Hillary’s incredible, shrinking role
 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama’s chief Cabinet officer.

Since her designation:
• Vice President Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the Inauguration, could not but send a signal to Hillary that he would conduct foreign policy in the new administration, leaving Hillary in the role of backup.

• Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the Clinton years.

• Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine), negotiator of the Irish Peace Accords, was appointed to be the administration’s point man on Arab-Israeli negotiations.

• Samantha Powers, Obama’s former campaign aide, who once called Hillary a “monster,” has been appointed to the National Security Council (NSC) as director of “multilateral affairs.”

• Gen. James L. Jones, Obama’s new national security adviser, has announced an expansion of the membership and role of the NSC. He pledges to eliminate “back channels” to the president and wants to grow the NSC’s role to accommodate the “dramatically different” challenges of the current world situation.

• Susan Rice, Obama’s new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she will presumably also have the same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign.

So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton? Link

I was wondering why I hadn't heard much from her. I figured it was just because of the stimulus debates...

There was no doubt there would be some shaking out of roles considering the personalities involved.

The key is how Obama manages these personalities in a manner that makes for a better foreign policy advisory structure.

The big difference from Bush, is that Obama will encourage the diversity of opinions.

Its too soon to identify the winners or losers in the internal power struggle for who will have the last word with the president...but H Clinton is no shrinking violet.

LOL.....I just saw the link...the Dick Morris byline...the ultimate Hillary hater!

Dick Morris. :lol:

I noticed that too, after I read it. I thought he made some interesting points though. Especially the ones about working with Rice and Powers who helped defeat her in the primary.
Like I said, maybe Hillary is just in the background right now because of the financial situation. Still, she has been unusually quiet. Either way, it will be interesting to follow.

you created this thread just for the clone thread titles it offers, huh?


hole...mole.....pole.....

vole

I also wondered why she took the job. It seemed like an odd career choice for me.

I had the same thoughts about Colin Powell...why he would want to take on Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Do not ask for whom the belle voles.
It voles for thee.

Instead of returning to the Senate with her tail between her legs? You'd better believe she still intends to run again in 2016, and being Sec. of State is a better stepping stone than another 8 years in Congress. And now that she's got it, she has no incentive to put herself in the spotlight--any good she does will be credited to Obama at this point, while any missteps will be placed squarely on her shoulders for screwing things up for Obama. She'll start being more prominent around year three of this administration, just in case, but the real push will be during a second term.

you sound like you've studied the clinton family.

A tail? I wondered what that was...

Know thine enemy.

The unusual numbers of talented negotiators, so many dispatched to specific tasks, demonstrates how troubled US relationships are with virtually every nation in the world - including Canada and Mexico.

With specialists targeting specific hot spots, Hilary Clinton has more than too much work: Korea, Libya, India/Pakistan, China and Japan, the Caribbean basin, Russia, Europe, Central Africa, nuclear proliferation, anti-ballistic missile programs, world trade and GAAT, Iran, Arctic Ocean treaties, the completely collapsed American relationships with Central Asia, demilitarization of space, and the so many yet to be discussed political problems created by the advancement of science and future environmental problems.

Tasking Mitchell and Holbrook to specifically difficult and threatening problems are a tribute to Obama's grasp of how serious those problems have become. Both have no hope for solution without full time, full force attention. Even so, we should expect both problems to persist eight years later - both situations have deteriorated that much. Destruction of the Oslo Accords and performing no phase four planning in Afghanistan simply destroyed all previous progress. Both solutions will start from scratch due to neglect in a previous eight years.

Four potential problems fortunately not made worse are the Balkans, Haiti, Southeast Asia, and South America. By smartly ignoring Chaves, that potential problem has been slowly self destructing ever since the King of Spain said, "Why don't you just shut up."

Cuba will probably require special care when the inevitable turmoil begins. Other potential but less challenging hot spots may be Yemen, Nicaragua, Sudan, NW South America, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Making things even more interesting may be the integration of BRIC countries into the G-8. Clinton has more than enough works to do.

Who ignored him?
Yeh - there will be an outpouring of people trying to get out of there when the old man dies.

What about Mexico? Something has to be done there to deal with the incredibly powerful drug cartels and the country's stability.

As much as I can't stand that woman she may be working behind the scenes and we just will not see anything of it for a few months, maybe six or more until the whole economic mess is sorted out. That is unless there is another dramatic event that overshadows the current one. Morris knows more about the Clinton's and how they think than anyone in Washington. I am sure he is on to something.