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Clinton's 'is' moment: Who cares what words mean?
21 hours, 59 minutes ago
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON pledged in August, "I shall not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential primary election or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina."
On Tuesday, she broke her pledge.
Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer had put all the Democratic candidates' names on the ballot without getting their approval. Four other candidates who signed that pledge -- Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson -- kept their promise by withdrawing their names from Michigan's ballot by Tuesday's deadline. Clinton cynically chose not to. She wants to ingratiate herself with Michigan voters.
The Clinton campaign preposterously claims that the senator is not violating her signed pledge because she is not campaigning in Michigan. But she pledged not to "participate." She is participating. As her husband famously tried to redefine the word "is," she is trying to redefine the word "participate."
(Sen. Chris Dodd also signed the pledge and chose to break it by staying on the Michigan ballot. But he's a small fish, and hardly anyone has noticed.)
Clinton can parse her decision any way she wants, but the obvious truth is that she made a calculated choice to break her word for political advantage. She's a Clinton, so few will be surprised by that. But voters will want to remember that decision. If she'll break her word to participate in a virtually meaningless primary, what won't she break her word for?
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=36993ac7-40a6-40d1-a96a-55253123b1a1&headline=Clinton%27s+%27is%27+moment%3a+Who+cares+what+words+mean%3f