Since the first of the year, we have seen Hillary Clinton only
twice. Both appearances were at inaugurations of candidates for public
office who had worked for her in the past and whom, out of loyalty and
friendship, she had endorsed and campaigned for:
N.Y.C.Mayor Bill de Blasio and
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
There should be nothing surprising about that support. She knows who
her friends are even if staffers perceived the political field to be so
complex that they needed to develop a nuanced spreadsheet.
She has been keeping a very low profile for weeks to the infinite
frustration of the media. News outlets appear to be convinced that
without Hillary somehow in the spotlight print outlets will receive no
traffic and cable channels no viewers, and so Hillary's fate, at
present, is to be ever-present even while she very likely works hard on
the draft of her book behind closed doors. Her "shadow campaign," her
"hit list," and, of course, "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi" currently
dominate the rumor mill that perpetually spins thanks to a stream
swollen with concern, rumor, and possibly fear. What's she up to? Why
isn't she speaking out? Where is she? etc. etc. etc.
At some point in the future we may read what she considers to be her
ultimate statement on Benghazi which is unlikely, given her consistency, to differ much in
substance from this one in October 2012.
On CNN to Elise Labott:
QUESTION:
You say you don’t want to play the blame game, but certainly there’s a
blame game going on in Washington. In fact, during the presidential
debate, Vice President Biden said, “We didn’t know.” White House
officials calling around saying, “Hey, this is a State Department
function.” Are they throwing you under the bus?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Oh, of course not. Look, I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the
State Department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. The
President and the Vice President certainly wouldn’t be knowledgeable
about specific decisions that are made by security professionals.
They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the
needs and make a considered decision.
What exactly is
it that the media wants from Hillary Clinton? What is it that the
public wants? Certainly her critics appear to want their pound of flesh
and blood.
Among her fans, there are those who similarly would exact additional
blood, sweat, and tears beyond what she has already donated over 40+
years of public service whether or not she decides to take up the
standard once more. (Others more patiently await her deeply personal
decision to be made in her own good time.) And then there is the press.
Their
blonde obsession with Hillary, no matter what the story, sells, brings
on traffic and viewers. So it should come as no surprise that keeping
her in the headers and on the covers becomes the story in the absurdist
world that is called mainstream media.
Can Anyone Stop Hillary?
Why Clinton's 2016 candidacy-without-a-campaign dominates the political galaxy
By David Von Drehle Monday, Jan. 27, 2014
Photo-illustration
by Justin Metz for TIME. Pants: Don Farrall�Getty Images, Man: BLOOM
image�Getty Images, Shoe: yasinguneysu�Getty Images
Hillary
Clinton has not decided whether to run for President again. I have this
on good authority, despite a recent barrage of reports detailing the
many moves that signal a campaign in the making. People close to Clinton
and familiar with her thinking insist that she hasn't made a decision.
Perhaps it all comes down, in Clintonian fashion, to definitions. It depends on the meaning of the word
decide. And on the meaning of the word
run.
In Hillary Clinton, the United States of America is now experiencing a
rare, if not unprecedented, political phenomenon; she requires a new
lexicon. Clinton is so globally famous, so politically wired and so
primed for the presidency after two campaigns at her husband's side and
one epic race of her own that her life as a private citizen has become
virtually indistinguishable from her life as a candidate.
The
truth is that this life as a private citizen is eminently
distinguishable from life as a candidate. Through her Clinton
Foundation outlet she does, in fact, keep us informed of her issues and
initiatives. Her public speaking events provide her a platform on
current events as she chooses to address them (or not, as is her
prerogative since she is neither a public servant nor an announced
candidate for anything beyond grandmotherhood). Yet the media continues
to focus, not on what she actually says and does, but rather on the
issues she selects not to address (e.g. the Iran deal) and the
initiative she has not resolved to assume. There is only one possible
outcome to this media frenzy, and that is invention. Reportage becomes a
creative process and fiction ensues.
Clinton has not
decided whether to run for President because to do so would only slow
her down. Indecision serves her well by preserving flexibility in her
schedule, by shielding her from answering every Internet controversy and
by allowing the Republican opposition to take shape and draw fire.
Really? Mr. Von Drehle knows why she has not yet decided? File under "fiction."
Hillary Clinton
