Since she declared her candidacy three months ago, Hillary Clinton has been campaigning in carefully staged photo ops with little substance. No interviews with the media, even on friendly sites like MSNBC have taken place. Hillary's actually taking any questions from the press has been so rare, that when she does deign to respond to inquiries, it actually makes news no matter what she says. You've probably seen the headline which reads something like "Hillary Takes Questions." Mrs. Clinton has also kept herself far away from almost all of the major issues of the day. She never talks about foreign policy. Her statements on domestic policy focus on things like inequality, women's rights and voting, but with few exceptions she never talks about her prescriptions for solving these problems. Okay, she has come out in favor of a constitutional amendment to limit free speech so that Washington can control who gets to say what in an election campaign, but even Hillary knows that will never happen. Hillary's campaign to date has been one of running from the issues.
The problem for Hillary, however, has been that after months of covering for her, even the liberal media was no longer ignoring her silence on key issues. One that got major attention was the fast track trade authority that was before Congress. There was a major split among Democrats on that issue. President Obama dearly wanted the measure to pass. Many Democrats, especially those on the left, opposed the bill. The bill passed the Senate with Hillary Clinton remaining silent. She said absolutely nothing on the issue. This was remarkable because as Secretary of State, Hillary had made something like 40 statements supporting the trade agreements and fast track authority. It was even more remarkable since the fast track bill under consideration gave the next president this authority as well. One would think that with Hillary running to be president, she would have a view on whether or not she ought to have this authority, but no, there was only silence.
Then the fast track bill got to the House. The battle there was intense. President Obama even came to Capitol Hill to lobby for passage of the bill. For Obama to get involved in such a campaign in person was extremely rare. And the battle was mainly one among the Democrats. Hillary, however, stayed silent. She said nothing. The bill went down to a big defeat at the end of last week. Obama lost, and the House Democrats voted about 4 to 1 against this measure.
After the vote was over and Obama had lost, Hillary decided to talk about the issue. That's right, she waited until the result was known, then and only then, she spoke. Hillary sided with the Democrats who voted against Obama's position. All those statements she had made as Secretary of State endorsing the trade pact were ignored. Now that the results were in, Hillary sided with the victors and against her own past positions.
Obama has become known for his foreign policy doctrine of "leading from behind". Basically, Obama does nothing while others act, and then he tries to claim credit when something good happens. Hillary has adopted that plan for her campaign. She is "campaigning from behind". It is a truly gutless move.
Rumor has it that the late president Kennedy's daughter Caroline has actually contacted Mrs. Clinton and asked her permission to include Hillary in an update to one of JFK's books. This one is going to be called "Profiles in Lack of Courage". Apparently, Hillary cannot decide whether or not to accept.
The problem for Hillary, however, has been that after months of covering for her, even the liberal media was no longer ignoring her silence on key issues. One that got major attention was the fast track trade authority that was before Congress. There was a major split among Democrats on that issue. President Obama dearly wanted the measure to pass. Many Democrats, especially those on the left, opposed the bill. The bill passed the Senate with Hillary Clinton remaining silent. She said absolutely nothing on the issue. This was remarkable because as Secretary of State, Hillary had made something like 40 statements supporting the trade agreements and fast track authority. It was even more remarkable since the fast track bill under consideration gave the next president this authority as well. One would think that with Hillary running to be president, she would have a view on whether or not she ought to have this authority, but no, there was only silence.
Then the fast track bill got to the House. The battle there was intense. President Obama even came to Capitol Hill to lobby for passage of the bill. For Obama to get involved in such a campaign in person was extremely rare. And the battle was mainly one among the Democrats. Hillary, however, stayed silent. She said nothing. The bill went down to a big defeat at the end of last week. Obama lost, and the House Democrats voted about 4 to 1 against this measure.
After the vote was over and Obama had lost, Hillary decided to talk about the issue. That's right, she waited until the result was known, then and only then, she spoke. Hillary sided with the Democrats who voted against Obama's position. All those statements she had made as Secretary of State endorsing the trade pact were ignored. Now that the results were in, Hillary sided with the victors and against her own past positions.
Obama has become known for his foreign policy doctrine of "leading from behind". Basically, Obama does nothing while others act, and then he tries to claim credit when something good happens. Hillary has adopted that plan for her campaign. She is "campaigning from behind". It is a truly gutless move.
Rumor has it that the late president Kennedy's daughter Caroline has actually contacted Mrs. Clinton and asked her permission to include Hillary in an update to one of JFK's books. This one is going to be called "Profiles in Lack of Courage". Apparently, Hillary cannot decide whether or not to accept.
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