It's two years until 2012, but a Hillary Clinton for president TV ad began airing Sept. 1 in New Orleans. The ad was paid for by Chicago dentist William DeJean, who told CNN, "I'm a dentist, and I don't think this country is headed in the right direction."

DeJean told CNN that the ad will also run in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, and maybe Houston. He picked New Orleans first because the city is his hometown, and he figures it's in the news a lot lately due to the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. 

The ad doesn't have a voice-over, just text that reads:

She has been a respected lawyer and United States senator…

She meets face to face with the world's most powerful leaders…

She was one of the first national leaders to begin the fight for real health care reform…

Her work as a leader in women's rights and equal rights is legendary…

She has more experience working in and with the White House than most living presidents…

She is one of the most admired women in our nation's history…

Let's make sure the president we should have elected in 2008 will be on the ballot in 2012…

Start now.

Where there's a Hill, there's a way.

Toward the end, the ad features a photo of Clinton, and underneath it says, "Hillary 2012" and "Hillary Clinton for President."

At the very end, the bottom of the screen states, "No federal candidate has authorized this message."

DeJean is getting his hopes up. Clinton is "absolutely not interested" in the job.

(Update, 9:52 p.m., Sept. 2, 2010: The video above is the 60-second version of the ad; the 30-second version is here.)

Only Secretary Clinton is singled out for praise by Gen. Stanley McChrystal's officials in the Rolling Stone profile on the U.S. commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. In the article, McChrystal's aides call James L. Jones, the national security advisor, a "clown" who is "stuck in 1985" and refer to Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a "wounded animal." McChrystal, seen in the background of the Nov. 19, 2009, photo above, has apologized for the dismissive remarks about senior Obama administration officials. 

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog states:

Only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is portrayed as having strongly backed McChrystal's plan for Afghanistan, is singled out for praise by the anonymous McChrystal aides. 

The Guardian states:

The article lists administration figures said to back McChrystal, including defence secretary Robert Gates and secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

McClatchy states:

Only Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gets good reviews from McChrystal's staff.

Seems like McChrystal's team is like the general American public in giving Clinton the highest rating among senior U.S. leaders.

Just last Friday, Clinton, in a news conference with the Danish foreign minister, made positive comments about progress in Afghanistan:

So we think that we're making progress. We know how hard it is. The Afghan military and police are improving, and we are working hard to provide the trainers and mentoring that they need. We are looking to see more results from some of the governmental reforms that we're expecting. But it is just not true that we haven't seen positive accomplishments. If you look at a lot of the indicators on education, on health, on government capacity, on agricultural output, on economic growth, on a revenue base for the country to function, there's a lot of positive indicators.

Secretary Clinton was on not one, not two, but three talk shows yesterday morning. They were:

• ABC's This Week
• CBS's Face the Nation
• NBC's Meet the Press

While today's nuclear security summit is a step on President Obama's path toward reducing the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons, Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates made remarks that seem to be aimed at reassuring American defense hawks that the United States will not be weak on national security, especially in light of the new START treaty. A couple of Clinton's remarks on This Week:

[W]e'll be, you know, stronger than anybody in the world, as we always have been, with more nuclear weapons than are needed many times over. And so we do not see this as in any way a diminishment of what we are able to do."

and

Let no one be mistaken. The United States will defend ourselves, and defend our partners and allies. We intend to sustain that nuclear deterrent by modernizing the existing stockpile."

In the photo above,  Clinton, Obama, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel walk yesterday from the White House to the Blair House for bilateral meetings with world leaders who are in Washington for the nuclear security summit. Today, Clinton's schedule is packed with even more bilaterals.

As you might have already seen on FP's Passport, the New York Times had a blooper, mismatching a photo and a caption:

This is weird, but the New Zealand Herald has an online photo caption competition for a photo of Secretary Clinton at her swearing-in ceremony last year. She's on the verge of shaking hands with Vice President Biden in a photo similar to the one above. I'm not sure why the Herald selected an old photo of Clinton. Perhaps it's because she's traveling to New Zealand later this month?

Anyway, if you're the creative and humorous type, have a go at it. The best caption gets published in the print edition of the Herald.

•Regarding the three American hikers detained in Iran who are to be tried there for espionage, Secretary Clinton today said: "[W]ith respect to the three hikers, we consider this a totally unfounded charge. There is no basis for it. … We appeal to the Iranian leadership to release these three young people and free them as soon as possible." (Will husband Bill have to fly over for a rescue mission, as he did with the American journalists detained in North Korea.)

•In remarks Friday at the American Pakistan Foundation's inaugural gala benefit, Clinton said, "Pakistan is a nation close to my heart," but added that the United States and Pakistan have a "trust deficit":

During my October trip, I experienced the skepticism felt by many in Pakistan about America's motives and commitment. This trust deficit holds us back from working together as well as we could and as well as we must."

