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Remember Hillary Clinton? The most powerful woman in American politics has kept her head down for most of the first 18 months of her tenure as secretary of State. But she is also, at present, by far the most unscathed senior member of a badly battered administration. And the once-defeated Democratic candidate may have, at present, the most promising political prospects of just about everyone in the administration, specifically including her boss, Barack Obama.

The president's economic team is reeling, having failed both at bringing the nation out of its doldrums and sending a compelling message of hope or confidence to the country or the world. Obama's political advisers are getting hammered Right and Left for transforming a golden-tongued political candidate into a tone-deaf...