The euphoria that greeted Hillary Clinton's arrival at the State Department on Thursday was not unfamiliar. Every few years, the usually reserved diplomats at Foggy Bottom drop their world-weariness and get all googly-eyed over a new leader: When Colin Powell took charge in January 2001, he was mobbed by starstruck Foreign Service officers hoping he'd reverse the department's diminishing stature under Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright. In early 2005, their adulation was even more desperate as they greeted Condoleezza Rice following Powell's four-year emasculation at the hands of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney.

What the downcast diplomats really seek is someone who will return the State Department to the central role it played in the days when American diplomacy shaped the most important world events. And they embraced Secretary Clinton with fervor, as she arrived promising a new era of robust diplomacy. With President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at her side, she underscored that promise by announcing the appointments of two high-powered envoys to take charge of diplomatic efforts in key hot spots: Richard Holbrooke was named Special Adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Senator George Mitchell was named special envoy for the Middle East.

But as much as the envoys' appointments raise hopes for renewed vigor in American diplomacy, they raise questions, too:What are their briefs, and does the appointment of either, in itself, signal that the Obama Administration plans to adopt new approaches? To whom will they report, and will deploying two such big-name players result in conflict with their bosses or counterparts elsewhere in the bureaucracy? "It shows that given the enormity of the challenges [Clinton] faces, she's not scared to get the highest-caliber people," says Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation. "But how do you make it work?"

There are reasons to be optimistic that Holbrooke and Mitchell, and Clinton herself for that matter, are part of a new beginning for American diplomacy. Obama made the rejuvenation of diplomacy a centerpiece of his campaign, and he has named a serious and strong-willed team whose members hate to fail. Both envoys are known to be energetic in the field and have records of peacemaking achievement: Holbrooke in brokering the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Bosnia conflict, Mitchell in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement that marked the beginning of the end of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.

Some see Mitchell as representing a change in approach to the Middle East. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told New York's Jewish Week that he was "concerned" because Mitchell's "meticulously evenhanded" approach - he was tasked with formulating proposals to restore the Isreaeli-Palestinian peace process during the upsurge of violence that followed the failed Camp David summit in 2000 - could represent a break from a policy based on U.S. support for Israel. Gaith al-Omari, a former Palestinian negotiator, says Mitchell's appointment "does send a very good signal, and it's creating some excitement among Palestinians."

Those who believe that an effective peace process will require that the U.S. talk to Hamas are finding hope in the Mitchell selection. Reflecting two years ago in the International Herald Tribune on his experience in Northern Ireland, Mitchell wrote, "Including in the political process those previously associated with violent groups can actually help. Sometimes it's hard to stop a war if you don't talk with those who are involved in it." Clinton and Obama have, however, insisted that the U.S. will not talk with Hamas until the group renounces violence, recognizes Israel and agrees to abide by previous Palestinian agreements. And on Friday, Clinton is expected to announce another key adviser in Dennis Ross, who has taken a hawkish view on engaging Hamas. Conflicts within this group of players in the new Administration seem almost inevitable.

Holbrooke, for his part, faces the unenviable task of trying to get the antagonistic governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to work together against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. That inevitably requires navigating the fraught relationship between Pakistan's civilian government and its security establishment and the rising tensions with neighboring India following last year's Mumbai terrorist attacks. Clinton described Holbrooke's role in broad terms, saying he would coordinate "across the entire government an effort to achieve U.S. strategic goals," including working with military leaders, foreign aid workers and diplomats in the region. Holbrooke, more than any other diplomat of his generation, is known for his effectiveness but also his relentless leveraging of power and authority to achieve his ends. He was a key foreign policy aide to Clinton during her primary campaign, but controlling him now will be difficult: expect shoving matches among the envoy, the military and USAID, which has helped pour billions of dollars in U.S. assistance into Afghanistan over the past eight years. Holbrooke on Thursday made a point of calling Clinton his "boss."

If the weary diplomats at the State Department want nothing more than action on the diplomatic front, they're certainly going to get it from Holbrooke and Mitchell. Whether the two men will actually succeed may depend on the policies that guide their efforts and on Clinton's skills in managing them. She had a simple message for everyone at Foggy Bottom on her first day at work. "This is a team," she told the gathered diplomats. "We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America." Says Levy of the New America Foundation: "I think you can make it work."

By Massiomo Calabresi, Time, January 23, 2009

Kennedy's Withdrawal Illustrates a Double Standard, Some Say

With her abrupt exit this week from consideration for the Senate, Caroline Kennedy added her name to a growing list: women who have sought the nation's highest offices only to face insurmountable hurdles.

Like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin before her, Kennedy illustrated what some say is an enduring double standard in the handling of ambitious female office-seekers. Even as more women step forward as contenders for premier political jobs, observers say, few seem able to get there.

In less than two months, Kennedy, 51, was transformed from a beloved, if elusive, national icon into a laughingstock in the New York media, mocked for her verbal tics and criticized for her spotty voting record. After she withdrew from consideration, speculation floated that she had done so to avoid discussion of an illegal nanny and back taxes, charges that people close to Kennedy disputed and that New York Gov. David A. Paterson's office indicated in a statement yesterday were not factors. Paterson plans to name a successor today to Clinton, who vacated the Senate seat to become President Obama's secretary of state.

Many political observers dismissed the notion that Kennedy's difficulties had anything to do with gender, noting that she came across as a novice and sought appointment just as the national tolerance for family dynasties seemed to ebb. Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist, said any suggestion that Kennedy was treated unfairly because of her sex was "nonsense." "The New York press corps is an equal opportunity candidate-basher," he said. "New York politics is rough and tumble, and she was too much of a lady for it. This is a very tough place to do politics in."

Nonetheless, during Kennedy's candidacy, three other Senate vacancies were filled with far less drama by little-known men. Michael Bennet (D), a 44-year-old schools superintendent from Denver who had never held elected office, was sworn in yesterday to take the Colorado seat vacated by Ken Salazar (D), who became interior secretary. In Delaware, Vice President Biden was replaced by his own chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, widely seen as a placeholder so that Biden's son can run for the seat in 2010, after he returns from Iraq.

And in Illinois, Roland W. Burris (D) ultimately gained the seat vacated by Obama, despite being picked by a governor charged with corruption and the open opposition of both the Democratic majority and the incoming president.

"There's something different about when women run," said Bob Shrum, a Democratic consultant and a close ally of Kennedy. Echoing the complaints of many other family friends, Shrum noted that much of the criticism of Kennedy centered on her demeanor -- her soft voice and use of the phrase "you know" -- similar to the types of complaints that were so prevalent during the campaigns of Clinton and Palin.

At the outset of the presidential campaign, Clinton was widely favored to win the Democratic nomination, as well as the presidency. But her quest was trumped by Obama. Palin was initially celebrated as John McCain's running mate, before questions about her qualifications weighed down the Republican ticket.

Advisers to Clinton and Palin -- and the candidates themselves -- complained at various times about treatment they considered biased. But their rivals said their problems had nothing to do with gender, but rather with personal flaws.

Women did little better in congressional elections, as their numbers remained virtually stagnant. The House added four women, bringing the total to 75 of the 435 members. The number of women in the Senate -- 16 -- will either stay the same or go up by one, depending on who replaces Clinton.

Some female candidates say they face media scrutiny and public criticism on questions that rarely derail male contenders.

