Quote of the Day
Maybe she put in a tape of The Macarena (which was on top of the charts) during her last time behind the wheel?
Yep, that’s a comment on Hillary Clinton’s revelation that she hasn’t driven a car since 1996. She made the admission in a talk before the National Automobile Dealers Association.
I don’t–as as a fellow non-driver–want to appear to begrudge Mrs. Clinton or her drivers. I bet I am not going to see her on the plebian 42 bus anytime soon, but if she is not a very good driver, as she implied in the remarks, I’m glad she is not getting behind the wheel.
Still, can you imagine what would have been the media response if Mitt Romney had made a similar admission? It would have been a Rafalca moment.
In an item headlined “Hillary Clinton, Woman of the People ™ Hasn’t Driven a Car in Almost 20 Years," Ace of Spaces comments:
This would pretty much be the end of any chance for a Republican. Of course, for a Democrat, especially Democrat Royalty like a Clinton this will either be ignored or spun as a story about how she has forgone the simple pleasures of life in service to her people.
Ace suggests that Scott Walker, who doesn’t have a college degree (but who has actual achievements) would provide an excellent contrast with Mrs. Clinton in a general election. Ace thinks that this clumsiness with regard to the driving admission shows how evitable Mrs. Clinton may in reality be.
As Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey notes, the driving comment was particularly indicative of Clinton’s ham-handedness given the venue. Morrissey also observes:
It’s odd that a would-be president would mention her nearly 20-year run of being chauffeured around wherever she goes, especially in scripted remarks, but maybe this is what happens when a national candidate starts to think of him- or herself as a sure thing. Why not hand the GOP an easy “supermarket scanner” moment to show she’s out of touch?
The scanner incident dogged George H. W. Bush, as Morrissey recalls, but, even if Republicans try to make use of Mrs. Clinton's chauffered lifestyle, it won’t stick in a campaign based on the ideal that electing the first woman president pales in comparison to everything else.
Speaking of which, I think Mrs. Clinton trotted out a line at the automobile speech that was designed for her to use in a general election:
According to CNN’s Jake Tapper, Clinton told the NADA crowd that “My biggest regret is what happened in Benghazi. It was a terrible tragedy losing four Americans.”
Notice the incredible passivity. Do we really want somebody who evades responsibility this transparently to be the first female president?