•Clinton is featured in this month's issue of Vogue, with the headline "Her Brilliant Career" and an intro that reads, "As Obama's surprise (and reluctant) pick for Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton brings her star power and stamina to the global stage." Commentary is available at Slate's Double XX.

•A recent book about women in politics mentions Clinton in the subtitle: You've Come a Long Way, Maybe: Sarah, Michelle, Hillary, and the Shaping of the New American Woman.

•A Clinton supporter in Texas received a personal letter from the secretary of state that has motivated her to search harder for a "Hillary" bumper sticker to replace the one that was stolen off her car.

Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton will be on ABC's Nightline at 11:35 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time) tonight. Her interview was taped earlier today in Moscow, and if you can't watch it, you can read an edited transcript here. In the interview, Clinton discusses important issues such as Afghanistan strategy and Iran. As the clip above shows, she also mentions that she "absolutely" would have asked Barack Obama to be in her cabinet had she been elected president last year.

Video: Politico

GQ magazine has published a list of the 50 most powerful people in D.C., and Secretary Clinton is only No. 18! As my colleague Blake Hounshell writes at FP's Passport, it's a snub to rank her after CIA Director Leon Panetta, former Vice President Dick Cheney (who's no longer in office), and various members of Congress (such as Barney Frank). I guess it gets back to that whole low-profile question.

Secretary Clinton was on NBC's Today show this morning. She made some boilerplate remarks that President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize due to "his attitude toward America's role in the world" and that the award is "not going to influence" his decisions regarding Afghanistan. (She of course has to say those kinds of things; Obama's her boss.)

Then Clinton addressed the thorn-in-her-side issue that she supposedly has too low a profile in the Obama administration. She said the claim was "absurd" and that it was "so at variance with what I do every day." (She did just save the day on the Turkey-Armenia accord and promote peace in Northern Ireland -- all in the one weekend after Obama won the Nobel.) She explained that U.S. foreign policy doesn't have to be "me, me, me" 24/7, stating:

Maybe there is some misunderstanding which needs to be clarified. I believe in delegating power. … I am not one of those people who feel I have to have my face in front of the newspaper and on the TV every moment of the day. … It's just the way I am. My goal is to be a very positive force to implement the kind of changes that the president and I believe are in the best interest of our country, but that doesn't mean that it has to be me, me, me all the time. I like lifting people up."

When asked if she'll run for president again, she laughed and simply stated, "no."

Video: Today show, NBC

Secretary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' interview with Christiane Amanpour and GWU's Frank Sesno will be on CNN today at 3 p.m. U.S. Eastern time (7 p.m. GMT on CNN International).

Last night, I was able to watch in person their interview at George Washington University and, as expected, they gave intelligent responses to important questions on Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. At the end, a young man -- presumably a GWU student -- screamed, "I love you, Hillary Clinton!" (You probably won't see that part on CNN.)

Clinton once again reiterated that she, Gates, and President Obama have a harmonious working relationship, saying:

Henry Kissinger … said that it was the first time that he found that the, you know, State Department, the White House, and the Defense Department mostly through Bob [Gates] and me and -- and General [James] Jones -- were all saying the same thing.

"Now that doesn't mean we don't have differences of opinion or see issues from slightly different perspectives, but we have an enormous amount of respect for each other, we listen to each other, and we work through, give our best advice to the president and then support the president's decision."

Referring to the recent talks in Geneva between Iran, the United States, and five other countries over Iran's nuclear program, Sesno asked, "Do you think the Iranians actually want to resolve this?"

Clinton candidly replied, "We don't know yet. We don't know."

When Sesno asked about criticism that the talks were just another way for the Iranians to buy time, Clinton responded:

Does it buy time? It buys time. It buys time for us to consider carefully their response, the sincerity of their actions, and, you know, we're moving simultaneously on the dual track. I mean, we always said we had a track of engagement, and we have begun that with this process, but we also said we would be working with like-minded nations and convincing others to stand ready with tougher sanctions were we not successful."

Meanwhile, Gates said on Iran:

The only long-term solution to this problem, at the end of the day, is the Iranians themselves deciding having nuclear weapons is not in their interest. And if we can't convince them of that, then an array of other options are open."

Also a giant, approving applause burst out when Gates said:  

The American toolbox should contain something other than hammers."

To learn about the other tools that Gates and Clinton think should be in the toolbox, check out CNN today.

Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

This weekend, the Washington Post (published by the Washington Post Co., which also owns Foreign Policy) ran a huge A1 story, "A Team Player Who Stands Apart," about Secretary Clinton. It says that Clinton is torn in two directions, between being a leader on signature issues such as women's rights and being a team player who works harmoniously with other members of the Barack Obama administration.

