Hillary's Monday news round-up

Posted By Megan Carpentier Monday, January 26, 2009 - 11:05 PM Share

For all you Hillary newshounds, here's your Monday round-up.

Hillary Clinton is not expected to hit Davos this year, though the State Department does plan to be represented. It's actually probably a smart idea that her first trip abroad in the midst of two military conflicts, a crisis in Israel, and a worldwide financial crisis is not to a ski resort to be photographed with Angelina Jolie.
She attended a mid-afternoon huddle with Barack Obama and new Middle East envoy George Mitchell (who would have thought we would envy George Mitchell?) to discuss Mitchell's upcoming mission to Cairo, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Amman, Riyadh, Paris, and London. Mitchell leaves tonight.
Journalist Bernard Goldberg, whose latest tome catsigating the media for its liberal bias is set to be published by a conservative publishing house, has an interview out in which he blames the media (and not the ~~18 million-plus-one~~ 17.5 milion voters (updated: thanks for all the comments and corrections on that point! didn't mean it literally, but should have made that clear) that voted for the other guy in the primaries) for Clinton not being president:
She's the biggest single loser in all of this. If the media had done its job early on, Hillary Clinton would have been the nominee for president of the United States and probably elected president of the United States.

Not the sexism in the media, mind you, its liberal bias. Sexism is a thing of the past, obviously.

In more interesting interviews, Madeleine Albright granted one to National Journal's Amy Harderin which she talked about the way Hillary is viewed by the rest of the world and the ways that cooperating with your former rival helps with the perception of American in the world.

First of all, I think she herself is a known quantity abroad. When I was secretary and she was first lady, it was very evident that she had quite a large and resounding international role. She was identified with human rights and women's rights and generally showing a very positive side of America. I think she is so well-known abroad, and having somebody that is that well-known is very important. The other part is something that I think is essential, and that is that it is showing what democratic elections are like in the U.S. -- you argue and you run against each other, but you are capable of developing a partnership.

This is similar to what Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal told me last week, actually. Albright also had praise for Clinton and "smart power," which was maligned by Fox News last week.

What she said [Thursday], which I thought was very interesting, is that national security policy is like a three-legged stool -- there's defense, there's diplomacy and there's development, and the State Department is basically responsible for two of those three. I would advise her to really make that a very central part of what she does -- is to make sure people understand that smart power, which she talked about a lot, is the way to show the best side of America.

Pool/Getty Images News

EXPLORE:HILLARY, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

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MEGANKAY

11:23 PM ET

January 26, 2009

eighteen million plus one?

Megan, what are you talking about? BO did not get more votes than HRC did. He won on other grounds, and that is fine, but shorthanding the reason for his victory to the idea that he got more votes than her is dishonest.

ANNE

1:04 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Isn't it amazing? There is no

Isn't it amazing? There is no way she didn't know that.

SFERNANDO

11:36 PM ET

January 26, 2009

inanities of this blog and writer

inanities of this blog and writer in comparison with other blogs here in fp is striking.
more importantly this blog takes the whole site down, in every sense of the word. no wonder she was kicked out of another blog.
only reason i am commenting on this post is that it has a little ( teeny bit) more substance than others. others don't even merit a glance.

NJM

6:57 PM ET

January 27, 2009

let me remind you why we read this blog:

Madam Secretary is an obsessive blog about all things Hillary Clinton. From her policies to her pantsuits, Madam Secretary delivers up-to-the-minute news, analysis, and gossip about America’s top diplomat.

Three words: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

CATHERINE

12:40 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Hillary won the most votes of ANY primary candidate in history!

Sorry Megan, but you need to get your facts straight. Obama did not "win" "18 million and 1" votes. Hillary Clinton received 17,857,446 votes to Obama's 17,584,649 votes.

Hillary actually received a quarter of a million more votes than Barack. She won every blue state (except IL) and every swing state. Howard Dean and others sabotaged Hillary by punishing 2 of the 5 states that moved their primary dates. The caucuses that Barack won (there's reports of Chicago style shenanigans) determined 15% of delegate allocations by only 2% of the voters.

Hillary Clinton was robbed of her party's nomination.

ANNETOO

4:43 PM ET

January 27, 2009

thank you!

Excellent post. You put it well

DIAMOND

12:56 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Goldberg's statement on Hillary

Having been and am an ardent Hillary supporter who voted for Obama in the general election, this makes me sad. I can't stand the MSM because of this past year. I like Obama but wonder what could have been with Hillary at the helm.

SWEETYCAT

1:02 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Amazing.

This is a great blog. Everything about Hillary.I like it.

PYW

2:54 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Goldberg is right, but

I wish the messenger were someone else and the book wasn't published by Regnery. I can't tell you how many anti-Clinton screeds they've produced over the years. I wouldn't touch anything from them with a 10-foot pole.

MARAUDER DOC

8:38 AM ET

January 27, 2009

Smart Power v. 3D

I'm not a big fan of the "smart power" phrase myself. It is a little broad and easily misrepresented. But I can see where it comes from, and it goes with "smarter regulation." People might argue "soft power," represents a softer, fluffier, US foreign policy, but its a little harder to argue against "smart power".

I'd rather she just use the term "3D" which means the same thing, has a built-in definition (in case journalists try to get creative) of defense, diplomacy, and development, and incorporates the notion of looking at a problem from every angle.

Also, it uses fewer letters, which could reduce the length of manuals and other documents, which would in turn save trees vital to processing the CO2 in our atmosphere. She can simultaneously help make State Department 'Green'.

NJM

2:23 PM ET

January 27, 2009

Bernard is correct...

Also, don’t forget that the democratic nominee was the decision of the DNC and the media was fine with that. The MSM is broken.

ANNETOO

4:38 PM ET

January 27, 2009

Exactly

Obama is in now , but let's not forget he was installed by the DNC and pushed over the line by a fawning, love sick press. The best thing Obama has done is getting Hillary on board. Excuse me, but she's co-president and that's a very good thing

NYCGIRL

3:00 PM ET

January 28, 2009

You are so right! The first

You are so right! The first thought that entered my mind when I saw the photo above was:

"Nice shot of our president ... She's sitting next to Obama."

Hillary leads 18 million Americans. We should never let this administration forget that.

SAKEL

6:30 AM ET

January 30, 2009

Thanks to the media

Thanks to the media misogynist fratboys like Olberman Take-Her-to-the-Shed-and-finish-her-off and leg-thriller Chris Matthews the nomination went to Obama and Hillary was pushed off the ring prematurely, robbing her of the Florida and Michigan votes AND depriving her of her rightful roll call! And, no the figure is closer to 450,000 more popular votes than Obama's.

Periodically, Obama will feel down and start launching attacks against us to boost his appeal....