For example, another prominent New Yorker, Timothy F. Geithner, withstood questions about more than $30,000 in unpaid back taxes and an improperly documented household helper but has moved ahead as the future Treasury secretary.

Kennedy's stumbles began not long after the former first daughter expressed her interest in the job. Initially, she ducked the news media and then seemed to do so in fits and starts. She also failed to garner support from many powerful women in New York who might have backed her had she sided with Clinton over Obama in the Democratic primary.

To some, the clunky way she withdrew from the race early yesterday -- after hours of speculative reports that she was pulling out, followed by contradictory reports that she wasn't -- showed that she was unqualified.

"There's just a high degree of frustration in our camp with how things unfolded yesterday, and it typifies why Caroline was not going to be his pick," said a person familiar with the governor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly.

Kennedy cited a "personal, private matter" that is not related to the poor health of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), her uncle, who has brain cancer, people close to her said.

But among her allies, it was clear that harsh assessments of her performance and her sagging poll numbers played at least a partial role.

Several Democratic strategists said the Kennedy conundrum was in part unique to her and in part reflective of what other high-profile women encountered this year. Dee Dee Myers, press secretary in Bill Clinton's White House, said it was difficult to untangle questions about scrutiny Kennedy faced as a woman from those she faced as a New Yorker, where attention is fierce, or as a celebrity or member of the fabled Kennedy family.

But Myers said that "questions about her resume absolutely have to do with her gender."

"I don't see it as thin, I see it as unconventional," Myers said of Kennedy's resume, which includes work as an author and schools fundraiser. "I don't see why running a hedge fund is better preparation for doing the people's business than writing books or working in the school system and raising a family."

Political strategist Donna Brazile noted the contrast between the excitement surrounding Obama's inauguration this week and the general public attitude toward women in office, one that she said helped drive Kennedy out of the running.

"Obama inspired us to turn the page, and now women seem stuck in the table of contents," she said.

Noting that women still make up less than 20 percent of both houses of Congress, Brazile said: "The elevator to our future growth in the Congress is still stuck in the lobby. It's time we hurry history."

Many are eagerly watching to see whether Paterson picks another woman, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, when he names his appointment today.

By Anne E. Kornblut, The Washington Post, January 23, 2009

UPDATE, 12:28 p.m.: Gov. David Paterson (D) made his appointment of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate vacancy caused by Hillary Clinton's ascension to Secretary of State official moments ago in Albany.

"I didn't ask for this responsibility but it is my privilege and honor to execute our state statute," said Paterson at a press conference in which he was flanked by Gillibrand as well as Sen. Chuck Schumer, former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R) and many other Empire State politicos.

"She is dynamic, she is articulate, she is perceptive and she is outspoken," Paterson said of his pick.

Gillibrand thanked Paterson for "this incredible honor" and pledged to partner with Paterson to solve the budget crisis gripping New York. Gillibrand acknowledged she is not a well known name statewide but said she would use the next two years to get to know the "diverse views and diverse voices" of the state.

Original Post

New York Gov. David Paterson has decided to appoint Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the open Senate seat left by Hillary Rodham Clinton's appointment as secretary of state, and will formalize the decision today in Albany, according to four sources familiar with the decision.

Gillibrand was reelected to a second term in her Albany-area district last November and was long seen as the potential pick that could help Paterson most as the governor looks to a bid for a full four year term in 2010. Paterson had made clear he favored a woman and by naming an Upstate member of Congress the governor can expand his potential appeal in that crucial swing area.

The announcement of Gillibrand as Paterson's pick will come 36 hours after Caroline Kennedy removed her name from consideration citing personal reasons. Kennedy's decision to actively campaign for the appointment was greeted with a crush of national media attention and she struggled at times as she adjusted to the rigors of public life.

The drama surrounding Kennedy insured that all of the other potential picks -- including state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a political star in his own right -- received next-to-no publicity.

Gillibrand was regarded as an afterthought by many -- without the star power of Kennedy or Cuomo and in only her second term in the House. But, her profile as an Upstate candidate with the ferocious fundraising ability ($4.7 million raised in the 2008 election cycle) of a New York City politician may have helped her secure the appointment. Fundraising is considered critical to the statewide success of the appointed senator as Gillibrand will have to run in a 2010 special election and then again in 2012 for the full six-year term.

Republicans had privately hoped that Paterson would choose Kennedy, believing that the she could be beaten in a general election. Rep. Peter King of Long Island is seriously considering the race.

Gillibrand's appointment will set off a special election to fill her GOP-leaning House seat.

By Paul Volpe, The Washington Post, January 23, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has signed an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option.

Liberal groups welcomed the decision while abortion rights foes criticized the president. Known as the "Mexico City policy," the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since GOP President Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.

Obama signed it quietly, without coverage by the media, late on Friday afternoon, a contrast to the midday signings with fanfare of executive orders on other subjects earlier in the week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

Liberal groups welcomed the decision while abortion rights foes criticized the president. Known as the "Mexico City policy," the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since GOP President Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.

The policy bans U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of U.S. Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion. It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that lobby to legalize abortion or promote it as a family planning method.

A Democratic official and a senior U.S. official who disclosed the plans did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to pre-empt Obama's announcement.

Obama was expected to sign the executive order at a low-key event, one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign. Clinton visited the U.S. Agency for International Development, through which much U.S. foreign aid is disbursed, on Friday but made no mention of the step.

Obama has spent his first days in office systematically signing executive orders reversing Bush administration policies on issues ranging from foreign policy to government operations.

In a move related to the lifting of the abortion rule, Obama also is expected to restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), probably in the next budget. Both he and Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration determination that assistance to the organization violated U.S. law.

The Bush administration had barred U.S. money from the fund, contending that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.

Organizations that had pressed Obama to make the abortion-ban change were jubilant.

"Women's health has been severely impacted by the cutoff of assistance. President Obama's actions will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning," said Tod Preston, a spokesman for Population Action International, an advocacy group.

Anti-abortion groups criticized the move.

"President Obama not long ago told the American people that he would support policies to reduce abortions, but today he is effectively guaranteeing more abortions by funding groups that promote abortion as a method of population control," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.

By LIZ SIDOTI and MATTHEW LEE, The Associated Press, January 23, 2009

ALBANY, N.Y. - Instantly opening a rift among New York Democrats, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand - a little-known, pro-gun Democrat from a rural Republican district - won appointment Friday to the Senate seat left vacant by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gov. David Paterson announced his choice a day after presumed front-runner Caroline Kennedy - a woman with considerably more star power but less experience - mysteriously dropped out of contention in an embarrassing turn of events that touched off sniping between the governor and the Kennedy camp.

Gillibrand, at 42, will be the youngest member of the Senate and one of 17 women in the chamber. The second-term congresswoman will assume the seat once held by Kennedy's uncle Robert F. Kennedy as well as by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

"For many in New York state, this is the first time you've heard my name and you don't know much about me," said Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-ih-brand). "Over the next two years, you will get to know me. And, more importantly, I will get to know you."

Before the governor even took the podium to introduce Gillibrand, anti-gun crusader Rep. Carolyn McCarthy said she would challenge Gillibrand in the Democratic primary next year, or find someone who would. Gillibrand has a 100 percent voting record with the National Rifle Association.

