This nugget from today's Times story on Obama and Hillary is interesting:
Two advisers to Mrs. Clinton said she was concerned about establishing her role in the administration before agreeing to the job. She wanted assurances that she would have direct access to Mr. Obama and not need to go through a national security adviser, they said. And she wanted the authority to pick her own staff at the State Department.
During the campaign, Obama and his manager, David Plouffe, were absolutely fanatical about process--they insisted advice flow through the proper channels so people wouldn't go racing to Obama to try to undercut one another. Their success at pulling this off was one of the big reasons the organization was so well-functioning and free of intrigue. It's at least a little surprising that Obama would give Hillary a pass on the White House version of this process.
--Noam Scheiber