Years ago, it seems, progressives crowned Hillary Clinton their party’s heir apparent to the American presidency. They concluded she was “deserving” and “qualified” for that office, in part given her long and distinguished career in public service. Yet when asked a blunt and direct question by the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol today on Morning Joe -- namely, what was her greatest achievement as secretary of state? -- no one on the left-leaning panel had a compelling answer. In fact, no one on the panel had much of an answer at all (via WFB):
For years Hillary Clinton had been touted by the drive-by media as the most qualified Democrat running for president in 2016. Is she? When Joe Scarborough and Bill Kristol pushed backed against that inside-the-beltway bit of conventional wisdom, no panelist readily or convincingly rose to her defense. Perhaps Chuck Todd came the closest, but even he admitted she played a “much more quiet role” on the world stage than her successor during her years at State. Thus, it was somewhat strange watching a progressive journalist scoff at Scarborough for suggesting Claire McCaskill (D-MO) was the strongest Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, even though he provided no evidence for why that wasn’t necessarily the case.
The publication of Hillary Clinton's memoir in June will give her a chance to answer an important question MSNBC journalists evidently cannot. They must be looking forward to it.
