Alex Massie Alex Massie

More on Hillary, Obama, and “Surprises”

My pal Mike Crowley has a fine post on Hillary’s determination to play the At Least I Was Never A Drug Dealer card herself:

“I’ve been tested, I’ve been vetted,” she said. “There are no surprises. There’s not going to be anybody saying, ‘I didn’t think of that, my goodness, what’s that going to mean?'” “I’m a known quantity,” she added at the press conference, at which she received the endorsement of Iowa Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell. “We need to nominate a candidate who can win.” This threw the media into a low-grade frenzy. Hillary smiled with the patience of a grandmother stuck babysitting bratty kids as reporters barraged her with breathless questions about whether Obama’s drug history is the sort of surprise she’s talking about and whether she thinks general-election voters might punish him for it. But Hillary wasn’t biting. “I am only talking about myself,” she insisted, looking unusually resplendent in a dark suit with a red blouse and multicolored necklace. Nor would she bite when asked by MSNBC’s David Shuster whether she would flatly declare that “a candidate’s indescretions as a teenager should not be an issue for voters.” After what I sensed was a moment of uncertainty she concluded, “It’s certainly not an issue in my campaign.”

This is obviously good hateable stuff. But risky too. So no surprises from Bill either? I suppose you could argue that his post-presidential infidelity would be neither a surprise (assuming it exists!) or necessarily a distraction or disqualification for Hillary. But still… Also, it’s true that Hillary has been tested and vetted – and found wanting by half the country…


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