DO THEY NOT GET HOW A TEAM OF RIVALS WORKS (OR DOESN'T WORK, RATHER)?:

Clinton's India ties may complicate Obama policy (MATTHEW LEE and PETE YOST, 12/02/08, Associated Press)

Secretary of State-nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton's close ties with India forged during her years as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate could complicate diplomatic perceptions of her ability to serve as a neutral broker between India and its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan.

Hillary Clinton faces an early test of her influence in South Asia with tensions rising between India and Pakistan after last week's deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday said that instability and the rise of militants in that region pose "the single most important threat against the American people."

Both Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have maintained warm relations for years with India and the Indian-American community. As New York's senator for eight years and as a 2008 presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton toured India and visited with Indian officials and entrepreneurs, and her campaigns profited from the largesse of Indian-American fundraisers. Bill Clinton's charitable foundation has been funded by some of the same well-heeled Indian businessmen who backed his wife's campaigns.

In her new role as the nation's top diplomat, Hillary Clinton would project Obama's policies, not her own.

Ha! Good one!

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2008 6:01 PM