McCarthy, a Long Island Democrat who ran for Congress after her husband was shot to death and her son wounded in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre, said someone with such a record should not be the next senator from New York.

"The majority of New Yorkers believe in trying to reduce gun violence," she said.

Her complaint was echoed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent who has been one of the nation's most vocal gun control advocates. In a statement, the mayor noted his "strong disagreement with one area of her record as a member of Congress: illegal guns."

Bloomberg and McCarthy said Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation to deny information cities and police need to track illegal gun use. The legislation passed in the House but was never considered by the Senate, McCarthy said.

At the news conference, Gillibrand commended McCarthy for her "outstanding leadership in fighting against gun violence and keeping our children safe," and added: "I pledge to work with her on her signature bill for updating background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals." Gillibrand said she would support gun control "but also protect our hunters' rights."

The Senate appointment lasts until 2010, when a special election will be held to fill the final two years of Clinton's term.

In picking Gillibrand, the governor passed over a number of better-known and more accomplished politicians, including New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Paterson cited Gillibrand's work ethic, background as a securities lawyer and knowledge of issues important to New York. He stressed that he didn't choose her because she was a woman or from upstate New York.

Several of those passed over didn't attend the news conference, even after the governor summoned New York's congressional delegation to Albany. Cuomo was among the no-shows, even though Gillibrand worked for him as legal counsel when he was housing secretary under President Bill Clinton.

Paterson "has likely engendered the wrath - privately, if not publicly - of a great number of prominent Democratic officials who would have liked the job themselves," said Steven Greenberg, a Siena College pollster.

President Barack Obama issued a statement praising the choice, saying Gillibrand would be a "strong voice for transparency and reform in government."

Clinton, whose nomination for secretary of state was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, also offered praise for Gillibrand, who worked on Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign.

"Kristen is an intelligent and dedicated public servant and a dear friend. I'm pleased that this seat, which has been my great honor to hold ... will be in such capable hands," Clinton said.

Meanwhile, the "personal reasons" that Kennedy cited in dropping out of contention remained a mystery.

A friend of Kennedy's who was involved in the selection process said Kennedy had a "minor issue with a nanny" that the governor's staff found to be irrelevant. The friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, also said Kennedy had a $615 city tax lien that was settled in 1994 but no other tax problems.

Gillibrand, a married mother of two sons, modeled her own political career after Clinton's.

Her father is one of the most powerful lobbyists in the state capital, and she is the granddaughter of Polly Noonan, an intimate of the legendary Albany Mayor Erastus Corning.

After Gillibrand worked in New York City for a white-shoe law firm with long ties to the Democratic Party, Clinton introduced her to deep-pocketed donors and vouched for her as a candidate.

As a lawmaker, she has projected a down-home image in tune with her rural district, which stretches from Lake Placid past the state capital of Albany. Besides the backing of the NRA, she has the strong support of the New York Farm Bureau, which described her as "a leading advocate for agriculture in Washington." Her Web site's homepage includes a picture of cows.

Gillibrand beat Republican Rep. John Sweeney in 2006 in a nasty campaign and won again last fall against a former state Republican chairman in the GOP district.

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press, January 24, 2009

WASHINGTON - Signaling his determination to use diplomacy to address the world's toughest conflicts, President Obama went to the State Department on Thursday to install high-level emissaries to handle the Arab-Israeli issue and Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama struck an empathetic tone toward Palestinians in Gaza, who he said were suffering greatly after the recently halted Israeli military campaign against Hamas. But he signaled no major shift in American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton jointly introduced the emissaries, George J. Mitchell, who will be special envoy for Arab-Israeli affairs, and Richard C. Holbrooke, who will hold the title of special representative and will be responsible for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr. Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, helped broker a peace agreement in Northern Ireland. Mr. Holbrooke, a longtime diplomat who was the American ambassador to the United Nations, played a central role in drafting the 1995 Dayton peace accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.

The appointment of such diplomatic heavyweights could pose a challenge to Mrs. Clinton as she seeks to carve out her place as the nation's chief diplomat. Each was once viewed as a potential secretary of state, and Mr. Holbrooke, in particular, will have a wide-ranging portfolio.

Underscoring the potentially tangled lines of authority, Mrs. Clinton said that the National Security Council, led by Gen. James L. Jones, would play a coordinating role on Afghanistan and Pakistan. She emphasized unity, saying, "We want to send a clear and unequivocal message: we are a team."

Already, though, there is some jockeying over whether the State Department or the White House will dominate foreign policy - with the first skirmishes playing out in the titles given to the emissaries.

Both Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Holbrooke will report to Mrs. Clinton, and through her, to Mr. Obama, according to a State Department spokesman. But as if to dramatize the murkiness of the arrangement, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who accompanied Mr. Obama to the State Department, seemed confused at one point about whether the new president or the new secretary of state would introduce the emissaries. (It was Mrs. Clinton.)

As a special envoy, the State Department spokesman said, Mr. Mitchell will have a more traditional role, working out of the State Department. As a special representative, administration officials said, Mr. Holbrooke will have the freedom to roam - and to represent Mr. Obama, the National Security Council and even the Pentagon.

Mr. Holbrooke and General Jones, Mr. Obama's national security adviser, wanted Mr. Holbrooke to be able to speak directly to the White House, an official said. General Jones once led NATO's Supreme Allied Command in Afghanistan and plans to be deeply involved in Afghan policy.

With the United States about to deploy 30,000 more troops there, policymaking on Afghanistan is as much about the military as about diplomacy, officials said, so Mr. Holbrooke will have to cut across departments.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden visited the State Department hours after Mrs. Clinton arrived for her first day of work there. She received a hero's welcome from more than a thousand State Department employees, who whooped and cheered as if it were a campaign rally.

"This is going to be a great adventure," Mrs. Clinton said to employees in a lively 10-minute address, with people craning to see her from a balcony in the flag-lined lobby of the State Department.

"I will do all that I can, working with you, to make it abundantly clear that robust diplomacy and effective development are the best long-term tools for securing America's future," Mrs. Clinton said.

Mr. Obama made the same point in his speech to senior and midlevel diplomats in the ornate Benjamin Franklin room. And he went out of his way to praise his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. "I've given you an early gift: Hillary Clinton," he said, to noisy applause.

The State Department has been demoralized by a lack of resources and the primacy of the Pentagon in overseas operations. Among the crowd gathered to greet Mrs. Clinton, there was a palpable hope that the department finally had a forceful advocate. Her arrival - she was bathed in flashbulbs and mobbed by outstretched hands - was more suited to a celebrity than a government official.

"The employees are ecstatic that we now have a secretary of state who is going to fight for the resources we need," said John Naland, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, the professional association and labor union representing career diplomats. "For three years, there were almost no requests for additional staffing and resources."

To bolster the department's fund-raising efforts on Capitol Hill, Mrs. Clinton has named Jacob J. Lew, a former budget director in the Clinton administration, as one of two deputies. The other deputy is James B. Steinberg, a deputy national security adviser to President Clinton. Both appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday for their confirmation hearings.

While Mr. Obama's remarks on the Middle East did not break new ground, his reference to the plight of Palestinians suggested that his administration might strive for a more evenhanded tone.

"Our hearts go out to the Palestinian civilians who are in need of food, clean water and basic medical care," he said, noting that the blocking of border crossings in Gaza had deepened their misery.

