Friday, November 16, 2007

The Early Word: Clinton Back on Her Game

 
Seriously?  I thought she didn't do well at all, on at least three different occasions when she was put on the defensive.  I get that she(unfairly) gets support for being a woman, and I get that she benefits from additional support from the Republicans wanting her to be the one they can beat after the primaries, and I get she gets additional support for being married to Bill Clinton (overall, though that's also a cost for the family-values/no-forgiveness crowd), but I really don't think her answers were the winner on almost any question. 
 
Take this one for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBypp2hqxaQ 
 
Sorry I couldn't find a non-wacko-YouTube-guy version anywhere, but I thought this answer was just plain horrendous, and if she were anyone without the three non-merit-based factors above, she'd have been out of these debates faster than Mike Gravel.  During the debates, the video above was preceded by the other candidates coming down on NAFTA/CAFTA/etc pretty hard, albeit without going into as much detail as I would have liked, while acknowledging the original intent under Clinton/Gore.  I would have liked to hear what Hillary had to say as she had a unique perspective here, but instead got a complete avoidance of the question and no insights into her stance.  The only two reasons I can think of that this occurred are: 1) she's not up to speed on the issue, or 2) she knew her answer wouldn't please the public or her base.  Either way, I disagree that last night was a strong or satisfactory performance by her.

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