WASHINGTON - When Hillary Rodham Clinton ran for a New York Senate seat nine years ago, she labored to persuade skeptical Jewish voters of her support for Israel, after an incident in which she stood by as the wife of Yasir Arafat delivered an inflammatory attack on Israeli policies.

Now, having secured her standing as a friend of Israel, Mrs. Clinton must show a new audience that she can also be a mediator in her next expected role as secretary of state, when her first challenge may well be the renewed violence in Gaza. Given Mrs. Clinton's once troubled history with Arab-Israeli issues, that could be a tricky task.

Mrs. Clinton brings several strengths, according to current and former aides and Middle East experts, including her knowledge of the region and experience in navigating it, as well as lingering good will among Arabs and Israelis won by her husband, Bill Clinton, for his efforts to broker a peace deal in the waning days of his presidency.

But Mrs. Clinton will have to reassure the Palestinians that she, too, can be a broker, working with Egypt and other Arab neighbors, and putting pressure on the Israeli government, when needed.

"She's going to have to demonstrate her independence from Israel," said Aaron David Miller, a public policy analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "Our interests are inevitably going to diverge from their interests. We cannot be an 'amen corner' for them."

The diplomatic tightrope was evident this week, as the departing secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, condemned Hamas for firing rockets into southern Israel, while she privately urged Israeli leaders to agree to a cease-fire, after days of escalating airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza.

Mrs. Clinton has not commented on the latest violence; a spokesman said she would abide by the principle that "there is one secretary of state at a time." But as New York's junior senator, she strongly condemned a round of Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns in May 2007.

"I stand with the people of Israel who live in fear as their homes are besieged, and maintain my unwavering commitment to the welfare and survival of the state of Israel," Mrs. Clinton said in a statement at the time.

In a speech to an Israeli lobbying group shortly after she lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton said the next president should shun direct negotiations with Hamas because it was a terrorist group, equipped by Iran and bent on destroying Israel.

Earlier, Mrs. Clinton declared that the United States could "obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons - a far more strident tone than that of her potential new boss, President-elect Obama.

Most experts believe that Mrs. Clinton's support of Israel is heartfelt, even if it is also smart politics in New York.

But when she was first lady, Mrs. Clinton made waves on two occasions for seeming to tilt toward Palestinian interests. In 1998, she told a gathering of Israeli and Arab teenagers that creating a state of Palestine was "very important for the broader goal of peace in the Middle East."

The White House disavowed her comments, saying they did not reflect the administration's policy. Today, the two-state solution is a central part of the American blueprint for a peace deal.

More trouble loomed in November 1999, when Mrs. Clinton, by then a Senate hopeful, visited the West Bank town of Ramallah. At a ceremony with Palestinian health officials, the first lady did not react when Suha Arafat accused Israeli forces of using "toxic gases" against Palestinians, causing cancer in women and children.

At the end of the ceremony, Mrs. Clinton gave Mrs. Arafat a polite kiss - a gesture that angered Jewish groups and earned the first lady critical newspaper editorials in New York.

Mrs. Clinton attributed her silence to the fact that the translation of Mrs. Arafat's remarks was incomplete. An aide who was with her said Mrs. Arafat's accusations appeared to be standard boilerplate, to those listening. The full import of her words set in only hours later.

The tempest briefly threatened Mrs. Clinton's Senate bid in New York, though she managed to put it behind her through a fence-mending tour with Jewish leaders. After eight years of her steadfast support for Israel, the incident is viewed by most analysts as ancient history.

In one way, Mrs. Clinton's baggage may carry a silver lining. Some Palestinians point out that she was ahead of the curve, as an American public figure, in calling for a Palestinian state.

Her marriage to former President Clinton also gives her a valuable calling card. Though his efforts to forge a peace deal fell apart, Middle East experts say that people on both sides credit him for trying longer and harder than other presidents.

"People don't just perceive her as a senator from New York who was very close to Israel," said Ziad J. Asali, the president of the American Task Force on Palestine, an Arab-American advocacy group that favors a Palestinian state. "They perceive her as a Clinton."

Being a Clinton also gives the next secretary of state ready access to Mr. Clinton's Middle East brain trust. Mrs. Clinton is being advised by Martin S. Indyk, who was a senior State Department official and United States ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration.

Mr. Indyk is among those mentioned as a potential special envoy to the Middle East. Given the gravity of the crisis, however, experts say Mrs. Clinton may well have to tackle Gaza herself.

