Woodward: Concern Troll – Josh Orton, MyDD
Meet Tim Geithner – Steve Benen, Political Animal
Geithner Gets Treasury – Justin Fox, Curious Capitalist
Geithner in His Own Words – Real Time Economics

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Clinton Decides to Take Post at State, Confidants Say – NYT
Obama Moves to Pick Geithner for Treasury – Reuters
Dem Leaders Ask Big Three to Restructure Plan – The Hill