Fresh off her visit to Ireland it is now clear that Hillary Clinton would have made a better president than Barack Obama.

The latest Gallup poll bears that out. She is at 62 percent approval rating while Barack is in the mid 50s.

That is highly unusual - the Secretary of State is rarely a world headline figure like Hillary Clinton but she has redefined the role .

With this Gallup poll Hillary will have to watch her back. It doesn't pay to be more popular than the king - ask Colin Powell who had the same problem with George Bush and got frozen out.

I suspect Obama wanted a cabinet of rivals but not necessarily equals or better.

It is easy to see why Hillary is more popular.

She is doing an incredible job at State. She knows the world and all that is in it from her time as First Lady and U.S Senator when she regularly traveled the globe.

She is also a far more seasoned politician than Barack and she has the ability to understand where the cut and thrust of an argument is.

Take health care. Hillary made her famous mistakes with that many years ago andlearnt from that lesson. She would certainly not have spent as much time trawling for non-existent Republican support as Barack did.

Barack tried to do the unHillary on health care and has ended up in the battle of his political life trying to salvage it.

Then there is foreign affairs. HIllary is making her mark most recently in Northern Ireland where she played a key role in moving the two warring parties closer together.

Right before that she helped create an historic treaty between Turkey and Armenia, once sworn
enemies.

Then she flew to Russia where she received a warm welcome and rebuilt links that had been shattered under Bush.

Most noticeably she is insisting on her travels in meeting ordinary people and speaking with them, bringing a strong populist approach to American foreign policy which is proving very popular at home and aborad. Hence her popularity.

Barack meanwhile has been confined to the White House trying to salvage his heath care plan.

Hillary exudes competence and accomplishments, Obama exudes possibilities, albeit as yet unrealized.

The reality is that experience counts for something in a job and Hillary has it - Barack does not.

Who can say how this will will eventually pan out but it is a remarkable twist of fate that the most popular person in the Obama administration is the Secretary of State who was once his sworn rival.

Funny thing politics.