Hillary Clinton on 'Daily Show With Jon Stewart.' What will they talk about?
Hillary Clinton will probably have some sort of strategy for dealing with the issue of her family鈥檚 wealth, which Jon Stewart could use as an opening subject. But other topics are likely to come up, too.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton smiles during a book launch in Berlin, Germany, July 6, 2014. Clinton will appear on Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show' on Tuesday, July 15, according to an announcement from Comedy Central.
Gero Breloer/AP
Hillary Rodham Clinton will appear on Jon Stewart鈥檚 鈥Daily Show鈥 on Tuesday, according to an announcement from Comedy Central. Ms. Clinton has been in Europe promoting her book, and Mr. Stewart has been on vacation for the past two weeks, so in a way their is a big 鈥渨elcome back鈥 moment for both.
Gee, what will they talk about? Clinton has appeared on the show twice before, in 2008 and 2003, so she鈥檒l be ready for Stewart鈥檚 conversational style, which mixes jabbing one-liners with actual policy questions. That means she鈥檒l probably have some sort of prepared strategy for dealing with the issue of her family鈥檚 wealth.
That鈥檚 likely to be an opening subject, in our opinion. Clinton has been in trouble for her wealth gaffes of sorts: She said the family was 鈥渄ead broke鈥 when it left the White House, for instance. More recently, the $100 million worth of talks delivered by husband Bill, and news reports indicate that daughter Chelsea gets $75,000 for public appearances. Why are Clinton words so expensive?
Then there is Ms. Clinton鈥檚 book itself, 鈥淗ard Choices.鈥 It has done pretty well by most authors鈥 standards: At the moment, it is No. 2 on The New York Times's nonfiction hardcover bestseller. "The Daily Show鈥 will give Clinton the opportunity to pitch the volume to a fairly sympathetic argument. We see that Comedy Central is helping in that regard: "The Daily Show鈥 website has a 鈥渂uy 'Hard Choices' 鈥 link that takes you direct to Amazon.
The question Stewart might ask, though, is whether it bothers Clinton that the No. 1 hardcover bestseller is an anti-Clinton book, 鈥淏lood Feud,鈥 which depicts a purported war between the Clinton and Obama families. (鈥淏lood Feud鈥 has been generally ignored as thinly sourced and unreliable by the mainstream media.) Plus, there鈥檚 a coming out later this month, 鈥淐linton, Inc.,鈥 by Weekly Standard online editor Daniel Halper. Is there an organized anti-Clinton industrial complex?
Finally, as to wonkishness, Stewart might ask what Clinton would do as president, anyway. Why bother to run again? What鈥檚 the point? This could give her an opportunity to circle around and talk about the economy.
On her book tour, she鈥檚 talked with increasing frequency about income inequality, wrote last week. She might also stress a need to address economic problems of the middle class.
This somewhat populist pitch would have the virtue of echoing the issues Bill Clinton talked about during his time in the White House and appealing to a somewhat different universe of voters than has President Obama鈥檚 economic approach.
鈥淢ost Democrats believe voters will see the economy as the major unfinished business of Obama鈥檚 presidency, and they鈥檒l be looking for any ideas Clinton can offer on how to speed up the economic recovery and improve the quality of their lives,鈥 Mr. Nather wrote.
It could also be an indirect defense against buck-raking accusations. It鈥檚 possible that US voters are more interested in what she says she might do for them than in what she may have done for herself.聽