Obama’s World? ... Not So Much With Hillary Here!

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama's former bitter rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, is his nominee for secretary of state. President-elect Obama and Mrs. Clinton fought perhaps the most polarizing nomination battle in decades, but in recruiting her for his cabinet, Mr. Obama has chosen to turn a rival into a partner. Image Credit: Chris Keane/Reuters

Obama’s World?, Not So Much With Hillary Here!

Most people who voted for Barack Obama preferred his approach to the world view than first, Hillary Clinton, and second, John McCain.

Many felt that with the direction that George Bush had taken our international relations was damaging to our standing in the world and that Barack Obama would signal a new approach and uplift our standing.

Well folks, guess again, Hillary Clinton is not standing still and waiting to be plugged in as a “pop-bead” into the necklace of a Barack Obama world view when January 20th, 2009 arrives.

Basically, Hillary Clinton is planning a different kind of State Department … kinda’ a Bill Clinton State Department on steroids!

This excerpted and edited from the New York Times -

Clinton Moves to Widen Role of State Dept.
By MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPER – New York Times - Published: December 22, 2008

Even before taking office, Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking to build a more powerful State Department, with a bigger budget, high-profile special envoys to trouble spots and an expanded role in dealing with global economic issues at a time of crisis.

Mrs. Clinton is recruiting Jacob J. Lew, the budget director under President Bill Clinton, as one of two deputies, according to people close to the Obama transition team. Mr. Lew’s focus, they said, will be on increasing the share of financing that goes to the diplomatic corps. He and James B. Steinberg, a deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, are to be Mrs. Clinton’s chief lieutenants (nominations of deputy secretaries, like Mrs. Clinton’s, would be subject to confirmation by the Senate).

The incoming administration is also likely to name several envoys, officials said, reviving a practice of the Clinton administration, when Richard C. Holbrooke, Dennis Ross and other diplomats played a central role in mediating disputes in the Balkans and the Middle East.

As Mrs. Clinton puts together her senior team, officials said, she is also trying to carve out a bigger role for the State Department in economic affairs, where the Treasury has dominated during the Bush years. She has sought advice from Laura D’Andrea Tyson, an economist who headed Mr. Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers.
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Given Mrs. Clinton’s prominence, expanding the department’s portfolio could bring on conflict with other powerful cabinet members.
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The Bush administration has made relatively little use of special envoys. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally handled most peacemaking initiatives, which has meant a punishing schedule of Middle East missions, often with meager results.

“There’s no question that there is a reinvention of the wheel here,” said Aaron David
Miller, a public policy analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “But it’s geared not so much as a reaction to Bush as to a fairly astute analysis of what’s going to work in foreign policy.”

With so many problems, including Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, Mr. Miller said it made sense for the White House to farm out some of the diplomatic heavy lifting.
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The recruitment of Mr. Lew — for a position that was not filled in the Bush administration — suggests that Mrs. Clinton is determined to win a larger share of financial resources for the department.
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Mrs. Clinton was being supported in her push for more resources by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Mr. Obama’s incoming national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones Jr.
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Mrs. Clinton’s push for a more vigorous economic team, one of her advisers said, stems from her conviction that the State Department needs to play a part in the recovery from the global financial crisis. Economic issues also underpin some of the most important diplomatic relationships, notably with China.
Reference Here>>

In a Barack Obama presidency (aka - Carter’s Second Term), it is always the best policy to follow the money.

As we can see in this report, money is expected to flow into the power pocketbook of a State Department headed by Hillary Clinton if she has her way in this building power grab.

If over these next couple of years, Hillary Clinton is able to pull off what is suggested in the New York Times report, the State Department may make this presidency - NOT an extension of the troubled policies of a Carter Administration, but an extension of a Clinton Administration … where attention to detail was farmed out and terrorism was allowed to flourish.