[IslandJeff]

I'm thinking about the global dynamics at play right now

Absolutely. No, I'm not under the Cervantian misconception that Tony will be making the decisions, rather, it's about the perceptions and dynamics at play (admittedly amorphous).

What Tony can do is, while keeping the jackals at bay in the Beltway, help the President enable at least a couple policy initiatives to be rammed through an election-year GOP Congress. All is not lost.