Looks like Kerry is not going to join the CODEL for overseas trip

[beachmom]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/01/clinton_confirm.html

UPDATE: Kerry's office just announced that because of scheduled votes, he will no longer go on the congressional trip.

I still can't figure out whether Kerry was originally going to chair the confirmation hearing or not from the way the BG worded things:

Senator John F. Kerry's office announced today that the Foreign Relations Committee will hold the confirmation hearing next Tuesday for Hillary Clinton, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state.

Clinton is expected to be confirmed without any serious hurdles to the post, which Kerry himself coveted.

Instead, he is about to embark on his first major overseas visit as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee -- to southwest Asia, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are near the top of the challenges facing the new administration. Kerry is going on the trip with Vice President-elect Joe Biden, the committee's past chairman.

Well, now he will be in DC. And can chair the confirmation hearing.

[karynnj]

1. Am I alone in thinking that the Obama team has again

through lack of thought screwed things up inadvertently making Kerry - who contributed nothing to the screw up- look bad. This really puts a negative spin on Kerry's first day acting as chair of SFRC, which should be a positive. Instead, he is not on the trip with Biden and he is said to being chairing the confirmation for a slot he "coveted".

The Biden trip also now downplays the work Kerry did in December - that was thought to be Kerry unofficially representing Obama. Graham was also there a week or so before Kerry with McCain and Lieberman. (I guess Reed's and Biden's votes are needed as much as Kerry's - and seeing that he hasn't resigned and let Kaufman be seated yesterday - his vote will be missing. Not to mention the screw up in IL puts us down one more too. )

Well the good thing that should come out of all these little jabs is that although Kerry will always do what he thinks right for the country - he certainly owes Obama and Biden absolutely no favors - they owe him.

[TayTay]

2. This is actually a pretty hectic time for everyone

I would not read too much into this. I would bet that there is more ordinary concerns here than intrigue on this one.

The new Congress has undergone a tremendous amount of change in a relatively short period of time. Senators and Reps have come and gone and so have their staff members. New people are assuming new positions and there is a tizzy of work going on to get new hires done, jobs sorted out and so forth. (This is the more pure business-like aspect of being in the Congress. Like in any office, you have to hire up staff, get the rooms and facilities squared away, figure out who reports to whom and so forth. I know this is sort of mundane, but it has to be done too.)

Sen. Kerry was just in Southwest Asia a couple of weeks ago. It well could be that he reviewed his schedule, his needs at building an office in DC and concluded that this trip was not mandatory. I think the indecisive aspect of this is due more to the evolving nature of the Senate and the evolving understanding of what is needed to get the new Congress up and running and on schedule in terms of confirmation hearings and so forth than anything else.

[karynnj]

3. Thanks that makes sense

He is very very busy - going on an exhausting trip that goes to places and speaks to people he just saw less than a month ago would be grueling - the trip he just took and any follow up correspondence should make him as informed as this group - where he would have to defer to Biden and let him take the lead.

[Mass]

4. Too bad, but I am not really surprised.

From all I could read here and abroad, the fact Biden was there (both as still outgoing chairman of the SFRC and VP-elect) is creating a confusion on what type of a trip it is (legislative or executive). In addition, as TayTay said, he was already there a few weeks earlier, and the situation has not changed that much in these areas).

Given the importance of things here and abroad, including the situation in the Middle East and the confirmation hearings, it is possible that Kerry has more important things to do right now than participate to a tour where the focus will be de-facto on Biden anyway).

Kerry had said he wanted to chair this meeting, at least as reporting by other reports I saw.

This said, I just hope this communication mess stops right now. This is fairly minor stuff, but there has been quite a few problems that were more important.

[globalvillage]

5. Here's a good explanation

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4792217