Some predict that Mrs. Clinton will be given the benefit of the doubt merely because she represents a new White House. While Mr. Obama's response to the Israeli assault on Hamas has not differed much from that of President Bush, Mr. Asali said the Bush administration would bear the brunt of any anti-American feeling that bubbled up as a result of the attacks.

The challenge for Mrs. Clinton, experts said, will be reaffirming her support for Israel while establishing strong relations with Egypt, an undertaking many believe will be critical to brokering a durable cease-fire in Gaza.

"She has to quickly restore the relationship with Egypt," said Mr. Miller, a former State Department veteran of numerous Middle East peace negotiations. "In doing so, she's going to have to bear the brunt of being accused of indirect negotiations with Hamas."

Given the pace and fluidity of events in the Middle East, some experts say that the Gaza crisis may end up as a footnote in Mrs. Clinton's diplomatic tenure, even if it now looms as a huge early test.

"She may have to deal with a rough episode coming in, but it doesn't have to define her," said David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "You need a smart person who understands the complexity of the situation, and she is that."

By Mark Landler, The New York Times, January 1, 2009

Senate committee chairmen expect to begin confirmation hearings for Barack Obama's Cabinet picks shortly after Congress returns to work next week, with only one - Attorney General nominee Eric Holder - expected to face any significant opposition from Republicans.

Holder's confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15, five days before Obama takes the oath. Aides to Republicans and Democrats on the Judiciary Committee and sources close to Holder say they're braced for a tough fight over his role in the Elian Gonzalez controversy, his relationship with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and most of all in his role in former President Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich.

Republicans are pressing Holder for records on those issues and others.

"The Judiciary Committee is reviewing materials provided by the nominee, correspondence from outside groups, materials from the committee archive, and awaiting other documents requested by committee members," a Republican spokesman for the Judiciary Committee told Politico on Wednesday.

But it's not clear that Republicans will actually fight Holder's confirmation - and his is about the rockiest road facing any of Obama's Cabinet picks.

The Senate hasn't rejected a Cabinet nominee outright since 1989, when it voted down John Tower, President George H.W. Bush's pick as Defense secretary. Before that, it hadn't rejected a Cabinet pick since 1959. With Democrats in control in the Senate - and Republicans looking to pick their battles carefully - don't expect a repeat in 2009.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Obama's pick for Commerce, faces scrutiny over involvement in a San Diego-based software company that was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but he seems unlikely to face a difficult hearing.

"Republicans are aware of the issue, but we're being cooperative with the majority," said one GOP aide who is involved with the planning for Richardson's hearing. "It's possible that it might come up, but it's not going to be a focus of the hearings."

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee should draw some C-SPAN viewers, but committee aides said it's unlikely that Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican, will try to rattle the former first lady.

"I'm only surmising that it's going to be fairly swift," Andy Fisher, a Lugar spokesman, said of Clinton's hearing. "As is usually the case, the Senate usually confirms its own members fairly quickly."

But Cabinet confirmations can be difficult to predict, and a smooth-sailing nomination in December can blow up in January. Zoe Baird, Clinton's 1992 pick as attorney general, seemed to be cruising toward confirmation until word that she had hired illegal aliens as household help leaked out in mid-January. Baird ultimately withdrew herself from contention.

Leaders are set to gavel in the 111th Congress on Jan. 6, and hearings will likely begin soon thereafter on Obama's nominees for Labor and Health and Human Services. Hearings for the prospective heads of the departments of Interior, Veterans Affairs, and Energy are to take place a week later. Other hearings will begin as soon as the FBI completes its background checks on nominees.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is giving committee chairmen wide latitude in scheduling the hearings, but he's also making it known that he wants the hearings started - and finished - sooner rather than later.

But Reid's attempt to move quickly hasn't sat well with the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). In early December, Specter took to the Senate floor in an effort to put the brakes on the Holder hearing, then scheduled for Jan. 8.

"There are questions that need to be addressed," Specter said, noting the Rich pardon. "We're looking at a very, very serious matter."

How the 78-year-old Specter conducts himself during the hearings could prove crucial.

On the one hand, Specter, who is facing the prospect of a primary challenge from the right in his 2010 reelection bid, wants to prove to the Pennsylvania GOP faithful that he can play ball.

On the other hand, he may want to tread lightly in standing up to popular president-elect and in challenging a man who would be the nation's first African-American attorney general.

