CLINTON CONFIRMATION: Underway

And we’re underway. Hillary Clinton is gladhandling in the Hart Senate Office Buiding. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) — who wanted to be where Clinton is this morning – is classy in his introduction. “We have an individual with the global stature and influence to help shape events,” Kerry says. “Her presence overseas will send a strong signal that America is back.” Will Clinton reference Kerry’s career-making 1971 testimony on Vietnam to the committee that today he chairs?

Notice how Kerry says that we’re in a “global insurgency,” a frame he’s been using to recast the war on terrorism. And he adds that no addition of troops in Afghanistan is sufficient without a holistic change in strategy, something progressives are beginning to push for. “I’m eager to hear Sen. Clinton’s thoughts on the way forward in Afghanistan,” he says. Me too.