I think Hillary Clinton may have just burst into flames. After a contentious, 16-minute exchange over health care, Brian Williams finally moved the discussion to trade. Before she answered, she started channeling her campaign spokesman, Phil Singer, by complaining about always being asked the first question and referring to a “Saturday Night Live” skit in which Obama was portrayed as being coddled by the media. This can’t be helpful to her.
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Agreed. But then Tim Russert sort of subtly validates what she was talking about (she also referred to the skit’s (hyperbole-rich, admittedly) depiction of Obama as getting all softballs. He’s just rude and impatient. For example, he tries to nail her down by making her committ to nuking NAFTA in “six months!” Stupid question–why tie yourself down to a date? Then he asks Barack (less intensely), and doesn’t repeatedly try to nail him down to “six months!” She overplays her hand with this kind of stuff, but if you really listen, you can see the subtle differences. Just sayin’
Clinton’s complaining about being asked first reminded me of how my kids are always arguing over who should take the first shower at night. That was pathetic.Bob in Peabody
As Stuart Scott would say, big ups to Obama for not reflexively calling Clinton’s health care proposal “the Mitt Romney plan.” Not that it would be fair, and not that the Mitt Romney plan was entirely without merit, but the temptation must have been tough to resist. (A president who resists temptation — is America ready for that?)Re: NAFTA, here are a couple of soundbites I’d like to hear, but never will: “Last time I checked, China wasn’t a part of North America.” Or maybe, “I think free trade is a good idea, actually, so why not trade with our neighbors?” Or even, “Yes, the American manufacturing industry has disappeared because of all those low-wage workers in Canada taking our jobs.” Or, finally (and this is more than a couple, I realize), “Crap cars, not Mexican labor, is what doomed American automakers.”