But for now, Republicans are leaving no stone unturned. Earlier this month, after Holder submitted a questionnaire to the Judiciary Committee, Specter sent the nominee a letter asking why he had not completed several questions. GOP aides on the committee, meanwhile, have put in several requests to the Department of Justice for Holder's records. Aides are also pressing the Clinton's presidential library for its Holder paperwork.

Republicans are also expected to look into Holder's relationship with Blagojevich, the Illinois governor facing criminal charges related Obama's Senate vacancy. In 2004, Blagojevich held a news conference with Holder to announce Holder's appointment as a special investigator to the Illinois Gaming Board. The appointment never panned out, but Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a Judiciary Committee member, is said to be interested in pressing Holder on why he did not report the news conference in a written questionnaire submitted to the Judiciary Committee.




By Alex Isenstadt, Politico, January 1, 2009

The past year of political news will long be remembered for its characters, dramas and the revolutionary changes it ushered. But given the culture's constant tumult - and the 24-hour news cycle that needs to be fed - 2009 could bring changing fortunes for 2008's political winners and losers.

Revelers faced down a grim economy and frigid temperatures to pack into Times Square last night, many mustering optimism to ring in the new year.

"We're freezing, but you forget about it," said Karoline Kosiorowski, a native of Warsaw, Poland, and a senior at the University of Connecticut. "You're dancing, there's music and you forget about the cold."

Hundreds of thousands watched the Jonas Brothers perform as they awaited the descent of the famous Waterford crystal ball, some shrugging off concerns about the future.

"I'm just happy it's a new year," said Donald Lanamna, 18, an unemployed auto mechanic from Torrington, Conn.

On his way to the top of 1 Times Square, former President Bill Clinton said he was upbeat.

"I think it will be tough for the next year, but Obama has a good team and they will make some good changes," he said.

Sarah Daniels, 25, an Army private, predicted the economy will turn around, but added that members of the military are "the only ones whose checks are guaranteed."

Job hunting seemed far from the minds of the college students cramming the square. "Worse comes to worse, I'll work at the family farm," said Lisa Sperry, 19, of Atlantic, Pa., a sophomore at the University at Buffalo.

Throngs cloaked in fur hats and sleeping bags gathered by early evening, despite forecasts of temperatures in the low teens.

Lauren Nordgren, 20, who was with friends, found the cold similar to that of her home state of Minnesota. "We're prepared for it, as crazy as it sounds," she said, wrapped in a blanket.

Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton were to help Mayor Michael Bloomberg lower the ball. Watching it drop is on the "bucket list" for Lorena Skinner, 85, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. "I wanted to see it, but I didn't want to be in this weather," said Skinner, in a fur coat.

The Jonas Brothers surprised the crowd by performing two songs earlier than planned. "They were awesome, totally awesome," said Amanda Zotte, 20, of Middlesex, N.J.

In the meantime, people struggled to stay warm. "The weather is the same in Alaska as it is here now," said Paulene Romero, 28, of Anchorage. "There's just more snow there."

By DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN, Newsday, January 1, 2009

With Congress returning next week, the calendar for confirmation hearings on nominees to President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is becoming more crowded by the day. If anything, the slate of hearings so far seems to be near the pace set for the Bush administration's nominees.

Jim Manley, chief aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, pointed out that the Senate confirmed seven Cabinet choices of George W. Bush by his first-term inauguration on Jan. 20, 2001. This time around, given the crush of crises on the economic and foreign fronts, the Senate leadership will focus on trying to confirm national security and financial Cabinet members by the inauguration, Mr. Manley said.

Few of the nominations have sparked wide controversy, and it's extremely rare for the Senate to reject presidential Cabinet nominees outright. It would be especially unusual this session, given that the incoming administration is Democratic as is the majority in the Senate, and considering the fact that Mr. Obama has invited several senators (and representatives) to join his Cabinet.

This week, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, set dates beginning next Thursday, Jan. 8, for three nominees. First up will be former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who has been nominated to be secretary of Health and Human Services.

Although Senator Kennedy has been battling a brain malignancy, he is expected to return to the Senate next week to preside at Mr. Daschle's hearing, which will add poignancy to the proceeding. Mr. Kennedy has been a staunch proponent of health care reform, and has vowed to lead efforts on that front during this next session. As for Mr. Daschle, he's already begun charting a course on health care policy, soliciting input over the Web from communities around the country and even attending a session on Monday in a small town in Indiana where citizens offered their own heartrending tales about insurance problems and illnesses.

The Senate Finance Committee, headed by Senator Max Baucus, also must consider Mr. Daschle's nomination.

