Hillary Clinton rues 'wealth' gaffes. Will that end empathy debate?
| Washington
In a PBS interview broadcast Wednesday night, Hillary Rodham Clinton flatly apologized for her recent gaffes about her personal wealth.
At various points this month the former secretary of State has said she and her husband Bill were 鈥渄ead broke鈥� when they left the White House and tried to differentiate her family from people who are 鈥渢ruly well off.鈥�
鈥淚 shouldn鈥檛 have said the five or so words that I said, but my inartful use of those few words doesn鈥檛 change who I am,鈥� of "PBS NewsHour."
In addition, Clinton pushed back hard against the notion that she鈥檚 the Democratic Mitt Romney 鈥� somebody who can鈥檛 talk about economic class without seeming out of touch with ordinary voters.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a false equivalency,鈥� said Clinton after Ms. Ifill raised the Romney comparison.
It鈥檚 false, she said, because she has spent years thinking about jobs and the problems of US workers. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been reaching out,鈥� said Clinton, first during years as a senator and now on a book tour where she talks to people waiting in line about their hopes and concerns.
OK, then. Will this put all the talk about her wealth references behind her? Not likely, given that Clinton鈥檚 GOP critics see it as a way to increase voters鈥� negative perceptions of the (unannounced) 2016 Democratic frontrunner. They鈥檒l hammer on this until something they believe is better comes along.
But is it possible that would be a waste of their time? Not because it鈥檚 ineffective 鈥� we鈥檝e got no idea yet whether this is moving Clinton鈥檚 poll numbers 鈥� but because she might not run after all.
Clinton also told Ifill that you鈥檝e got to be 鈥渁 little crazy to run for president.鈥� And during a separate book appearance Wednesday in San Francisco she sounded critical of the way the United States chooses its electoral leader.
A number of people could serve the nation well as president, Clinton said, if somebody just woke them up in the morning and gave them the keys to the Oval Office. (A little wishful thinking there?)
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not how we do it,鈥� said Clinton, according to an . 鈥淲e say, 鈥極K, get ready, put your armor on, run that gauntlet, see who survives at the end.鈥� And whoever is standing up still, that鈥檚 the winner.鈥�
Maybe there will be changes to this system 鈥� perhaps limits on the amount of money that can flood into a campaign. But that won鈥檛 happen for some time, Clinton noted.
鈥淪o at least this next presidential election will be even more expensive, more challenging, with even more voices out there because you鈥檒l be analyzed, criticized, supported from so many different directions,鈥� said Clinton.
Wow, so Clinton is pretty realistic about her own situation, isn鈥檛 she? That process sure does not sound like much fun. We continue to believe that she is in fact already running for president. But she could still decide to stop running before the so-called 鈥渋nvisible primary鈥� ends and real primaries begin. She makes that sound as if it remains a real possibility.
