The telephone rings and is hurriedly picked up almost before the first ring ends. The caller is Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States. But instead of the ‘steady hand at the helm’ portrayed in her 2008 campaign ads, the hand holding the telephone shakes ever so slightly yet perceptibly, and the telephone conversation goes in a much different direction.
In a whispered voice she asks the young IT man on the other end of the phone, “Have you finished deleting all those e-mails yet?” The IT person, somewhat agitated since this is the fourth call he’s received that evening responds, “No Madam Secretary, we still have several thousand more to go”. “Well quit wasting time talking on the phone and get to it!” Hillary snaps at him, the frustration obvious in her voice.
While Hillary Clinton might love to go back to those heady days in 2008 when campaign ads promoted her as the “experienced” hand reaching for that telephone call at three o’clock in the morning, unfortunately for her reality sometimes has a tendency to jump up and bite one right in the backside.
And though the visual might be a bit tough for many to stomach, it looks like that indeed is what is happening to the current Democratic Party frontrunner. Reality is taking a huge chunk out of her over her use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state. And her ability to lie convincingly as she has done is the past doesn’t seem to be as successful as it once was.
Hillary’s problems are mostly self-inflicted, the Clinton’s have a long history of shooting themselves in the foot. Bill with his sexual predations and Hillary the serial liar. Though they’ve been successful for the most part in recovering from their self-inflicted political wounds, Hillary’s e-mail scandal may indeed be the one that finally proves to be fatal to Hillary’s political career.
It’s difficult for a candidate to repeatedly change their answers and stories on something without the voting public recognizing that they’re being lied to. And while Hillary may think her nuanced use of the English language will provide her cover in this on-going scandal, the reality of a fatal bite in the rear end looks to be looming over her political future. Americans just aren’t as stupid as Hillary and her allies want to believe.
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When donors start to hedge their bets by giving less to Hillary and more to other Democratic candidates, the death knell of her campaign will begin to play loudly. Not a single debate has occurred on the Democrat side, and it’ll be curious how the other candidates, both currently announced and un-announced will covet the funding currently going to Hillary’s coffers.
It’ll also be interesting to see how they deal with questions about Hillary’s use of a private e-mail server. Will they pounce on her and go on the attack to pursue their own political ambitions, or will they follow the Ronald Reagan 11th Commandment and cut her some slack, leaving those attacks to Republicans during the general election.
Whatever happens Hillary Clinton through her poor judgement has not only instilled questions about her honesty and truthfulness, but also has put doubt into the minds of voters that her hand should be the one reaching for that telephone to answer that call at three o’clock in the morning.
She herself said recently during her interview with MSBNC’s Andrea Mitchell that in hindsight her use of a private e-mail server may not have been such a good idea. During a potential nuclear emergency with Iran or North Korea does Hillary really believe that she’s going to be given a ‘do-over’? Americans will need someone in the Oval Office who uses good judgment and gets it right the first time.
Considering Hillary’s record of shooting herself in the foot over and over again, she might not be the best person to have sitting in the Oval Office with her finger poised above ‘the button’. Cooler heads and better judgement will be needed by the person who controls America’s nuclear arsenal. Not someone who as a matter of convenience decides to skirt the rules and potentially reveal America’s military and intelligence secrets to our enemies.
Perhaps “mistake” isn’t the right word, but the fact that Hillary continues to make these kinds of mistakes throughout her career doesn’t show her judgement to be sound and reliable. And in these challenging times America needs now more than ever someone with experience, and good judgment.
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