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Hillary Clinton to face personal questions at confirmation hearing

BY TOM BRUNE | tom.brune@newsday.com

11:38 PM EST, January 12, 2009

WASHINGTON - In her Senate hearing today for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to walk a fine line in airing her views on Israel's incursion into Gaza, Iran's pursuit of nuclear power and Pakistan's central role in one of the world's most volatile areas.

But the most difficult questions her colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are expected to ask will hit home, because they will be about the potential conflicts of interest with her husband Bill's worldwide network of businesses, connections and charities.

Clinton likely will be able to dodge or defer the most awkward foreign policy questions, said scholar Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "The tougher part is navigating the questions about her husband's dealings and involvement in foreign policy," he said.

By nearly all accounts, Hillary Clinton is on a fast track to confirmation for the premiere position in the cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama. Not only has committee chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) scheduled a vote on her confirmation for Thursday, but its top Republican, Dick Lugar of Indiana, said he would vote for her before she was even officially nominated.

Clinton has reportedly studied hard and worked closely with Obama aides to prepare for what is expected to be a one-day hearing. She has reached out to each of the Senate committee members and is likely to enjoy the deference senators show their own. Republicans on the panel have heaped praise on her. After meeting with her last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) called her nomination "a net plus for the administration and the country."

Still a spokesman for Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), one of the more conservative panel members, told the Politico Web site that Vitter ordered staff to dig deep into the more than 200,000 donors to Bill Clinton's foundation and charitable projects.

And late yesterday, as if to blunt Vitter's demands for more details on promises Bill Clinton has made to avoid conflicts, a Jan. 5 letter Bill Clinton's lawyer sent the State Department was released showing he promised to submit speaking engagements and overseas fundraising for advance review.

"There may be some interesting moments" in what otherwise could be an inside-the-Beltway hearing, Ornstein said, "because we may get some of these interesting questions."

Yet foreign policy also will matter, particularly for governments around the world that will be looking for nuances in her views. "I think it's going to be closely watched, because she's an important figure," said Ted Piccone, deputy director for foreign policy at Brookings Institution. "The Obama team hasn't said much on foreign policy. This is the first big hearing on the calendar," Piccone said. "I would listen for what she says about Iran, on Iraq and the timetable, on issues like Cuba."

There will be questions about how Clinton would handle a growth in special envoys, he said, and whether she will seek to substantially boost the number of foreign service officers, as Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former head of the American Foreign Service Association, urges in a new essay in the journal Foreign Affairs. And, of course, a key issue will be the Middle East - and Obama's vow Sunday to engage "with all the actors there," which Piccone said implies Hamas as well as Israel.

Pro's and Con's of Hillary Clinton

PRO'S:

Experience

Clinton, a former first lady and now U.S. senator, "knows many of the world leaders and . . . will command respect in every capital . . . " Obama said in announcing her appointment. She's also tough and tenacious. "She's been tested in a lot of ways," Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) told the Los Angeles Times.

The Middle East

She has won plaudits from friends of Israel for her hawkishness in defense of the Jewish state and for toughness on Iran - saying during her presidential campaign that the United States would "obliterate" the Muslim country if it attacked Israel.

Bill Clinton

Some Foreign Relations committee members say they are eager for Bill Clinton to play a role in his wife's diplomatic endeavors. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton retains credibility in the Arab world.

CON'S

Experience

Her direct foreign policy experience is limited, as Obama noted during the presidential primaries. His campaign had said she "did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments . . . She never managed a foreign policy crisis . . ."

Can Obama and Clinton play nice?

If the rough primary campaign has diminished support from the White House, her effectiveness will suffer. But Obama is a fan of Lincoln's practice of bringing "opponents of his and people who have run against him in his cabinet. And he was confident enough to be willing to have these dissenting voices . . . "

Controversial past statements

She did not land under fire in Bosnia, as she initially tried to assert in the campaign. Conservatives haven't forgiven her for embracing Yasser Arafat's wife in '99.

Bill Clinton

He could turn out to be a troublesome backseat driver. And his foreign business dealings could complicate his wife's life in an administration that preaches transparency. "Will he travel with her?" Tom C. Korologos, a lobbyist and ex-congressional staffer, asked in a Los Angeles Times interview. "Who gets off the plane first?"