Obama Weighs Clinton, Richardson For State

WASHINGTON — Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama is considering former primary election rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson to be his secretary of state. The officials said Obama met with Richardson Friday in Chicago, a day after meeting with Clinton.

Richardson is the governor of New Mexico and has an extensive foreign policy resume. He was President Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations and has conducted freelance diplomacy as governor in such hot spots as Sudan and North Korea.

Both meetings were at Obama’s transition office in Chicago and kept secret until after they were over.