Next Friday, on Jan. 9, Mr. Kennedy's committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, the Labor secretary nominee. And on the following Tuesday, Arne Duncan, the Education secretary nominee, will appear before the HELP panel.

Other Senate committees have also penciled in hearing dates. Dr. Steven Chu's confirmation hearing to be Energy Secretary will be held by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Jan. 13; Gen. Eric Shinseki will appear before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Jan. 14; and Senator Ken Salazar will also appear for consideration as the Secretary of the Interior before the Energy and Natural Resources panel on Jan. 15.

One of the most closely watched hearings will be that for Eric Holder Jr., who has been nominated to the post of attorney general. The Judiciary Committee has set Jan. 15 as the date for Mr. Holder's hearing to begin. That hearing had been delayed a bit by the committee chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy, after Republicans sought more time to review Mr. Holder's record. One of the issues that might be exhumed again was his role, while deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, in the controversial pardon process for financier Marc Rich, as well as other matters that fell within his purview.

No date has been set yet for the spotlight moment when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to answer questions rather than ask them. But it looks as if it could be as early as the second week of January. Aides to Senator John Kerry, chairman of the committee, indicated that details should be released within a few days.

And while a spokesman for Senator Dick Lugar, the ranking Republican on the committee, already indicated earlier that Republicans were not planning on insisting that former President Bill Clinton testify at her hearing, his name and affiliations - through his foundation work and speaking engagements - are bound to come up.

Along with Afghanistan and Iraq, the eruption of another crisis in the Mideast ensures hefty themes for senators to pursue as they explore what policy directions Senator Clinton might take as a member of the Obama administration. (It will be interesting to see how she draws on her husband's dogged pursuit of peace in the region from his days as president.)

Another heavyweight hearing - in the forefront because of the economic stimulus package under consideration and the mega-bailouts already approved - will be that of Timothy Geithner, for Treasury secretary. While a date hasn't been firmed up, his confirmation hearing will probably be held the week of Jan. 12.

The confirmation calendar, at this juncture, promises to be manna for policy wonks as everyone gets a glimpse of the incoming administration's plans and its collective (or not so) thinking. (And if the Holder-Clinton-Geithner hearings all commence the second week of January, get ready for a lot of C-Span split-screening. Or perhaps we’ll feel a need for multi-TiVo'ing.)

But let's not forget that the Senate is also likely to be incredibly distracted by the controversy over the appointment of Ronald Burris to replace Mr. Obama as one of Illinois' senators. The Democratic leadership, and Mr. Obama himself, are balking at seating Mr. Burris, a former state attorney general, because of the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, who named Mr. Burris on Tuesday.

Then again, there's still the protracted struggle over filling Minnesota's Senate seat. Will the Senate leadership insist on seating Al Franken if the incumbent, Norm Coleman, pursues a court battle?

Apart from those matters, still outstanding are other Senate Democratic seats not filled yet - to wit, Senator Clinton's of New York and Senator Salazar's of Colorado.




By Kate Phillips, The New York Times, December 31, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Sen. Bill Clinton? Don't completely rule it out.

The former president is among several boldface names being touted as possible "caretakers" for New York's Senate seat - people who would serve until the 2010 elections but wouldn't be interested in running to keep the job. As the process of picking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's replacement gets messier, the option may become increasingly attractive to Gov. David Paterson, who has sole authority to name a successor.

A big name like Bill Clinton or Democratic former Gov. Mario Cuomo could have an immediate impact for New York in the Senate while letting the large field of hopefuls duke it out in 2010, according to three Democratic Party advisers in New York and Washington who are close to the discussion with Paterson's inner circle on this issue.

Two others in the party confirmed that Paterson is still considering the caretaker option. The advisers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to comment.

"You could find a very senior person who could serve New York well" on an interim basis, said Gerald Benjamin, a political scientist and dean at the State University of New York at New Paltz. "Then you can say to Caroline Kennedy, `You know, you'd make a good senator. Run for it.' And you can tell everyone else that it's a level playing field."

Paterson has made it clear in recent days that he's getting annoyed by the constant jockeying by supporters of high-powered hopefuls including Kennedy, half a dozen members of Congress and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor.

The candidates - especially Kennedy - have made daily headlines as Paterson tries to focus on a fiscal crisis of historic proportions, his first budget proposal and preparations for his first full legislative session as governor. He took office last spring after disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned.

