By covering up her pneumonia for more than two days and by making Romney-like statements that half of Trumps voters are "deplorable," Hillary Clinton is committing serious unforced errors that almost make one wonder if this life-long politician ever passed Politics 101.
I rarely agree with Wall Street Journal editorials, but this one has the ring of truth:
As Mrs. Clinton's support has eroded in the polls, Democrats are figuring out that they may have nominated the only candidate who could lose to Donald Trump.
A Trump victory would be a disaster for the country and the world. But Hillary seems to be doing the best she can to lose an election that's hers to win.
Clinton's handling of her pneumonia is an example of characteristic Clintononian missteps. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of security advisors late last week, it was clear to anyone watching that she wasn't feeling well. She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.
The smart thing to do would have been to put out a press release with the diagnosis and prognosis, say she was taking antibiotics, and she would be reducing her schedule for a few days to rest and recover. Millions of Americans contract pneumonia each year and recover quickly and completely, so it wouldn't have been a big deal.
Instead, with typical Clintonian secrecy, the campaign tried to cover up the obvious, until she nearly collapsed on Sunday morning at a 9/11 memorial, the video of her near-collapse sped across the internet, and it then took the Clinton campaign seven more hours to announce she has pneumonia.
Suddenly a relatively minor health problem turned into a major news story, with the media asking what other undisclosed health problems Clinton might have that could potentially interfere with her presidency.
The campaign's handling of Hillary's health problems violated a basic tenet of Politics 101: It's not the incident but the cover-up that causes the political problems. (When she was young, Hillary was a lawyer for the Congressional Committee investigating Watergate -- Did she learn nothing from the experience?)
Then Hillary violated another tenet of Politics 101: You don't criticize the voters. You criticize your opponent.
Speaking Friday to donors at a fundraiser headlined by Barbara Streisand, Hillary commented:
You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorable.' Right?. The racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.
Pundits can debate whether there's any truth to the statement, as Charles Blow did in defending the substance of the statement on The New York Times Op-Ed page, writing that "What Clinton said was impolitic but not incorrect."
But that doesn't diminish the fact that, by criticizing Trump's voters instead of candidate Trump, Hillary's statement was an elementary political blunder. It was almost the equivalent of Mitt Romney's infamous 2012 statement to his donors that 47 percent of the voters were free-loaders who don't pay taxes and want to mooch off the government. The 47 percent statement was a major cause of Romney's defeat.
The Wall Street Journal editorial recalls a 1988 Saturday Night Live skit in which Jon Lovitz -- playing Michael Dukakis -- comments on a silly statement by Dana Carvey -- playing George H.W. Bush -- that "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." The Wall Street Journal continues:
"More than a few Democrats are beginning to wonder if Hillary could soon be saying that about Donald Trump, of all people...Democrats have convinced themselves that Mr. Trump is such a threat to the republic that they...don't want to admit that they've nominated the epitome of the self-dealing status quo that disdains their fellow Americans."
Given the danger of a Trump Presidency, it's more than troubling that Hillary could be so politically inept. She's a professional politician who's been campaigning for over 35 years, for Bill as Arkansas Governor and President, and for herself as New York Senator, during a year-long campaign for the Democratic nomination, and now in the general election.
Could Hillary really be this politically clueless? Could she turn out to be about the only Democrat who could lose to Donald Trump?
I wish Hillary Clinton no harm. But part of me can't help hoping that her recent illness is serious enough that she has to withdraw from the Presidential race and the Democratic National Committee has to pick a different nominee. I assume it would be Tim Kaine, which I could live with if it means increasing the chances of beating the quasi-fascist Donald Trump (although a better choice would be Bernie Sanders, who consistently out-performed Hillary against Trump in most polls.)
If Hillary blows this election and Trump wins the Presidency, Gold help us all.