As Carly Fiorina noted about Hillary, traveling is an activity
“Like Mrs. Clinton I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles but flying and traveling is an activity, it’s not an accomplishment and unfortunately she didn’t accomplish anything as Secretary of State,” Fiorina said
Now Team Hillary is recalibrating, and has decided that Being Places is an accomplishment
(The Hill) Hillary Clinton has started to formulate a strategy on one of the thorniest issues she will face on the campaign trail: her tenure as President Obama’s secretary of State.
Republicans have ripped Clinton’s reign as the country’s top diplomat, and the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner hasn’t yet responded directly to those salvos.
She is less inclined to focus on any specific achievement than to weave her time at Foggy Bottom into a larger narrative about her experience and toughness.
“I’ve stood up to adversaries like [Russia President Vladimir] Putin and reinforced allies like Israel,†she said in her speech on Saturday at Roosevelt Island in New York City. “I was in the Situation Room on the day we got [Osama] bin Laden.â€
Yes, the “reset” button worked well. And it’s not like Russia invaded another nation or something and is pushing for more.
Relations with Israel are rock bottom.
And, hooray, she was in a room watching video! By that measure, anyone watching their team win a championship on TV can count that as an achievement.
But, hey, what else is Hillary to do? Her time at State was pretty much a disaster. While there are a few bright spots, the Middle East is even more of a disaster, what with ignoring the Iranian Green Revolution, the Arab Spring, backing Assad, how Egypt was handled, and the Libyan disaster, along with Benghazi. China is bullying the US, Canada is annoyed by the the failure to approve Keystone XL, and relations with our traditional allies are poor. Let’s not forget about the massive cluster you-know-what over the Polish missile shield.
To be sure, Clinton is not citing her time at the State Department as a primary reason why people should vote for her as president. Her rhetoric so far has been focused on domestic issues, such as income inequality and the need to check corporate power, as well as appeals to crucial Democratic voting blocs, including Hispanics, blacks and the LGBT community.
Well, of course, what else can she do? Her time at State was poor, and she did virtually nothing as a Senator. What can she point to as a big success? If she was a success, there would be no need to formulate a strategy. Even Hillary couldn’t name her top accomplishments as Secretary of State.
