Hillary Clinton is back in campaign mode. This time, the town halls are in South Korea, not South Carolina, and she's shaking hands to win supporters in Indonesia instead of Iowa.

In her first trip as President Barack Obama's top diplomat, Secretary of State Clinton has taken her talents as a politician and her personal celebrity to East Asia, stumping to rehabilitate a view of America battered by widespread disapproval of former President George W. Bush's foreign policy.

From a speech to Korean college women, who quizzed her on love and motherhood, to a walk through a poor Jakarta neighborhood where the U.S. is funding health and sanitation projects, Clinton's trip has been heavy on a message for ordinary people: The door is open and the U.S. is ready to listen.

"Showing up is not all of life, but it counts for a lot," Clinton, 61, told reporters traveling with her. "I see our job right now, given where we are in the world and what we've inherited, as repairing relations not only with governments, but with people."

Clinton, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama, said she wants to use "smart power" and people-to- people contacts as a cornerstone of a new foreign policy that will engage the world, and her listening tour through the region is the first showcase of that approach.

Indonesia Praised

The new secretary of state went out of her way at every stop in Jakarta to lavish praise on Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority democracy. At every opportunity in Japan and South Korea, she underscored the importance of the longstanding U.S. allies.

"If you want to see democracy and Islam and plurality all coexisting in one place, this is the place," she said on "Dahsyat," a nationally televised Indonesian pop music show whose name translates as "Awesome."

In Indonesia, Clinton and Obama are building on gains Bush won by sending U.S. Navy vessels and helicopters to mount relief efforts following the devastating December 2004 tsunami. The percentage of Indonesians with a favorable view of the U.S. rebounded, after having plummeted because of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to the Pew Global Attitudes survey.

Love of Her Life

At roundtables and town halls in all the countries, the image most captivating to some people is of Clinton herself. Mixed in with queries on her views about the Middle East have been questions about the difficulties of a work-life balance and how she knew Bill Clinton was the love of her life. The hosts of "Dahsyat" were curious about her favorite musical groups (the Beatles and the Rolling Stones).

It remains to be seen, however, whether dinners with community activists and neighborhood walks can repair a view of the U.S. damaged by a war in Iraq and dissatisfaction with American efforts to settle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Putra Nababan, 34, who works on the Indonesian entertainment show that was contacted by the U.S. officials seeking an invitation for Clinton to appear, said they had never had a foreign leader or foreign minister on the program.

"This is strictly her team's idea, to appear to a younger- age audience," he said. "She is trying to grow a different image of America, and it might or might not work."

Not Formal

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was "so formal" when she visited Indonesia, Nababan said. "Hillary is trying to appear differently," swaying along with the music when she was serenaded by a youth choir.

"It's sending a signal: I respect you and I'm your friend," he said.

Not everyone is convinced yet by the charm offensive.

"We heard President Obama's speech about building relations with the Muslim world, and now we want to see some action, not just the promise," said Edy Suprayitno, 32, a motorcycle-taxi driver in Jakarta.

While informal outreach to ordinary citizens has its place, it isn't clear how much soft diplomacy can do to restore relations with police states such as North Korea, Cuba or Syria.

"I don't want to oversell this because there are some very intractable and difficult problems," Clinton said yesterday. Still, in the age of the Internet, even authoritarian governments are increasingly subject to the pressure of public opinion, and the U.S. should at least try to engage people who live under repressive regimes, she said.

'Extended Hand'

"Not everyone will unclench their fist," Clinton said, echoing words Obama used in his inaugural address last month. "But the message of our extended hand has impact."

All week, Clinton has repeated that the U.S. will normalize ties with North Korea and sign a peace treaty if the North agrees to verifiable and complete nuclear disarmament.

"A lot of international diplomacy is a head game," and some "regimes decide that they don't want to unclench their fist," Clinton said. Still, if the U.S. tries diplomacy first, it will bolster the case for demanding strong measures against rogue states, she told reporters traveling with her.

To that end, the ability to connect with ordinary citizens who can influence their regimes "is an asset that the president has in extraordinary intensity" and which, she added, "I have to some extent as well."

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Bloomberg, February 21, 2009