The caretaker option was exercised last month by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, who picked a former aide to Vice President-elect Joe Biden to succeed him in the Senate until a new senator is elected in 2010. By then, Biden's son, state Attorney General Beau Biden, will have returned from a tour in Iraq with the National Guard - just in time to run for his father's seat.

A week ago, Paterson said he favored appointing a senator soon after Clinton is confirmed to start building seniority, and he ruled out an interim placeholder. Under state law, there will be an election to fill the last two years of Hillary Clinton's term in 2010 and another for a full six-year term in 2012.

The process, however, wasn't supposed to be a big distraction.

Some of the other names circulating as possible caretakers among party operatives include the state's retired top jurist, Judith Kaye, and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, now president of the New School in New York City.

Mario Cuomo and Kaye declined through spokesmen Tuesday to discuss the Senate seat; Bill Clinton, Kerrey and Paterson did not respond to questions Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College poll, said the caretaker option wouldn't surprise him. "To pick a caretaker is to say ... win it in the court of public opinion."

An interim appointment also could sidestep an internal struggle in New York's Democratic Party.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver - the longest-serving and most powerful legislative leader in the state - has reservations about Kennedy, and Paterson needs Silver if he wants to battle powerful labor interests to turn around the state's fiscal problems.

But Kennedy's supporters include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent who is another important ally for Paterson.

Meanwhile, the handicapping continues about the prospects of some of the lesser-known contenders.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York City, who is known as a tenacious legislator, has been endorsed by three women's advocacy groups: the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and the National Women's Political Caucus. Political observers say Paterson is under pressure to pick a woman because all the state's top leaders - except Clinton - are men.

In the political blog Connecting.the.dots, media critic and editor Robert Stein wrote Sunday that a caretaker would show that Paterson has the best interests of the state in mind during the fiscal crisis, while letting powerful political families fight it out in an election two years down the road.

Doug Muzzio, professor of politics at Baruch College, isn't convinced.

"If in fact you are looking to appoint a senator who can be an effective advocate for the people of the state, those two years you can learn a lot and to give that up is problematic."

But Muzzio also sees some benefit to Paterson in picking a caretaker.

"If he is feeling trapped about this Caroline Kennedy thing, this gives him, in a sense, a way out ... without naming someone else that would really anger the pro-Kennedy people," he said.

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, The Associated Press, December 31, 2008

With just six days till the start of the 111th Congress, the Illinois corruption scandal has complicated what was already shaping up to be an oddly dramatic start for the United States Senate.

Senate Democrats -- who have been rejoicing that four members of their caucus were departing for the new administration -- are left to deal with the mess of the successions of President-elect Barack Obama, Vice-President-elect Joseph Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar.

The most high-profile scenario involves what Democrats will do if Roland Burris, the choice of scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich (Ill.), shows up Tuesday to try to take the oath of office for Obama's seat.

But let's first consider the oddity surrounding Biden.

Not only did Biden win the vice presidency on Nov. 4, he also was elected by the voters of Delaware to his seventh six-year term in the Senate. Unlike Obama, who stepped down from the Senate shortly after the election, Biden has not yet resigned. That's because Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) cannot appoint his successor until Biden's next term actually begins.

So Biden, the next vice president, is going to be on hand at noon Tuesday to get sworn in as a senator by the outgoing vice president, Richard Cheney. Then, according to Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander, sometime between Tuesday and Jan. 20 Biden will officially resign from the Senate -- to become vice president.

Biden's new job, as dictated by the Constitution, will have only one real function: to be president of the chamber he just resigned from.

As confusing as that sounds, Biden and Minner have made clear what will happen with Biden's seat. Biden's former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, will accept the appointment and serve for just two years -- at which point he will not seek to retain the seat. This will allow for a likely bid in 2010 from Biden's son, Beau, the state attorney general currently serving a tour of duty with the Delaware Army National Guard in Iraq.

Illinois voters might love such an easy route to figuring out who their next senator will be.

Over the objections of Obama and Senate Democratic leaders, Blagojevich yesterday announced his appointment of Burris, who appears to have no ties to the scandals that have landed the governor in trouble with federal authorities, including charges he was trying to sell the Senate appointment to the highest bidder.

"I'm absolutely confident and certain that the United States Senate is going to seat a man of Roland Burris's unquestioned integrity, extensive experience, and his long history of public service. This is about Roland Burris as a United States senator, not about the governor who makes the appointment," Blagojevich told reporters.

This defiance has left several possible outcomes in the Senate:

By Paul Kane, The Washington Post, December 31, 2008