Vilsack: Hillary Was 'the Face of the Administration on Foreign Affairs'

Tom Vilsack is virtually unrivaled when it comes to campaigning for Sen. Hillary Clinton, wearing unmanly "Hillary" t-shirts at events in Iowa, lending video of his dancing to the campaign for a web ad -- and now hyping her foreign policy experience.

The former Iowa governor, interviewed on MSNBC, said Clinton "assumed tremendous responsibility" on foreign affairs while her husband was president.

But Vilsack -- who dropped out of the race early on and is now rumored by many to be seeking a slot alongside Clinton if she wins the nomination -- took it a questionable step further.

"There is no question she was the face of the administration in foreign affairs," Vilsack said.

Really? Hillary Clinton was the face of the Clinton administration in foreign affairs? More than, say, the secretary of state? Or his vice president? Or his, um, ambassador to the United Nations?

Au contraire, said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served in the last of those jobs - -and is now seeking the presidency himself.

"Gov. Vilsack's enthusiasm for his candidate has clouded his judgment," Richardson spokesman Tom Reynolds said on Tuesday night. "Considering that Gov. Bill Richardson served as a Special Envoy and US Ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton, we take some exception to this opinion. I also think Madeline Albright might disagree too." No word yet from former Pres. Clinton, who was known to conduct some foreign policy himself from time to time.

--Anne E. Kornblut