It’s been more than a week since Hillary Clinton rolled into Iowa in her “Scooby” van to launch her campaign for the presidency. And despite her carefully controlled schedule, with one tightly calculated event after another, things have not been going all that well.
First, there was that highly publicized stop at a Chipotle, where instead of shaking hands and introducing herself, she hid behind dark glasses and remained totally anonymous. In fact, the manager had to check the security tape later to confirm that his customer actually was the former secretary of state. After collecting her burrito, her cheapskate staff didn’t even put a couple of bucks in the tip jar.
Once they got to Iowa, her driver pulled the van into a handicapped parking place. No surprise that photographs of the out-of-place van quickly circled the globe. But taking up a handicapped spot is no way to win favor with “the folks.”
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Oh, and how about that so-called “random” meet-and-greet at a local coffee shop? It didn’t take reporters very long to learn that the attendees were a carefully screened bunch of Clinton supporters, including an intern from their staff. You can be sure that no uncomfortable questions would be asked by that bunch.
In fact, the whole week was spent avoiding reporters’ questions. There were no interviews permitted, no appearances on national TV, no one-on-one chats allowed. The Clinton staff knows that even the most liberal supporter in the press would have to ask a few tough questions to maintain any appearance of objectivity. And that’s something they want to avoid as long as possible.
Even the friendliest question about all those missing emails will make her look bad. There is no way she can justify using a private email server during her time as secretary of state — and then erasing 32,000 of them before anyone could see them. I can’t wait to hear what will happen if Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), the tough-as-nails former special prosecutor, gets her to testify before his special committee on Benghazi.
But missing emails and mistakes over Benghazi aren’t the only subjects Clinton is eager to avoid. There are also the tens of millions of dollars that her family foundation has raked in from some of the most repressive governments on Earth.
And it’s not just the family foundation that pulled in a ton of cash. So did Bill and Hillary Clinton themselves. A new book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, will be released by HarperCollins next month. The New York Times says it is already “the most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle.”
But even when she’s surrounded by friendly faces, Hillary Clinton can still manage to put her foot in her mouth. Such was the case with her claim earlier this month that all of her grandparents came to this country as immigrants. Turns out three of her grandparents were born in this country; only one was born somewhere else.
A Clinton spokesperson offered this shaky explanation for the misstatement: “Her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and, as a result, she has always thought of them as immigrants.” That makes as much sense as her earlier explanation about why she spoke about being under sniper fire in Bosnia when it wasn’t true. The lady does like to stretch things a bit.
In fact, she’s even been known to exaggerate how she got her first name. She said her mother had read about the exploits of Sir Edmund Hillary, the famous mountain-climber. Her mother knew his last name had two L’s, she said. “So when I was born, she called me Hillary and she always told me, ‘It’s because of Sir Edmund Hillary.’”
The problem with that fairy tale is that Hillary was born on October 26, 1947. Sir Hillary did not make his first notable climb until January 1948.
Yes, the first week of the 2016 campaign made it clear that the lady has a bit of a problem with the truth. And while this may not be enough to derail her coronation as the next Democratic nominee for president, it could cost her the election.
And it will — if the Republicans have the guts to run as tough a campaign as the Democrats will.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
Chip Wood was the first news editor of The Review of the News and also wrote for American Opinion, our two predecessor publications. He is now the geopolitical editor of Personal Liberty Digest. This article first appeared on PersonalLiberty.com and has been reprinted with permission.
