We never had any doubt that potential Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would nail her Senate confirmation yesterday, but we think it’s pretty safe to say she hit the ball out of the park. And daughter Chelsea had a front-row seat.

It’s no wonder Clinton did so well — she’s been preparing for the hot seat for weeks. A smart woman, to be sure, Clinton proved she has the chops when she sailed through a range of questions, everything from Iran and Iraq, to Gaza, to ending violence against women the world over. Things went so well, in fact, that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-MA, said Wednesday he expects the panel to confirm her on Thursday.

The Huffington Post was equally impressed, and touted her hearing as a "tour de force." It was "one that demonstrated not just her breadth of understanding of the policy issues, but the meticulous preparation that she has brought to most every political task in her career — and, likely soon, Foggy Bottom," they wrote.

The only time things got a heated was when Republican senators warned that she could face conflicts of interest because of foreign donations to her husband Bill’s global foundation. But Clinton said whatever disclosure deal Barack Obama’s team worked out with Bill goes above and beyond. "No matter what we do, there will be those that [claim] conflicts," she said.

True to feminist form, Clinton also discussed how, in the job as secretary of state, she would work to further women’s rights abroad. Among her many suggestions, Mrs. Clinton stressed the importance of extending microloans to women to help them start businesses, which in turn raises the standard of living and helps distribute power and responsibility in developing nations:

If half of the world’s population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity will remain in serious jeopardy. We still have a long way to go and the United States must remain an unambiguous and unequivocal voice in support of women’s rights in every country, every region, on every continent.

She also took some time to praise Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, for being a "pioneer in microfinance in Indonesia." [Click here to read the text of her remarks.]

Clinton’s female-centric comments didn’t go unnoticed. "Clinton’s not the first politician to say that, but by emphasizing it as part of her bid to take on one of the world’s most powerful jobs in one of the world’s most masculine realms, she signaled the deeper attention we all need to pay to the intertwining of democracy, prosperity and the difficulties particular to women," writes Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich.

Here’s part of Clinton’s remarks, where she promises the use of "smart power" in diplomacy: