Secretary Of State Clinton?

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
November 17, 2008




Transition: Odds are improving that President Obama will name Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. It's an unexpected move and not without risk. But she brings significant strengths and might just be a solid choice

During the primary campaign, Sen. Clinton was the first candidate to call attention to the naivete of Obama's foreign policy approach. When asked at a debate if they would negotiate with dictators without precondition in the first year of administration, Obama said he would, and Clinton said she wouldn't.

Then she pointed out the pitfalls: "I think it is not that you promise a meeting at a high level before you know what the intentions are," she said. "I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes. I don't want to make a bad situation even worse." Dictators would get no teas at the White House "until we know better what the way forward would be," the former first lady said.

Such prudent thinking not only won over her audience that night, it may have won over Obama too. As the campaign wore on, he moved his position closer to hers. Now, he may be asking her to be in charge of foreign policy.

Clinton's pragmatic toughness could be a significant asset to the Obama administration. There are other good candidates for the top diplomatic spot, including Sen. Richard Lugar and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. But Clinton's no lightweight.

She is an experienced politician, and as first lady had a close advisory role to her husband in the 1990s. Her experience on the Senate Committee on Armed Services is another plus. She's no area expert, to be sure, but she's traveled to 80 countries on assorted junkets over the years, and definitely knows the players, an asset of comparable value.

What's more, her trips to seldom-visited places in India, Africa, the Balkans and Latin America have created goodwill in large swaths of the world, including the U.S. Witness the support she got from Latino voters during the primaries.

For all of the gaffes and prevarications associated with her travels at various times, the broad reality is that Mrs. Clinton is well-known and popular abroad, and that's an obvious advantage in diplomacy.

Last but not least, a Secretary of State Clinton would represent continuity, which, in the midst of Obama's change agenda, would be especially valuable in foreign affairs. U.S. policy is inherently bipartisan and turns slowly, like an ocean liner. Friendly allies like the assurances of continuity. Enemies take notice that the window to pull a fast one is not open. That clarity serves U.S. interests abroad.

It's also fair to say, however, that the choice of Clinton for State carries some risk. Her husband now runs a $300 million foundation that supposedly focuses on philanthropy. But its most visible activity is schmoozing with world leaders, through the Clinton Global Initiative, amounting to basically a private diplomacy that promises access to the real kind.

The former president isn't disclosing his big-money donors, some of whom have been named in the press as oppressive Gulf sheikhs and businessmen who seem to have benefited from his connections to corrupt satrapies.


He is within his rights. But the connection to power is as obvious as it is questionable. To his donors, the prospect of Bill Clinton's wife in the foreign policy chair could be like the pop of a can opener at a cat farm. Perhaps a moratorium, voluntary or otherwise, on donations to the foundation would create a partial firewall against influence-peddling.

The Obama team will need something along these lines to inspire confidence. The Clintons are not known for self-restraint in their foreign connections, whether Saudi or Chinese. Another soap opera of Clintonian scandals in foreign affairs would ill serve Obama and the country.

Mrs. Clinton also remains ambitious and could be a bit of a self-dealer. There's speculation in political circles about how her appointment would affect her positioning for the next election, making her more or less likely to run.

But on the whole, if she focuses solely on the job, she has real potential to do good work for the next president. She's tough. She knows the players, she grasps national security and she's popular. If she is named, let's hope that her strengths will shine through, and the country will be served first.