Save or delete Hillary?
Hillary Clinton’s aura of inevitability is colliding with the Clintons’ aura of inevitable scandal.
What do we make of the email flap? We know that Hillary-haters will seize on any story to gin up controversy and “scandal.” We know that Hillary’s palace guard will blame it on a hostile media and a vast right-wing conspiracy. We know that political wise guys and gals will tut-tut that her campaign must somehow “put it to rest.”
But set aside all the hoo-hah about whether top-secret information got into the wrong hands. Politicians routinely leak classified information when it suits them. The media eagerly posts, publishes or broadcasts classified information when it can get hold of it.
The question is why Secretary Clinton used a private email server rather than a government server? Why, for Pete’s sake?
The worst wounds in politics are always self-inflicted.
This leaves even Hillary’s supporters wondering if the drip-drip-drip becomes a flood that sinks the ship. Which opens the door to a suicidal passion for Bernie Sanders and ill-advised yearning for Joe Biden. Some of Clinton’s strongest backers in Washington talk privately about a nightmare scenario that opens the door for a Martin O’Malley or a Mark Warner.
A big problem here is Hillary’s toxic relationship with the media. They don’t trust her, so they question whether she can be trusted. Note this from the Washington Post comparing how she and Donald Trump deal with reporters:
“Trump grants interviews (to favored reporters, at least) with a minimum of bureaucracy and delay. Most of his media requests — ‘I have hundreds,’ he claims — are answered promptly by Hope Hicks, 26, his campaign communications director. She connects her boss with reporters with minimal vetting of topics to be covered. No adviser sits in on the conversation.
“Contrast this with the often tortured negotiations between other presidential candidates and journalists. New York Times Magazine reporter Mark Leibovich described his lengthy efforts to land an interview with Clinton for a profile in July. His eventual meeting with the candidate was ground-ruled and caveated to near suffocation by Clinton’s staff; one demanded that Leibovich treat Clinton’s entire 40,000-square-foot campaign headquarters as ‘off the record’.”
The media equates the private email server with the Clinton campaign’s media relations. Which feeds the fire.
Yes, Hillary Clinton is more than once-burned. It’s no surprise she’s more than twice-shy.
But here’s a lesson learned as a 20-something reporter and then a 20-something press secretary: If you treat journalists professionally and respectfully, they’ll generally do the same.
Save or delete Hillary?
Hillary Clinton’s aura of inevitability is colliding with the Clintons’ aura of inevitable scandal.
What do we make of the email flap? We know that Hillary-haters will seize on any story to gin up controversy and “scandal.” We know that Hillary’s palace guard will blame it on a hostile media and a vast right-wing conspiracy. We know that political wise guys and gals will tut-tut that her campaign must somehow “put it to rest.”
But set aside all the hoo-hah about whether top-secret information got into the wrong hands. Politicians routinely leak classified information when it suits them. The media eagerly posts, publishes or broadcasts classified information when it can get hold of it.
The question is why Secretary Clinton used a private email server rather than a government server? Why, for Pete’s sake?
The worst wounds in politics are always self-inflicted.
This leaves even Hillary’s supporters wondering if the drip-drip-drip becomes a flood that sinks the ship. Which opens the door to a suicidal passion for Bernie Sanders and ill-advised yearning for Joe Biden. Some of Clinton’s strongest backers in Washington talk privately about a nightmare scenario that opens the door for a Martin O’Malley or a Mark Warner.
A big problem here is Hillary’s toxic relationship with the media. They don’t trust her, so they question whether she can be trusted. Note this from the Washington Post comparing how she and Donald Trump deal with reporters:
“Trump grants interviews (to favored reporters, at least) with a minimum of bureaucracy and delay. Most of his media requests — ‘I have hundreds,’ he claims — are answered promptly by Hope Hicks, 26, his campaign communications director. She connects her boss with reporters with minimal vetting of topics to be covered. No adviser sits in on the conversation.
“Contrast this with the often tortured negotiations between other presidential candidates and journalists. New York Times Magazine reporter Mark Leibovich described his lengthy efforts to land an interview with Clinton for a profile in July. His eventual meeting with the candidate was ground-ruled and caveated to near suffocation by Clinton’s staff; one demanded that Leibovich treat Clinton’s entire 40,000-square-foot campaign headquarters as ‘off the record’.”
The media equates the private email server with the Clinton campaign’s media relations. Which feeds the fire.
Yes, Hillary Clinton is more than once-burned. It’s no surprise she’s more than twice-shy.
But here’s a lesson learned as a 20-something reporter and then a 20-something press secretary: If you treat journalists professionally and respectfully, they’ll generally do the same.