CLINTON CONFIRMATION: How Will Clinton Work With Gates?

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) asks a great question: How can Clinton work with Pentagon chief Bob Gates to reorient the balance of national power?

Clinton praises Gates heavily — message: no Powell/Rumsfeld divide — and then gets on with it. “We are going to be stronger if we are better able to promote diplomacy and development, not just rely on our military power. There’s a lot of work to be done between that belief… and actually realizing our promise.” State has a lot of work to do: “There’s just a presumption that the military can move much quicker and with greater effort, [provide] development … and it’s our job to prove that … in the 21st century, can move with dispatch, be results-oriented.” State has to prove “we can shoulder this burden, with reconstruction and stabilization, this civilian development corps … We’re going to take that challenge on, because I don’t think we have any choice. Our foreign policy has gotten out of balance.”