Clinton provides ammo
Hillary Clinton has run what most consider a highly disciplined campaign from a communication perspective. Words can haunt, and she has been as artful as anyone in not providing ammunition to competitors… so far. Her quotes yesterday concerning a possible pre-election terror attack were jumped on by everyone though; she led all candidates over the last 24 hours with 40% buzz share.
The quote is from the New York Post: “It’s a horrible prospect to ask yourself, ‘What if? What if?’ But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world,” Clinton told supporters in Concord. “So I think I’m the best of the Democrats to deal with that,” she added.
Captain’s Quarters has a representative response from the right: “From a purely political point of view, the question demeans the audience to which it was asked and exposes the poser as the poseur she is.” The left was not overjoyed; Matthew Yglesias says, “I think the Democrat best positioned to deal with GOP political mobilization in a post-attack environment is going to be the one who isn’t reflexively inclined to see failed Republican policies resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Americans as a political advantage for the Republicans.”
Clinton should expect her quotes to show up again in attack ads and debate points. And while she may be able to explain the nuance of her words, all of the time and energy spent doing that is time and energy not spend on message. Meanwhile, all of the other candidates will be trying their hardest today to steal attention away from Clinton. Conservatives and liberals alike were pretty laser-focused on Clinton this past week. It’s not easy these days. Apparently, even Obama Girl has declared her support for Hillary.
