The other night I caught a segment on FOX News where there was discussion about the hostage situation that occurred at the Hillary Clinton headquarters in Rochester, NH. It seems like there’s a lot of talk about “how Hillary handled the situation.” I’m sure I don’t need to remind you about the ridiculous puff piece written by Glen Johnson for the AP, but clearly much of the discussion reflects sentiments implied by that piece.
Hillary and her campaign clearly saw the political opportunities from the hostage situation at her campaign HQ, but, we shouldn’t forget that there was absolutely nothing Hillary had to handle. She wasn’t at the headquarters when it happened. She was never in danger at any point. She also had no authority over local law enforcement, thus she was never in a position to make any decisions that affected the outcome of the hostage situation. It was never a test of her leadership abilities, and not once was she in a position to demonstrate her capacities to handle a crisis situation. Instead, it showed her ability to see the political impact of a situation and how to exploit it.
That being said, one can’t ignore that there is certainly going to be a short-term political advantage for Hillary as a result. Some theorized that, with regards to her recent slide in the polls after her terrible performance at the Philly debate, this event combined the subsequent “presidential-looking Hillary” media coverage, should “stop the bleeding.” I wouldn’t doubt that it may do that, but there’s no reason why it should.
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