Mr. Mitchell, 75, said his experience in Northern Ireland, where sectarian conflict raged for centuries, had prepared him for the grueling work of a Middle East peace negotiator. "We had 700 days of failure and one day of success," he said.

Mr. Holbrooke, 67, who spoke of his roots as a junior diplomat, offered no details about future policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But he demonstrated his assertive personal style, saying he would coordinate "what is clearly a chaotic foreign assistance program" in Afghanistan.

Foreign-policy analysts uniformly praised both men, but some said Mrs. Clinton would need to assert her authority.

"There's no precedent for a secretary of state to subcontract two incredibly high-profile and politically resonant issues so early in her tenure," said Aaron David Miller, an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. "That could create a management problem."





By Mark Landler, The New York Times, January 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - On her first day as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday did what she does best: She used her star quality to shine attention on a State Department that felt it had been in the shadows for far too long.

With a broad smile, Clinton won excited, almost giddy, applause and cheers from hundreds of diplomats, foreign service officers and staff as she worked a ropeline in the department's packed main lobby yesterday morning.

Her much anticipated and watched arrival was a moment President Barack Obama could not pass up - he dedicated yesterday to making a sharp break from the past eight years of foreign policy.

As if to underscore Clinton's role both as the high-profile public face of U.S. diplomacy, and as a member of his team of rivals, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden paid an unusually early visit to Foggy Bottom.

"I've given you an early gift: Hillary Clinton. In her, you will have a secretary of state who has my full confidence," Obama told State Department diplomats and staff yesterday afternoon.

"My appearance today," he continued, "underscores my commitment to the importance of diplomacy and renewing American leadership."

On the day he signed orders to close the Gitmo prison camp, to reassess trials of detainees and to outlaw torture, Obama also appointed two new special envoys to the most troubled spots in the world.

But in keeping with protocol and teamwork, he allowed Clinton to introduce George Mitchell, who will try to broker peace in the Middle East, and Richard Holbrooke, who will work on the troubled countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The president and I feel very grateful for the willingness of both of these extraordinary Americans to serve," Clinton said.

Though she hoped to be president, and already had served eight years in the White House as first lady and another eight years as New York senator, Clinton appeared comfortable in her new role.

She showed up at 9:15 a.m. and after a short ceremony, went to her office and phoned her counterparts in other countries, including Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. She then took an intelligence briefing and toured the building before holding a closed meeting with Obama, Biden and national security advisers.

Though it was a day of smiles and camera flashes, the uncertainty and gravity of international affairs weighed heavy. "This is not going to be easy," she said, upon arriving. "I don't want anybody to leave this extraordinarily warm reception thinking, 'Oh, good,' you know, 'this is going to be great!' It's going to be hard."

By TOM BRUNE, Newsday, January 23, 2009

When a new secretary of State arrives for work at The Building in Foggy Bottom -- which looks like a leftover from the Stalinist school of architecture -- there's an elevator waiting to take the new Cabinet officer from the main entrance on C Street to his or her seventh-floor power office.

Sometimes there's an all-hands-on-deck meeting in the agency's huge auditorium.

But today, when political rock star Hillary Rodham Clinton showed up for her first day of work, there was an enormous crowd of hundreds of foreign service and civilian employees packed along the agency's lobby balcony and stairwell that looked for all the world like an adoring political rally.

Amid the tumultuous welcome, Steve Kaskent, who represents the foreign service union, drew a laugh from Clinton -- and everyone else -- when he said, "So far we are thrilled to have you here."

Clinton lost no time in signaling to the employees -- and the international community -- that U.S. foreign policy has changed course. "I believe with all of....

...my heart that this is a new era for America," she said.

Noting that she welcomes "a good debate and the kind of dialog that will make us better," Clinton urged employees to "think outside the proverbial box."

The nomination of Clinton as secretary of State surprised some pundits who questioned why Barack Obama would give his toughest opponent in the presidential race such a plum assignment. The selection was no surprise to those who knew that Obama and his staffers were reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals," in which the historian described how Abraham Lincoln effectively won over some of his key opponents by putting them in his Cabinet.

This afternoon, Obama plans to underscore Clinton's message on foreign policy when he too, along with Vice President Joe Biden and national security advisor James Jones, stops by the State Department to rally the troops.

Obama will also signal his interest in engaging in foreign policy with the appointment of three envoys who are heavyweights in their own right -- Richard Holbrooke for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dennis Ross for Iran and George Mitchell for the Middle East.

But for Clinton, a former first lady and senator from New York who had hoped to be the first female president in U.S. history, the moment was personal as well as political. "I am absolutely honored and thrilled beyond words to be here with you as our nation's 67th secretary of state," she said.

By Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's new Middle East envoy says there's "no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended." And former Senate Majority leader George Mitchell is pledging his full effort to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.

Mitchell said Thursday he'll be facing a "volatile, complex and dangerous" conflict - one that has become so entrenched, it's seen by many as unchangeable. But he says Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton aren't convinced of that.

With Obama looking on, Clinton introduced Mitchell to a State Department audience, saying he'd work to advance prospects for peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Mitchell says he saw during his work as an envoy in Northern Ireland that even a conflict that dates hundreds of years can be resolved.

The Associated Press, January 22, 2009

At noon Friday in Albany, 36 hours after Caroline Kennedy's abrupt withdrawal from consideration, New York Gov. David Paterson plans to announce his pick.

It was a long and winding selection process and most of the dozen-plus prospects, including top-tier contenders such as Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, kept low profiles.

Kennedy's bid was public, awkward and brief. She exited just past midnight Thursday in a sentence: "I informed Gov. Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate."

In his own statement Thursday, Paterson said he talked privately with Kennedy on Wednesday and did not respond to inquiries "to allow her time to deliberate." He said of her withdrawal, "This decision was hers alone."

Paterson also said he learned of nothing that "created a necessity for any candidate to withdraw. Any speculation to the contrary is both inaccurate and inappropriate." His statement came after an online New York Times report that Kennedy withdrewover an issue involving taxes and a household employee.

Kennedy spokesman Stefan Friedman did not return calls.

Kennedy's cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr., said Thursday morning on MSNBC that her extended family strongly supported her quest but "within her immediate family, there may have been some reluctance."

It was unclear whether Paterson had planned to choose Kennedy. She was a top contender along with Cuomo and Gillibrand. "They were always the three that people thought the governor was focused on," said Democrat Joel Benenson, a New York-based pollster.

While Kennedy brought her family's celebrity and public-service tradition, Cuomo led in polls of state voters, and Gillibrand is a rising party star.

Cuomo was secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration and won his current job in 2006. An activist attorney general, he has investigated appraisal fraud in mortgages, corruption in the student lending industry and manipulation of reimbursement rates by health insurers. All led to changes that help consumers.

Gillibrand, a centrist Democrat who supports gun rights, has shown growing strength in a Republican-leaning House district that ranges up the Hudson River from suburban New York City to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. In 2006, she raised $2.6 million and beat GOP incumbent John Sweeney, 53%-47%.

Last year, former state GOP chairman Sandy Treadwell spent $7 million against Gillibrand. She raised $4.6 million and defeated him 62%-38%.

By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY, January 22, 2009

New York Gov. David Paterson is considering filling Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's former Senate seat with two-term Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, according to local media reports.