Those of you who are tired of the "Hillary in the shadows" theme probably won't be too crazy about this piece. Here's a taste:

By all accounts, she is the consummate team player and is often the best-briefed, most prepared person in the room. President Obama's aides say he values her advice and appreciates her dedication, dampening speculation that he and his erstwhile rival would not work well together.

But after eight months in office, Clinton, 61, sometimes seems torn between her inclination to lead and her need to function effectively within the administration, creating a certain tension between her aspirations and her status.

She has been prone to making pronouncements and blunt comments that have put her ahead of, or out of sync with, the rest of the administration. She maintains a robust public persona -- her lengthy overseas trips are filled with town hall meetings and softball television interviews -- but she is largely invisible on the big issues that dominate the foreign policy agenda, including the war in Afghanistan, the attempt to engage Iran and efforts to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Interestingly, during her interview, Clinton hinted that she might not be secretary of state for eight years. The end of the article states:

Asked if she would be sitting in the same office for eight years, Clinton shuddered.

"Please! I will be so old," she said with a shake of her head.

The full transcript of Clinton's interview with the Post is here, along with audio clips.

•As for interviews, Clinton is on PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer tonight. A preview clip is above.

•And, the full video and transcript of Clinton's Friday speech at Brookings is here.

Secretary Clinton is thinking about quitting her secretary-of-state job to run for New York governor, according to a one-sentence post written by Weekly Standard blogger Michael Goldfarb, who was deputy communications director for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year. Goldfarb's source? His "boss" (presumably editor William Kristol), who heard it from two sources.

As a Gawker blogger put it, "If Bill Kristol says it, than [sic] it is the opposite of true. That is the only constant in American Politics."

Other Clinton news:

•Clinton will be at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York tomorrow -- Sept. 11 -- to receive the Roosevelt Institute's FDR Four Freedoms Award, which "honors a lifetime of distinguished service and an unwavering commitment to these freedoms." (Those four freedoms being "freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.") If you have $1,000 and cocktail attire, you can attend the gala dinner.

•As you've probably heard, the Supreme Court -- with Justice Sonia Sotomayor debuting -- is hearing the campaign finance case related to Hillary: The Movie.

Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

Today is a bit of a slow day for Secretary Clinton news -- she has been on vacation -- so for fun I thought I'd share an issue of the National Examiner I saw at the grocery store checkout line on Sunday. The article (not available online) reports that unnamed sources are saying that "the former first couple has finally decided to separate and remain married in name only."

Clinton is supposedly enraged that husband Bill, a former U.S. president, has been stealing her spotlight, such as when he rescued imprisoned journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from "evil dictator Kim Jong Il." An "insider" told the Examiner that the secretary told Bill, "You've upstaged me for the last time," and then the couple agreed to secretly separate.

As for a divorce, there's no way that'll happen before daughter Chelsea gets married. A source told the Examiner:

"They wouldn't do that to Chelsea. … They'd want to be a couple on her wedding day for her sake. … I think eventually they will divorce, but not until Hillary is done with her political career. Even though Bill continues to outshine her, she still needs him."

There you have it, from a trusted news source.

Photo: National Examiner, cover of Sept. 7, 2009 issue

Forbes magazine has ranked Secretary Clinton as the 36th most powerful woman in the world.

Forbes states that the rankings are based on "a combination of two scores: visibility -- by press mentions -- and the size of the organization or country these women lead." If Clinton had received more press coverage, then she would likely have been ranked even higher.

The rankings don't seem to incorporate how much global influence these women have -- which would be a strong indicator of how "powerful" they really are. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is ranked No. 35, but how much global influence does she have, given that this is a list of the most powerful women in the world?

Further, check out how Clinton's rankings have varied through the years:

2008: No. 28

2007: No. 25

2006: No. 18

2005: No. 26

2004: No. 5

Could Clinton, as U.S. secretary of state, traveling the world as the United States' top diplomat, really be so much less relatively powerful this year as she was in 2004, when the then-senator was No. 5 in the world?

Understandably, measuring global influence would be subjective and tricky. At the end of the day, every ranking is going to have its methodological weaknesses. (And that goes for FP rankings, too, such as the recent Failed States Index, which received a critique in the July/August issue.)

Women in government who were in the top 50 this year:

1. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany

2. Sheila Bair, chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Co.

11. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina

13. Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress party

17. Christine Lagarde, France's minister of economy, finance, and employment

22. Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile

35. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

36. Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. secretary of state

40. Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States (technically not a government position)

44. Gloria Arroyo, president of the Philippines

47. Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister of Ukraine

48. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images