Hillary to Travel to Israel
Although I have not seen anything that states outright that her trip to Israel is officially part of her duties as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), I’ve seen lots of people insinuating and assuming it. That’s fine. It’s either that, or she’s paying for the trip on her own, and what politician would pay for a trip out of their own pocket or from their own campaign funds, if they could get us to pay for it. I am, by no means, suggesting that this would be unique to Hillary. Most politicians, regardless of party affiliation, are guilty of this.

Let’s assume that the SASC decided that someone should go to Israel.

The cynic in me sees Hillary having really pushed to be that someone. A trip to Israel potentially benefits her tremendously. She’s just under a year away from her 2006 Senate election. This same election involves a significant number of Jewish voters who, if they were on the fence as to who to vote for, may be swayed by Hillary showing an interest in Israel. The benefits for her 2008 election campaign are that this visit gets her a little more national visibility and prestige, and it’s something to put on her international politics resume.

Hillary Project, CA