The selection would give upstate New York representation in the Senate and also would not change the number of women in the upper chamber.

There was a flurry of activity related to the seat in the past 24 hours. First, Clinton was confirmed and then it became known that Caroline Kennedy was withdrawing her name from consideration.

Following that decision, Gillibrand, 42, appeared to quickly rise to the list of top contenders.

A Gillibrand appointment would not be without controversy. The New York Times reported that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a strong gun control activist who was elected to Congress after her husband was killed by gunfire, would consider a primary challenge against Gillibrand.

By Klaus Marre, The Hill, January 22, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at her new office in Foggy Bottom to much applause from the people who will be working for her, saying that a "new era for America" is dawning.

"I'm going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can," Clinton told her new staff. "I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better."

In return, the new secretary of State pledged that she would do "all that I can, working with our president, to make sure that we deliver on the promises that are at the very core of what this new administration and this new era represent."

The former first lady heaped praise upon President Obama, with whom she fought a protracted and contentious primary battle last year, and lauded his commitment to working with the State Department to advance his agenda.

She noted that Obama would visit the department later Thursday.

"This is going to be a great adventure. We'll have some ups and some downs. We'll face some obstacles along the way," Clinton said. "But be of good cheer and be of strong heart and do not grow weary as we attempt to do good on behalf of our country and the world."

By Klaus Marre, The Hill, January 22, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gets a warm and rousing welcome on her first day at her new job. In brief remarks from a staircase in the lobby of the State Department, Clinton tells hundreds of foreign service officers and employees that she expects them to work as a team within the new administration.

"We aren't any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America," she says, without elaboration.

She also notes that her new boss, President Obama, will be stopping by in the afternoon for a visit.

Update at 2:54 p.m. ET: Clinton welcomes President Obama and Vice President Biden to the State Department. She also officially announces appointment of former Sen. George Mitchell, of Maine, as Middle East envoy, and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

By Doug Stanglin, USA Today, January 22, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has kicked off her new position as chief diplomat by introducing herself to State Department diplomats and employees.

Clinton's appointment was confirmed overwhelmingly by the Senate on Wednesday.

She arrived for work under sunny morning skies at the main entrance to State Department headquarters and entered Thursday morning to a burst of applause and cheers from hundreds of department employees.

She told career diplomats and political appointees that "not everybody's ideas will make it into policy."

And Clinton also said, "This is not going to be easy. ... But if it weren't hard, somebody else could do it."

The Associated Press, January 22, 2009

She is sworn in about an hour after the 94-2 vote in the Senate.

Reporting from Washington -- The Senate overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton as President Obama's secretary of State on Wednesday, after a one-day delay forced by Republicans who wanted to continue debating her husband's overseas fundraising activities.

The delay had the effect of denying Clinton a confirmation vote on Inauguration Day, when six other Cabinet members were approved. But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who sought the delay, praised Clinton's abilities Wednesday and voted in favor. She was confirmed 94 to 2.

The only votes against her came from Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who favored further restrictions on donations to Bill Clinton's foundation, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who cited concern about her support for abortion rights.

The delay showed the willingness of Republican lawmakers to take a tough line with the new president by closely questioning his legislative proposals and nominees.

Republicans on Wednesday also forced a week's delay in the consideration of Atty. Gen.-designate Eric H. Holder Jr. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they still have questions about his role in controversial Clinton administration clemency cases and other matters.

Republicans who initiated the move included Cornyn, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The request was made by the committee's ranking Republican, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

The delay in the Clinton confirmation was sought by Cornyn, who said he requested it to allow senators to voice further concern about the former president's foundation, which, among other things, works to provide healthcare and promote economic growth in underdeveloped countries.

"I think it's important to flesh out the concerns raised," Cornyn said.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) accused Republicans of political motives. "This may give them some ability to do some fundraising they need to do for the coming election," she said.

An hour after the vote, Clinton was sworn in as secretary of State and resigned her U.S. Senate seat. She took charge of the department and planned to meet with State Department employees today.

The issue of Bill Clinton's charitable activities has been a concern for senators of both parties, who said that foreign governments and businesses could use donations to curry favor with the top U.S. diplomat.

To dispel concerns, the Clintons agreed in December with the Obama transition team to disclose the identities of future donors and to submit to State Department ethics reviews of foreign donations.

But some Republicans continued seeking more stringent safeguards, suggesting that the former president forgo any foreign contributions.

Nonetheless, the outcome of Wednesday's vote was never in doubt. The floor debate, like Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 13, brought generous praise for her talents.

DeMint, though voting against Clinton, said she was "uniquely and highly qualified." He raised concerns that the Obama administration might lift restrictions on federal funding of abortions overseas.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who lost the presidency to Obama, supported Clinton. McCain at one point proposed to halt the debate for a vote that could allow her to begin work immediately.

"The message that the American people are sending us now is that they want us to work together and get to work," he said.




By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking control of the State Department with a mandate from President Barack Obama to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation's tattered image abroad.

Her appointment, confirmed by the Senate and sealed in a private ceremony in her Senate office on Wednesday, came as Obama moved quickly in his first day in office to shore up a team of seasoned advisers and take the nation's foreign policy in a new direction.

Obama prepared to name former Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell as Clinton's special envoy to the Middle East, and he placed telephone calls to regional presidents.

The new administration also drafted executive orders to close the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, review military trials of terror suspects and end harsh interrogations.

Obama was to join Clinton at the State Department on Thursday, where the two were to address department employees. Obama, Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and national security adviser James Jones were to convene a closed-door meeting beforehand.

After being confirmed 94-2 by the Senate on Wednesday, Clinton delivered letters of resignation to Vice President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, and New York Gov. David Paterson, who will chose her replacement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said her swift confirmation was an imperative.

"We face two wars abroad, a complex and unpredictable crisis in the Middle East, the nuclear ambitions of a volatile Iranian regime, together with the complexities of dealing with North Korea," he said.

While Republicans agreed that Obama should be allowed to quickly pull together his Cabinet, some remained skeptical about his plans to revamp the nation's policies on such wartime issues as detainees.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who challenged the Bush administration's detainee policy in 2006 and helped write legislation governing the new court system, said he agrees that Guantanamo Bay should be closed and a new secure location found.

But "the prison is not the problem," Graham said in a recent interview. "For all the challenges facing the nation, finding a place to put (military prisoners) is not the issue. ... Before we move them, we need to know what's going to happen to them."

Graham, a colonel in the Air Force Reserves who served in Afghanistan last month and in Iraq a year ago, said he wants to work with the new administration to make sure the rules don't become too lenient on terrorists.

"I don't want to lose sight of the fact that we're at war," he said, adding that the worst possible scenario for the new administration would be the inadvertent release of a dangerous terrorist.

Congress must help to ensure the new system "restores our image, adheres to our values and protects the nation," Graham said.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said he was concerned that Obama and Clinton would reverse the U.S. policy that prohibits U.S. aid to overseas groups that offer abortions.

"I do not plan to slow up this nomination, but I do find it difficult to support a nominee who I know will pursue policies so contrary to American sovereignty and the dignity of the human person," DeMint said, shortly before voting with Sen. David Vitter, R-La., against Clinton's appointment.

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press, January 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state Wednesday as President Barack Obama moved to make his imprint on U.S. foreign policy, mobilizing a fresh team of veteran advisers and reaching out to world leaders.

