New York Senator Hillary Clinton emerged on Thursday as a candidate to be Secretary of State for Barack Obama, months after he defeated her in an intense contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. NBC News and The Washington Post reported that Clinton was under consideration for the top US diplomatic position.

Clinton was described by her office as having flown to Chicago on Thursday on personal business. Neither her aides nor aides to President-elect Obama would say whether she was interviewed for the job by Obama, who spent a great part of the day behind closed doors in transition meetings at his Chicago office.

"Any speculation about cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama's transition team to address," said Clinton's senior adviser, Philippe Reines.

Clinton's candidature would mean Obama was expanding his search beyond other candidates mentioned for the job, such as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Democrat who lost the 2004 presidential election to George W Bush, and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican who backed Obama over Republican John McCain .

CNN reported that on Monday night, while walking into an awards ceremony in New York, Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the Obama administration. And it did not sound like she ruled it out.

"I am happy being a Senator from New York, I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful," Clinton had said. The former first lady had argued during the Democratic primary campaign that Obama was too inexperienced to be President. But they mended fences, and during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, she declared that "Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our president."

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