WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:   Earlier in the week we pondered the possible plans of Hillary Clinton.  Will she be called upon to replace Biden to strengthen Obama's chances?  Will she retire to some college presidency, becoming an elder stateswoman available in 2016?  Will she just leave and fade away?  (Some chance.) 

Now Hillary has spoken out on possible defense cuts, and, you know, she sounds like someone trying to attract the center and the center right of American politics.  From AFP: 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Tuesday against budget cuts that could force an abrupt pullout of the US security presence in the Pacific at a time when China's power is rising.

The debate over reducing the US debt "does cast a pall over our ability to project the kind of security interests that are in America's interests," Clinton told officers at the National Defense University.

Hey, that's good stuff.

"We need to have a responsible conversation about how we are going to prepare ourselves for the future and there are a lot of issues that are not in the headlines but are in the trendlines," she said.

"We are asserting our presence in the Pacific. We are a Pacific power. That means all elements of our national security team have to be present," the chief US diplomat said in a conversation with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"And we can't be abruptly pulling back or pulling out when we know we face some long-term challenges about how we are going to cope with what the rise of China means," she said in the conversation moderated by CNN television.

Spoken like John McCain.

Experts said the deal to avert a US debt default should have little effect on the Pentagon's huge budget in the short term, but leaves the door open to sharp cuts that could force a strategy overhaul.

COMMENT:  She is right, of course, but her apparent need to speak out makes us wonder whether she's putting a bit of daylight between herself and Obama.   We haven't heard Obama speak this way.  There is no chance that she will challenge Obama for the nomination, and I really don't think Obama has it in him to decline a second term, which would be a smart move. 

But a Hillary running with Obama, but more centrist than he is, positions herself for 2016.  She can read the tea leaves, and she knows that northeast liberals aren't exactly a hot commodity. 

I suspect the poll numbers next summer will determine whether Obama asks Joe Biden to change places with Hillary.  In the meantime, Hillary watching is always fun.  And you always wonder how much advice is being given by her husband.

August 17, 2011