The Senate voted 94-2, with Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina opposing.

Republicans and Democrats alike said her swift confirmation was necessary so that Obama could begin tackling the major foreign policy issues at hand, including two wars, increased violence in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

"It is essential that we provide the president with the tools and resources he needs to effect change, and that starts with putting a national security team in place as soon as possible," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama's presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, was among those who spoke in Clinton's favor.

"This nation has come together in a way that it has not for some time," said the Arizona Republican, on the Senate floor for the first time since the inauguration.

Voters "want us to work together and get to work," McCain said.

As the Senate debated Clinton's appointment, Obama wasted no time in his first day at the White House. According to a White House spokesman, Obama placed telephone calls to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The administration also planned to name former Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell as Clinton's special envoy for the Middle East. Dennis Ross, a longtime U.S. negotiator, was also expected to advise Clinton on Mideast policy, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the move.

She was sworn in as the nation's 67th secretary of state in her office in the Russell Senate Office Building. Attending the private ceremony was her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her Senate staff. According to her office, she used the Bible that belonged to her late father. To assume the position, she submitted her resignation as senator in twin letters to Vice President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, and New York Gov. David Paterson.

The former first lady planned to report to the State Department on Thursday, where she was expected to address employees in the main lobby that morning - a tradition of sorts for secretaries of state on their first day on the job.

Clinton received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress despite lingering concerns by some Republicans that her husband's charitable fundraising overseas could pose conflicts of interest.

Sen. Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, proposed that former President Bill Clinton's foundation reject foreign contributions. But Hillary Clinton rejected Lugar's proposal, contending that the foundation's plan to disclose annually its list of donors and a range of its contributions already exceeds legal requirements.

Lugar said he hoped Clinton would re-examine her position but supported her appointment, citing her "remarkable qualifications" and "pressing global issues."

Vitter and DeMint, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said they were unsatisfied. Last week, Vitter cast the sole opposing vote in the committee's 16-1 endorsement of Clinton. DeMint voted in favor of Clinton on the committee because he said he didn't want to obstruct a full Senate vote on her appointment, but ultimately did not support her nomination.

In addition to concerns surrounding the foundation, DeMint said he opposes Clinton's positions on such matters as providing aid to foreign groups that offer abortions.

"I do not plan to slow up this nomination, but I do find it difficult to support a nominee who I know will pursue policies so contrary to American sovereignty and the dignity of the human person," he said.

Following the vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed Susan Rice to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a post Obama has elevated to the Cabinet level.

Meanwhile, the Senate considered other appointments by Obama.

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner apologized to the Senate Finance Committee and said he was careless for failing to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes earlier this decade. The committee planned to vote on his appointment on Thursday.

Eric Holder's bid to become the first African-American attorney general was delayed for at least a week when Republicans demanded more time to question him about harsh interrogations, Guantanamo trials and other topics.

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press, January 22, 2009

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's smooth ride to confirmation as secretary of state hit a small bump on Tuesday as one of her Republican colleagues blocked a vote on Mrs. Clinton's nomination, citing ethical questions arising from donors to her husband's charitable foundation.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas objected to including Mrs. Clinton's name in a unanimous consent vote for several Cabinet nominees, scheduled for hours after the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, plans to hold a roll-call vote on Mrs. Clinton's nomination on Wednesday, which she is expected to win easily.

A spokesman for Mr. Cornyn, Kevin McLaughlin, said, "this is not an effort to scuttle or block the nomination, but a legitimate policy difference. Senator Cornyn's goal is to create transparency on all levels of government."

Mrs. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed an agreement with the Obama transition team, putting some limits on foreign donations to his foundation, as well as stipulating annual disclosure of new donors.

But Senator Cornyn, in a letter to Mrs. Clinton last Friday, said he remained worried that her diplomatic activities would be compromised "unless tighter foreign fund-raising restrictions and transparency protocols are adopted."

A spokesman for Mr. Reid, Jim Manley, said, "it only takes one person to object to a vote." He added, "She'll be confirmed tomorrow with an overwhelming bipartisan support."

Mrs. Clinton did not comment on the decision. But since she is not expected to resign her Senate seat until she is confirmed, the delay means that the speculation in New York State over her successor will continue to swirl, as Gov. David Paterson has another day to decide whom to appoint.




By Mark Landler, The New York Times, January 20, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - The confirmation of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state will be held up for at least a day due to the objection of a single senator. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he wanted "a full and open debate and an up-or-down vote on Sen. Clinton's nomination."

He said important questions remain unanswered concerning the foundation headed by former President Bill Clinton "and its acceptance of donations from foreign entities. Transparency transcends partisan politics and the American people deserve to know more."

Cornyn's spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said the senator is not trying to block her confirmation, but is seeking more debate on the donation issue.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that if a voice vote is blocked there will be a roll call vote Wednesday. He predicted that "she will receive overwhelming bipartisan support at that time."

The Senate does plan to confirm several of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet by unanimous vote later Tuesday.

Several Republicans raised questions at Clinton's confirmation hearing about possible conflicts of interest from Bill Clinton's fundraising work and his acceptance of large donations from foreign countries and companies.

Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged Clinton to improve transparency in her husband's fundraising activities. He said the former president's foundation should stop taking foreign contributions while Clinton serves as secretary of state. McLaughlin said Cornyn has asked Clinton to take similar steps.

In her testimony, Clinton said the foundation would provide a clearer picture of its annual donations.

By JIM ABRAMS, The Associated Press, January 21, 2009

At the Emily's List gala, Hillary Clinton is her old feminist self once again -- only better.


WASHINGTON -- When feminists gathered on Sunday afternoon for the gala luncheon celebrating Emily's List and the inauguration of our new president, it could have been a little awkward. Emily's List, after all, is the 24-year-old organization dedicated to increasing the presence and power of women in politics. And the new president is not the woman many of these supporters had worked and sweated and cheered and campaigned and donated through the nose for over the past two years. He is not the woman they had hoped to be feting this January.

Yet thanks to to Ellen Malcolm (perhaps the political world's most cheerful ball-buster), a roster of 2008's biggest lady winners and a rousing speech by Hillary Clinton herself, the luncheon turned out to be a feel-good celebration. And even without much mention of the failed presidential march of the still-senator from New York, the event was yet another in a string of recent moments in which we got to see the new Hillary Rodham Clinton: Toughened, burnished and somehow fortified by her loss, she is taking on the role not only of secretary of state, but of a reanimated, reborn, rollicking feminist superhero.

The luncheon was hosted by Malcolm, a deeply appealing political macher who somehow managed -- through gusto, denial, wheedling or simple gut-busting -- to convince even her most disgruntled post-Hillary compatriots to get out to the polls. And vote they did. As Malcolm slyly reminded her audience, 8 million more women marked the ballot for Barack Obama than did men.

And while those ladies were at the polls, they also voted for some of the newly elected female officials, who helped make the 2008 elections one of the best years for female candidates (executive branch excluded) in 16 years. Twelve new pro-choice Democratic women joined the House of Representatives this month, while long-shot candidates Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire and Kay Hagan in North Carolina both won Republican seats in the Senate, both becoming the first women to represent their states.

Malcolm's event was a testament to these advances, with a politically star-studded roster of speakers that demonstrated the power and reach of Emily's List.

