海角大神

Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on 鈥淭he Daily Show鈥� Tuesday night, and she did not tell Jon Stewart she is running for president, despite his to get her to do so.

That push began before she even walked onto the set, with Mr. Stewart saying in his intro that Ms. Clinton 鈥渋s here solely for one reason: to publicly and definitively declare her candidacy for the presidency of the United States ... I think.鈥�

Then after welcoming the ex-secretary of State on-camera and waving a copy of her book 鈥淗ard Choices鈥� around while extolling its perceived virtues, Stewart made a hard segue.

鈥淚 think I speak for everybody when I say, no one cares,鈥� the comic said, referring to Clinton鈥檚 memoir. 鈥淭hey just want to know if you鈥檙e going to run for president.鈥�

Clinton laughed. Then she pushed back. 鈥淚 was going to make an announcement, but you kind of spoiled it for me,鈥� she said.

After that, Stewart whipped out a clipboard and gave the former secretary of State a pretend aptitude test, asking if she prefers commuting to work or a home office (鈥渉ome鈥� was her answer) and whether she prefers her home office to have a particular shape. (鈥淭he world is so complicated, the fewer corners the better,鈥� she said. That鈥檚 a coy reference to the Oval Office if you haven鈥檛 figured it out.)

Watching this smooth banter from the comfort of the couch, we had a couple of reactions. The first was that Clinton and Stewart had actually practiced all this beforehand. Or, if there wasn鈥檛 an actual run-through, Stewart鈥檚 camp had provided Clinton鈥檚 aides with a general outline of what he was going to say, so she could have snappy rejoinders prepared. Not that there鈥檚 anything wrong with that.

Second, she is running for president. Or, as we鈥檝e said in the past, she is now running in the pre-primary phase of the presidential race, leaving herself the option to stop running in the future before voting starts, if she wishes.

Why? She answers questions like a candidate, that鈥檚 why.

Stewart posed an obvious query about her recent wealth gaffes, including her statement that she and hubby Bill were 鈥渄ead broke鈥� when they left the White House. Clinton鈥檚 response was textbook: First, make a non-apology apology. (She called the 鈥渄ead broke鈥� comment 鈥渋nartful.鈥�) Second, put on a positive spin. (Clinton said she and Bill worked hard for their money and were grateful for the opportunities afforded them in America.) Then, talk policy, preferably with numbers. (Young people today don鈥檛 believe they have such opportunity, Clinton said. Six million young people are neither in school or working, a 鈥渢errible development,鈥� in Clinton鈥檚 words.)

There you have it. She is subtly drawing up a Clinton economic policy in front of the media鈥檚 eyes. She鈥檒l use her family鈥檚 own position to highlight income inequality in the US, and she鈥檒l talk about climbing the ladder of the American dream, and how that鈥檚 hard today for the middle class and the young, and how the government needs to give them a helping hand at key times and so forth.

鈥淭hat says to me you鈥檙e running for president,鈥� said Stewart, as his guest switched into wonk mode.

Exactly right.