Hillary Clinton, No Longer a Victim

Hillary Clinton was officially relieved of her victimhood today, as Republicans and Democrats at her Senate confirmation hearing mostly competed to see who could register the greater delight in her nomination as President-elect Obama's secretary of state.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar, of Indiana, referred to her as "the epitome of a Big-Leaguer." While his colleague Bob Corker gushed that "I'm just a junior senator from Tennessee, but it seems to me that everything has its season, and this is your season." That'll teach her.

Of course, in their reduced circumstances, the GOP had nothing to gain from a bullying approach, and it was telling that the only Republican with any speck of blood in his eye was Louisiana's David Vitter, who, because he's been mixed up in not one but two prostitution scandals, is not likely to be reelected for another term no matter what he does. (OK, you could argue that some officials only seem to feel free to do the right thing after they've been disgraced and have lost all hope, like former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who cleared out his state's Death Row as he was packing for jail.)

And maybe this new appreciation for Hillary from her colleagues across the aisle is born of eagerness to see whether she'll undercut Obama with some good old Clinton family drama. But more likely, Senate Republicans are as tired as anybody of the gang that couldn't shoot straight - they have to live in this world, too, don't they?

George Voinovich of Ohio praised Obama's appointments and intention to use "smart power," and enthused about how excited everyone in Europe seems to be that we've got a new president.

Jim DeMint of South Carolina said he'd heard "mixed reviews" of State Department efforts in recent years. "I feel better about you already," he told Clinton. Contrary to reports, he said, "I have no questions about your integrity," and even on the matter of potential conflicts of interest involving her husband, said he would just "support you in doing what you need to do to silence your critics before you take office. Enough said."

Vitter did not second that emotion, though, and was flat-out rude as Clinton tried to answer his question about potential conflicts-of-interest if her husband's foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative continue to accept foreign contributions. He insisted that her husband had not agreed to disclose future contributions to the CGI; she countered that he most certainly had. "I want to speak for a minute about the work that's done because I think it's important," Clinton began, but Vitter cut her off, and asked new Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry – who had wanted the secretary of state job himself – to make her stop: "Mr. Chairman," Vitter moaned, "I have no objection listening to this, but I don't want it to come out of my time, because I'd like to pursue these questions." In the most comical moment of a not very comical day, Clinton dramatically drew in her lips – as if blotting her lipstick – and opened her eyes Lucille Ball wide while Kerry (whose wife had turned up to see him in his first day in his new job) answered that it was actually customary to let nominees answer the questions posed.

The more serious challenge on the conflict of interest issue - because it was so clearly not made in rancor - was from Lugar, who pleaded with her to get her husband to forego all foreign contributions while she was secretary of state: "The foundation is very important, but this was bound to be a dilemma from the moment you were nominated... I support your nomination... because your qualifications are remarkable. Reluctantly, however, I dwell on this problem that will still follow you." He ended by saying he would get no satisfaction from any future news accounts that might call his warnings prescient.

Though perfectly respectful, Clinton did not acknowledge that she understood his concerns, and in her most troubling answer of the day, sounded like the same Hillary Clinton who once blamed her husband's problems entirely on a vast right-wing conspiracy: "My career in public service is hardly free of controversy, Senator," she told Lugar, "so I have no illusions about the fact that no matter what we do, there will be those who will raise conflicts...We've tried to do the very best we can do" in promising to disclose both past and future contributions.

Which is a shame, because on actual foreign policy, Clinton was nothing short of spectacular today. When asked about mineral-rich nations using their wealth to benefit their people, for instance, she tossed off, as any of us would, that "Botswana comes to mind; they've been excellent stewards" Right. And she constantly made clear that she has a boss, and knows his name.

Kerry, too, was also not just impressive, but tougher-minded than his critics might have expected, pressing Clinton on how much more we can realistically expect the U.N. to accomplish with sanctions against Iran and on whether she herself plans to meet with Iran's leaders. And in a shift at least as dramatic as their change of heart vis a vis Hillary Clinton, it's also worth mentioning that the Republicans on the committee repeatedly mentioned global climate change as a serious national security threat. At the end of a full day in the hearing room, Clinton did look a little winded – and you would, too, if you'd been around the world in 7 hours. But unless she gets her husband to take Lugar's warning to heart, today might turn out to be the high point of her tenure.