The luncheon began with a video that carefully told the story of this election year, beginning with the voice and image of Barack Obama inspiring a crowd, then moving through a series of women's victories. When Clinton appeared on the screen, the crowd cheered, but the clip showed her not as a candidate, but vigorously endorsing Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Then Malcolm took the stage: "George W. Bush is going back to Texas and Barack Obama is president of the United States," she shouted. The crowd roared; it felt good. Even when Malcolm cautioned, "Make no mistake ... for every woman in Congress there are still more than five men," the energy was positive and forward-looking -- to the Lily Ledbetter equal pay legislation, and the SCHIP program that will insure millions of American children.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warmed up the crowd with her trademark "Isn't this exciting?" purr of low-grade girl-power. After acknowledging many of her House colleagues in the audience, Pelosi pointed out that "without so many women members of college, there would never have been, at this time, the first woman speaker of the House." (That's her! ) Following Pelosi, Secretary of Homeland Security-designate Janet Napolitano (described by Malcolm as "the kind of person you'd like to have a beer with") argued that "women's issues are everyone's issues."

Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore knocked the noshers on their asses with a heartfelt tribute to Pelosi, whom she said "is not only stomping out injustice, but stomping it out in 4-inch heels!" before banging a high-heeled shoe on the podium. Malcolm paid tribute to departing Emily's List executive director Ellen Moran, who is leaving to become the White House communications director, by showing a spoof video of the West Wing credits.

In a terrific speech, brand new North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue told a story of goggle-eyed media interest in her, "the first pro-choice female governor in the South since Ann Richards," and in a state where the first bill proposing to give women the right to vote, in 1897, "was consigned to the committee on insane asylums." At inaugural festivities, Perdue reported, a member of the press "had the audacity to ask me about the redecorating plans." The crowd whooped. Perdue went on to describe a plaque, hanging outside the Governor's Mansion, that "welcomes visitors to the home that was recently renovated for the governors and first ladies of North Carolina." Perdue paused for effect. "I intend to redecorate that plaque."

But you could tell: Everyone was really waiting for Hillary. Really. She had flown in late from New York, and was now stuck in traffic, trying to get to the Hilton while Perdue, North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen vamped for time by telling stories of how they used to make their state troopers carry their pocketbooks (Shaheen) and their discoveries that only men are allowed to swim in the Senate gym's pool (Hagan).

And still, Clinton wasn't there. So Ellen Malcolm returned, commencing a remarkable off-the-cuff monologue that touched on redistricting, Emily's List's plans for 2010, the importance of stopping filibusters, and the upcoming fights for Rahm Emanuel and Hilda Solis' seats -- finally threatening to start telling summer camp stories.

"So, listen, have I mentioned women voters yet?" Malcolm was joking when an aide yelled to Malcolm that Clinton "was walking." The image was suddenly very evocative of the inauguration 16 years ago, when the Clintons had gotten out of their car and walked part of the route to the White House. Could Hillary really be hoofing it up Connecticut Avenue to get to her crowd of women?

It was too cinematic to be true -- she was just walking into the ballroom. But when she did, the room practically levitated.

Introducing her very late guest, Malcolm called Clinton "an exceptional figure in American life," a "powerful role model for women for our country and for the world." And what's remarkable about that praise is that here in 2009, it is absolutely true. Hillary Clinton, who was a sore spot for so many feminists for so long, even through her presidential campaign, has made a glorious phoenix flight out of her failed presidential campaign.

Though few luncheon speakers had made mention of Clinton's presidential hopes during the lunch, it was clear that when the Emily's List crowd stood to applaud her, they were not simply applauding a future secretary of state, but a woman who made history, who banged against walls that would give the best of us headaches, who did the grueling, probably painful work of being the first female presidential candidate so that others who come after will not have to repeat it. After all of the sniping and anger and hurt that was unleashed during Clinton's campaign against Barack Obama, it felt somehow right to see a ballroom full of people stand up to honor her.

And Clinton knew it. Unlike candidates who crumble after bitter losses, Clinton's sense of herself and her politics and her priorities seems only to have grown stronger since her June concession. She nimbly shifted gears and became an Obama warrior, even when many of her supporters threatened not to follow her down the path. Now, as evidenced by her great testimony during her confirmation hearings last week, she is entering yet another phase of her political life -- rediscovering an older iteration of herself, one we haven't seen in full bloom since the late '90s: the Hillary Rodham Clinton dedicated to fighting for women around the world.

The Hillary Clinton who attended the women's conference in Beijing, the one who famously said that "women's rights are human rights," the one who spoke up against the treatment of women by the Taliban, the one who got lost in a muggy stew of sex and Ken Starr, the one who was discarded in favor of a slicker bipartisan figure during her Senate tenure: She's back! This time with fewer hairbands, and more confidence in herself.

Clinton did acknowledge her own presidential hopes, calling it an "honor to run for president," and thanking Malcolm for having changed "the face of American politics ... and the wardrobe. Every year there are more pantsuits of all kinds." She also thanked the crowd, which contained many of her most die-hard supporters, for their kind wishes and messages, and noted that her famous "18 million cracks [in the glass ceiling] are very personal."

But she did not linger on her own recent history. She immediately jumped to other ceilings holding back women and girls around the world: "When women are vulnerable to economic, political and social marginalization, the potential for advancing democracy, prosperity and security is also vulnerable. " This was the smart and fierce thinker who had moved into the White House with her husband in 1992 and immediately belly-flopped with a massive healthcare plan that is now a model for healthcare reform. "I believe it is essential in renewing America's leadership around the world, that we renew America's leadership on behalf of women and girls," said Clinton, and the audience bellowed their approval.

This was the woman who had long refused to take her husband's married name, who had made ungainly but honest comments about not staying home and baking cookies -- but now, all (or most) of the disjointed ugly-duckling of the past was gone. This is a woman who knew she had just made history, that she had a crowd eating out of her hands, a woman who has finally come into herself in a blaze of popular, political feminist glory. And sure, it was a perfect crowd, but a lot of this was stuff she'd said to the whole country just last week.

Speaking of the criticism she received from Taliban leaders for speaking out on behalf of women in Afghanistan in the '90s, Clinton said pointedly, "I wear that, along with much of the rest of the criticism I've received, as a badge of honor." And so, with a happy crowd of cheering people, Clinton said, "I am absolutely thrilled to stand with you in the fights we have waged together. We've won some and we've lost some."

And some of the losses are looking more like wins every day.

By Rebecca Traister, Salon News, January 19, 2009

While Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke primarily in generalities during her four-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, her formal introductory statement and her 79-page written answers to questions for the record laid out some specific programs and goals that offer clues and insight on the incoming administration's foreign policy.

In the battle of ideas, she said, the United States would go on the offensive implementing President-elect Barack Obama's pledges to open "America Houses" in cities across the Arab world. These facilities, fashioned after a Cold War-era program, would have Internet libraries, English lessons and stories about Muslims in America. An initiative labeled "America's Voice Corps" would recruit young Americans with language and public diplomacy skills to speak with and listen to people in the area. Completing the package would be a Global Education Fund to provide $2 billion for primary education around the world. But, she said, there would not be a return of the independent U.S. Information Agency.

