Rumors, Rumors

Ron Rosenbaum's tease may have been an attempt to be responsible -- even while airing, sort of, dirty laundry of an anonymous person in need of cleaner clothes -- but the practical effect is now every single candidate who can be charitably called a "leading" candidate is now being gossiped about.

I floated 20 year old rumors about John McCain yesterday, for example. (Readers tell me he's admitted many of these, and apologized for them, in his books, so this seems like a drier hole than it seemed even before, and it seemed pretty dry already.)

So. For what it's worth, and this is all so shaky I really should say nothing at all, but whatever. If this is what the MSM is gossiping about, why not have it out there?

From one guy I hear Edwards, but not THE Edwards rumor. Another one. How good is this tip? Not terribly good; it's third-hand, and I can't get a firm vouching for the guy next along the telephone line, and besides that, his only source is the South Carolina rumor mill.

From someone else I hear Bill Clinton. Which would hardly be the surprise of the decade, now would it? We pretty much know he's been dating (dating, yeah, while married) a wealthy Canadian broad, or "canoodling" with her at least, as Page 6 might say. This particular rumor jibes with the LAT's questions about the "relevance" of the rumor, as Bill himself is not quite running, but does suggest something about the "judgment" of Hillary, which is the story hook the LAT would hang the story on, if it ran it all.

It would also jibe with Rosenbaum's caveat that he hadn't heard the rumor in this form before. Which is him saying that it's already out there, mostly; it's just in a somewhat different form, with different details, than previously run in the tabloids.

Finally it could sort of explain Rosenbaum's mention of the oddly-distorted coverage of the Bill factor in Hillary's campaign.

I don't have anything even close to firm for either of these. Caveat emptor.

Ron Rosenbaum: Confess. Your attempt to say something while not saying is actually stirring up more rumors.

posted by Ace at 04:04 PM

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