HILLARY: THE RETURN FROM BENGHAZI

DATELINE: Cleverville, Jan 28 – On Monday during a presentation in New Orleans to the National Automobile Dealers Association Hillary identified her greatest regret as Secretary of State. It was the 2012 terrorist attack on our Benghazi compound that killed four Americans including “now it’s public, so I can say, two CIA operatives”.

In that single statement, Clinton almost casually unveiled the short road she has charted for herself in her return from Benghazi. Regardless of your political persuasion, you really have to admire her political acumen.

First, her timing is impeccable. Despite her protestations of uncertainty, she will run for President in 2016 just as sure as humans breathe oxygen. Defusing messy, distracting negatives as early in the process as possible is straight out of Getting Elected 101. Her short Benghazi Regret soliloquy is the first step in disarming her opponents of one of their most effective anti-Hillary weapons.

Clinton’s performance up to, during and following the Benghazi massacre is the hottest thing the Republicans have going against her right now. Much of that stems from her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 8, 2013 when she stated:

“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.”

A couple of sentences later she reinforced that statement with:

“But you know, to be clear, it is, from my perspective, less important today looking backwards as to why these militants decided they did it than to find them and bring them to justice, and then maybe we’ll figure out what was going on in the meantime.”

She’s taking a shellacking for down playing the importance of identifying the attackers. The motive ascribed to her dismissive attitude is political necessity. In September 2012 Obama was in the midst of his second re-election campaign. The outcome was up for grabs. If Al Qaeda orchestrated the Benghazi attack it would put the lie to the President’s claim that the terrorist organization had been defanged. Hillary’s reference to “in the meantime” in her Senate testimony meant anytime after the 2012 election.

Second, in her Benghazi Regret statement she begins to explain away her cavalier responses. Namely, she was prevented from being more forthright due to national security concerns. This new twist has a surface appeal, but it won’t pass scrutiny. That Al Qaeda was involved did not require the release of any need-to-know specifics. But, in depth analysis is too often defeated by persistently telling the same superficial story. We’ll for sure hear much more about her handy national security excuse in the coming months.

Still, in one statement she cut her path through the Benghazi woods to public acceptability. Make the Benghazi story very old news and provide a superficially credible explanation for a very bad video clip of her testimony. Very smart lady.

What about her coy response to whether she will run in 2016? She’s already running. The Priorities USA Action super PAC that worked for Obama in 2008 and made Hillary an inconsequential after-thought is now rallying around her 2016 candidacy.

During the 2012 campaign it raised $75 million making it the top dog among PAC’s supporting Democrat causes. Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, is joining Priorities as a co-chair to share his know-how on winning national elections.

Then there’s Ready for Hillary an organization generating grassroots support for the former Secretary of State’s 2016 candidacy.

There is another scandal that Hillary will have to explain away in her run for the Presidency. Last Monday, the New York Times Magazine published its cover featuring Hillary as a planet. She looks like a classic villain from a Dr. Who story line. A freaky Zygon face without the rest of the head or body. It just goes to show that the most politically astute among us can fall victim to yawning lapses in judgment. Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen in outer space.

The only thing worse is her confession to the Auto boys in New Orleans that she hasn’t driven a car since 1996. She must walk to the grocery store.