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TOPIC: Hillarymania takes hold on both sides of the fence (The Australian 12/27/10)

Jen the Michigander

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Date: Dec 26, 2010

Hillarymania takes hold on both sides of the fence (The Australian 12/27/10)	Permalink

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/hillarymania-takes-hold-on-both-sides-of-the-fence/story-e6frg6so-1225976435768 One of the wilder members of the Tea Party movement hopes the US Secretary of State will run against President Barack Obama in the 2012 Democratic primaries. "I would love to see her take out Obama," said Christine O'Donnell, the Delaware conservative who made headlines during this year's mid-term elections by denying she was a witch. Ms O'Donnell may be the most mischievous of Mrs Clinton's presidential advocates (as a supporter of Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, Ms O'Donnell hopes a Clinton challenge might tear the Democrats apart) but she is far from alone in succumbing to the potent political spell Mrs Clinton still casts over electoral calculations in Washington. Mr Obama's newfound readiness to compromise earned him Republican concessions on a series of issues that were in danger of stalling, most notably a new strategic arms control treaty with Moscow, which was approved by the Senate on Wednesday. The key jobs of twisting the arms of wavering Republican senators and soothing their concerns that the treaty weakened US security fell to Mrs Clinton and Vice-President Joe Biden, who between them helped to sign up the two-thirds majority required. "That was a gutsy decision," senator John Kerry said of Mr Obama's decision to force a pre-Christmas vote. "Even colleagues on our side said it wasn't going to happen." Yet the President won by 71 votes to 26. Much of the credit went to Mr Biden, whose lobbying skills may have earned him a reprieve from previously rampant speculation that Mr Obama intends to replace him with Mrs Clinton as the vice-presidential running mate in 2012. Mrs Clinton remains indispensable to any chance of an Obama recovery, not least because of her own experience at the side of former Democratic president Bill Clinton, when he overcame early policy reverses in the 1990s and declared himself "the comeback kid". In some respects, Mrs Clinton has had a difficult year. Her Middle East peace efforts have mostly gone nowhere, North Korea and Iran remain erratic threats and the State Department's most sensitive diplomatic archives became public property through WikiLeaks. None of which has hurt her image a jot. She remains the most popular member of the Obama administration and is widely seen as the only Democrat who could credibly challenge the President. In a poll of Democratic voters in New Hampshire, one of the key primary states, Mr Obama's approval rating was 84 per cent last week; Mrs Clinton's was 86 per cent. Despite their intense rivalry during the 2008 presidential primaries, Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton are said to have developed a close working relationship and the President has been careful not to antagonise his most dangerous rival. Earlier this month, Mr Obama delighted State Department staff when he turned up at their end-of-year office party and paid Mrs Clinton an unusually glowing series of tributes. "There's a consensus building that this may be one of the best secretaries of state we've ever had in this country's history," Mr Obama said. He joked that appointing her was "one of my better decisions". He also noted Mrs Clinton liked to caution foreign audiences against watching too much US television - in case the rest of the world concluded that Americans spend all their time "wrestling and wearing bikinis". In Washington, praise like this usually precedes the sack. Yet many Hillary-watchers are convinced Mr Obama needs both Clintons more than they need him. In his slimmed-down post-White House role as a global charity co-ordinator, Mr Clinton has become what few ever suspected after his scandal-stained departure from the White House - a political asset. Mr Obama caused a stir when he recently handed over a press conference to Mr Clinton, who plainly relished his return to the White House spotlight. "It is impossible to look at Bill and Hillary working the Washington scene today and not conclude that they want to move back to (the White House)," declared one veteran Democratic strategist. Mrs Clinton long ago tired of fending off questions about her White House ambitions and earlier this month insisted secretary of state would be her "last public position". Asked whether she had any intention of running again for president, she replied: "No, I do not." It is a measure of her electoral allure that her denials are routinely ignored. With the Clintons glued to his side, Mr Obama looks in better political shape than he would with Bill'n'Hill plotting elsewhere. If Ms Palin emerges as a genuine Republican presidential contender, Mrs Clinton could become a crucial foil for the mama grizzly brigade. The question then turns to what may be best for Mrs Clinton, if the White House in 2016 becomes her longer-term goal. Should she help Mr Obama win re-election? Or does it make more sense for her to step away from the administration, for Mr Obama to lose in 2012, for Ms Palin's flaws to be exposed and for the US to turn to Mrs Clinton as its saviour? The only certainty is we have not heard the last wild rumour about Mrs Clinton's designs. __________________ Nobody puts THIS baby in the corner!

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