Dick Morris, the former senior advisor to Bill Clinton in his first term, has written a column entitled: "Hillary's Incredible Shrinking Cabinet Role." This raises the question of whether Hillary Clinton will resign after a couple years, or less, of extreme frustration after being shut-out during key foreign policy-making decisions by the Obama White House.
Here are just a few examples given by Dick Morris of Hillary Clinton's shrinking role as head of the Obama State Department: "Joe 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 back-up.
"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 Power, Obama's former campaign aide, who once called Hillary a 'monster,' has been appointed to the National Security Council (NSC) as director of 'multicultural affairs.'
"Gen. James L. Jones, Obama's new national security adviser, has announced 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."
After listing all of these separate orbits of foreign policy power in the Obama Administration, Dick Morris asks the question: "So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton?"
Pundits all across the political spectrum will soon be counting down the months -- not years -- until Hillary Clinton leaves the administration citing areas of foreign policy in which the Obama administration has not only ignored her advice, but has left her out of the deliberations.
Her decision to leave will probably come some time after next year's elections, if somehow she can stomach staying that long. Obama's 2nd Commerce Secretary nominee, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, could not even stomach staying until he was confirmed by the United States Senate. If Obama's "stimulus" legislation bombs, as many financial experts expect, 2011 will probably be the beginning of a successful second run for president by Hillary Clinton, at least in the primaries.
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