An Instructive Contrast

This morning's New York Times contains a feature about the infighting and dysfunction that has characterized the internal workings of the Clinton campaign. James Thurber notes that this kind of mismanagement can result from having senators -- who, as he puts it, have never "managed anything as complex as this before" -- running a campaign. It's also a damaging narrative for Hillary, who is arguing that her "experience" and readiness "on Day One" sets her apart.

One shudders to think of eight years more of stories like this one, leaking petty details of the feuds that always seem to be part of the Clinton penumbra. (My Townhall column -- "The Clintons' Legacy of Love" -- details more fully other contributions to American political culture from the former First Couple).

But the story presents an instructive contrast between Hillary's management skills and those of John McCain. This piece in last week's LA Times details how McCain made some pretty tough choices -- getting rid of long-time advisers, for example -- when he realized that his staff, as then constituted, was not serving him well. It seems that Hillary has been either unable or unwilling to take charge in a similar fashion, aside from the ritual dismissal of Patti Solis-Doyle.

Hmmm. Will this become an occasion for Michelle Obama to renew her observation that ""if you can't run your own house, you can't run the White House" ?