WASHINGTON - Having spent her first two years in
the Senate trying
not to upstage her colleagues, Hillary Rodham Clinton is moving
methodically toward leading her party on the national stage.
The New York senator and former first lady has already used her
popularity among Democrats to build one of Congress' most powerful
political operations. By the end of last November, Clinton's
leadership political action committee - a tip-off on her aspirations
for higher office - ranked fourth in receipts among hundreds of
similar PACs. HILLPAC raised more than $3.2 million and gave more than
$1 million to grateful Democratic candidates across the country for
the midterm elections.
But as the 108th Congress opened last week, Clinton also found
herself playing a bigger role among Senate Democrats in helping craft
policy, strategy and message aimed at helping her party recapture
control of the Senate in 2004.
She has been tapped by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle to head a
little-known Senate party committee charged with coordinating the
Democratic message with elected officials and constituent groups at
state and local levels and approving appointments to Senate committees.
As chair of the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination
Committee, Clinton gets a junior seat at the Democratic leadership
table - and an opportunity to learn in more detail about what's going
on around the country outside of New York. She succeeds Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., who stepped down from the post after deciding to run
for president.
On Tuesday, she was given a seat on the powerful Senate Armed
Services Committee, where she will have a voice on all national security
issues as the Bush administration considers a war against Iraq.
Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker compared
Clinton's opportunity to a college dance ``mixer.''
``This puts her in touch with elected Democratic officials all over
the country,'' Baker said. ``It's not a case that she has to introduce
herself. ...But it gives her an opportunity to see who they are and,
frankly, determine their political value to her should she choose to
run for president in 2008. It shows she is not just trading on her
first lady credentials...but paying her dues.''
Battling Republicans
In accepting the leadership post, Clinton spoke about the
obligation of ``bringing new ideas to the table and finding new ways
to solve our country's problems,'' but stressed that her new
responsibility would not dilute her attention to New York issues.
``I just want to be effective,'' Clinton said in an interview with
Gannett News Service. ``I want to be effective first and foremost for
New Yorkers. I believe that Democratic Party policies are more likely
to help New Yorkers than the alternatives. So any role I can play in
helping Democrats be more effective and putting out a message that
people hear and accept is part of being an effective senator.''
Democrats ``haven't done a good job of explaining clearly and
demonstrating the differences between us and the president's agenda,''
she said. ``We owe it to the people to give them a clearer choice.''
Clinton wasted little time getting started. The day that Daschle
announced her appointment, she was front and center on the Senate
floor, spoiling the debut of Republican Bill Frist as Senate majority
leader. Frist thought he had a deal to pass a measure extending
federal unemployment assistance for jobless Americans without any
amendments. But Clinton wanted to offer an amendment to broaden the
measure beyond the compromise she had made the night before with Sen.
Don Nickles, R-Okla., the Senate Budget Committee chairman and former
assistant GOP leader.
Even though Clinton and the Democrats lost the battle for a vote on
her amendment, she helped tie the Senate floor in knots for several
hours - serving notice that she and her party will aggressively
challenge the GOP majority under Frist's leadership. Eventually, both
the Senate and House approved the Clinton-Nickles agreement that Bush
signed into law by the end of the week.
Senate Democrats say Clinton has already proved in closed-door,
party caucuses that she can provide the additional firepower needed to
develop a coherent message that Democrats acknowledge they didn't have
in the last election. Clinton brings ``great energy and great vision
and great ability to communicate'' the party's goals, said a top
Senate Democratic aide.
``Senator Daschle very much values her insights,'' said Daschle
spokeswoman Ranit Schmelzer.
Adding value
Clinton's value to Senate Democrats was well noted by political
insiders last summer when she got more cheers and applause than either
Daschle or any of the Democratic presidential hopefuls at a national
meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group that
helped propel her husband to the presidency. Her passionate and fiery
attack on President Bush's economic policies brought the house down.
By the end of 2002, Democrats who were surveyed about potential
presidential candidates mentioned Clinton as one of their hopefuls.
Clinton vows she will not seek either the Democratic presidential or
vice presidential nomination in 2004, but has not ruled out a run later.
``Democrats see her as a real asset and core Democrats regard her
as one of the leading lights of the party,'' Baker said. ``There is no
question that she is still a polarizing figure but she tends not to polarize
strong Democrats. That polarizing question is a bridge she is going to
have to cross if she decides to (run for president) in six years.''
Walking across the Capitol grounds during a hectic day,Clinton said
she is still thinking about how she will run the steering and
coordination committee. She knows she has a difficult task ahead and
even spoke admiringly of the success and effectiveness that
Republicans have had in working with conservative advocates to get
their message out to voters.
``There are a lot of different models that can be pursued in how to
be effective, but certainly you have to give Republicans enormous
credit,'' she said. ``Going back a number of years, they have become
extremely well organized. I may not agree with their message. But they
do a good job in disseminating it.''
The Hillary Clinton File
Name: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Age: 55
Born: Oct. 26, 1947
Education: Bachelor's degree, Wellesley College, 1969; law degreeYale,
1973.
Religion: Methodist
Family: Husband, Bill; one daughter
Home: Chappaqua, N.Y.
Career experience: Lawyer, 1977-1992; first lady, 1993-2001;
chairman, President's Task Force on Health Care Reform, 1993; U.S.
Senate, 2001-present
Committees: Armed Services; Environment and Public Works; Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions; chairwoman, Democratic Steering and
Coordination Committee
Source: Politics in America, 2002