Clinton said the incoming administration wants to end the Cold War practice of keeping intercontinental ballistic missiles ready for launch "at a moment's notice," though she added the proviso that it must be done "in a mutual and credible manner." Calls for previous administrations to take weapons off the "hair trigger" alert have failed because the Air Force thought its missile launch officers would lose their edge if they no longer did alert duty.

While the Bush administration unsuccessfully sought approval for a new warhead, under the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, Clinton said the new administration would "set a new direction in nuclear weapons . . . one that reflects the changed security conditions of the 21st century." But she said that "new direction" would await the upcoming Nuclear Posture Review, which will not be completed before December.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration would continue negotiations with Russia to replace the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December, with a legally binding document that includes monitoring and verification provisions not included in the June 2003 Moscow Treaty signed by President Bush and Russia's president at the time, Vladimir Putin. That treaty set warhead limits of 1,700 to 2,200 for each side's deployed weapons, to be reached by 2012. Clinton said the Obama administration would seek to negotiate "deep, verifiable reductions in all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons, whether deployed or non-deployed, strategic or non-strategic."

Clinton and Obama were "committed" to Senate approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and would encourage India to join it. Remembering that the treaty was voted down by a Republican-led Senate during the Clinton administration, she said they want to ensure that lawmakers were briefed this time on how the treaty could be verified and how reliability of the U.S. stockpile could be maintained without testing. To support verification, she said, the United States would fully support funding of the International Monitoring System, whereas the Bush administration in past years failed to pay its total assessed share of the costs.

Clinton said the new foreign policy team would work to negotiate a treaty banning production of fissile material for nuclear weapons use and end the Bush administration's position that such a treaty should not contain international verification provisions. She said the United States would seek to double the budget of the International Atomic Energy Agency over the next four years and also support a $50 million U.S. contribution for an international nuclear fuel bank so nations with nuclear power plants did not need to have their own reprocessing facilities.

On some issues, Clinton hedged about what would be done. On the controversial matter of the International Criminal Court, she said the United States would continue the Bush policy of aiding in the Darfur investigation and others, while keeping in mind that there are more American troops stationed abroad than any other nation. "Whether we work toward joining or not," Clinton said, "we will end hostility toward the ICC and look for opportunities to encourage effective ICC action in ways that promote U.S. interests by bring war criminals to justice."

By Walter Pincus, The Washington Post, January 19, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - It may not have been quite the star power assembled over at the Lincoln Memorial, but it was still an impressive array of Democratic Party luminaries who gathered Sunday at a joyous luncheon to celebrate women's gains in 2008.

For some 2,000 people crowded into the Washington Hilton ballroom to hear Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and many others, it was also an occasion to enthusiastically cheer on Barack Obama, less than 48 hours before he takes office.

And given the mood, it was hard to remember that only seven months ago, there was talk that he might have trouble winning over large numbers of female voters who'd supported Clinton.

"George W. Bush is going back to Texas, and Barack Obama is president of the United States of America!" exulted Ellen Malcolm, founder of EMILY's List, to huge cheers. The group, which hosted Sunday's event, promotes women candidates who support abortion rights, and is one of the largest political action committees in the nation.

Clinton, expected to be confirmed next week as Obama's secretary of state, was the marquee speaker, and she almost didn't make it, due to traffic problems on the busy inaugural weekend. But no one in the packed ballroom was planning to leave until she spoke.

"Isn't it great to be in Washington with a Democratic Congress and a Democratic White House?" she asked the crowd when she finally did arrive. She called Obama's upcoming inauguration "a historic and glorious event," and asked supporters to continue helping her in her new role, toward goals like universal basic education, better access to health care for women and children, and eradicating poverty.

Women's advocates are somewhat divided over how successful the 2008 election season was for women.

The fact that Clinton almost became the first female nominee is a point of pride for many. Yet some are disappointed by what they see as decidedly mixed success in getting women into leadership positions up and down the political spectrum.

At the luncheon, though, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many others spoke of the year's successes: A record 13 Democratic women now in the Senate, and 61 in the House. Major victories this year included the election of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina, and Gov. Bev Perdue, also of North Carolina.

All three women received huge, raucous ovations at Sunday's meeting, which was a veritable Who's Who in Democratic politics. Also speaking were Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's pick for secretary of homeland security, and California Rep. Hilda Solis, his choice for labor secretary.

Women also expressed excitement over the progress of a top item on the Democratic agenda - long-awaited legislation making it easier for women to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace.

Republicans are demanding changes, however, and the so-called Lilly Ledbetter bill is not likely to be ready for Obama's signature when he takes office next week.

It faced a veto threat from President Bush, but Obama backs it strongly. Also on the front burner: legislation granting children health insurance.

"Isn't it wonderful to have a president who will put women and children first?" Pelosi asked the audience.

With all the praise for the incoming president, Pelosi did suggest that perhaps women, after all, are behind his stunning success.

Musing on what she would be feeling as he gets sworn in on Tuesday, she said she would be "overwhelmed by joy and pride," but also would be thinking about his late mother and grandmother, and "how strong they must be to instill in this man a sense of self-esteem and confidence" to lead him so far.

By JOCELYN NOVECK , The Associated Press, January 18, 2009

ATLANTA - Mere days before Barack Obama is set to make history as the nation's first black president, the woman who battled him for the Democratic nomination was honored by a leading civil rights organization.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state designee, received the "Salute to Greatness" award at a fundraiser Saturday night for the King Center in Atlanta. The event came just before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, marking what would have been the slain civil right's leader's 80th birthday.

Clinton echoed King's theme of service and called on Americans to rally behind Obama, the man who defeated her for the Democratic nomination for the White House.

"This is an all hands on deck moment for America," Clinton said.

She praised Obama as "a young man of such enormous promise" and said his election brought King's dream within reach.

"The election of Barack Obama is a big step closer to the realization of that dream but that doesn't let us off the hook does it?" Clinton said.

She said the nation still faces challenges in providing health care and economic opportunity to all.

And she recalled being transfixed when at age 13 she heard King speak on a chilly January evening in Chicago.

Clinton was introduced Saturday night by former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador Andrew Young.

He said she has worked throughout her career to fulfill King's ideals.

"She has symbolized and epitomized throughout her life the things that he spoke about and dreamed about and prophesied about," Young said.

He also called Clinton "the only product of the South" in Obama's cabinet, stemming from her years in Arkansas.

"She has lived the a majority of her life dealing with the issues of Southern racism and Southern poverty," Young said.

Clinton has enjoyed a close relationship with the black community that was tested in the presidential primary where she dueled with Obama. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, angered black voters when he compared Obama's primary win over Clinton in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's years earlier. The comment was viewed by some as equating Barack Obama with Jackson, who many saw as unelectable.

But there were no signs of hard feelings Saturday night as Clinton was greeted warmly.

Obama has tapped the former first lady as his nominee for secretary of state.

But King Center President and Chief Executive Officer Isaac Newton Farris Jr. said he hoped Clinton would still make history as the nation's first woman president. The remark was met with applause and Clinton grinned broadly.

Chik-fil-A founder Truett Cathy was also honored by the King Center Saturday night with its corporate "Salute to Greatness" award for his philanthropic work. Cathy was in Piedmont Hospital suffering from gallbladder problems and his son, Dan Cathy accepted the award on his behalf.

Clinton said she knew quite a bit about the chain's signature chicken sandwiches.

"My husband is one of his biggest customers," she quipped.

By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press, January 17, 2009