Ambiguity Can Only Help Her

Back in November I directed folks to an Edwards campaign ad showing Clinton flip-flopping on Iraq, on Social Security, and on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants all within the space of a single debate. It left her tied in such a giant knot of ambiguity, vulnerable to unrelenting requests to clarify her statements, that she was forced to come along a week later and explicitly abandon her earlier support for Governor Spitzer's plan.

It isn't quite on the same scale, but ABC's Jake Tapper was looking through Tuesday's Democratic debate transcript and discovered some more confusion from Clinton:

RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, you voted for the same 2001 bankruptcy bill that Senator Edwards just said he was wrong about. After you did that, the Consumer Federation of America said that your reversal on that bill, voting for it, was the death knell for the opponents of the bill. Do you regret that vote?

CLINTON: Sure I do, but it never became law, as you know. It got tied up. It was a bill that had some things I agreed with and other things I didn't agree with, and I was happy that it never became law. I opposed the 2005 bill as well.

Am I reading that right? Did Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, say she's happy a bill she voted for didn't become law?

Um … then why did she vote for it?

Also --- what's with the "as well" at the end there? Is that like -- 'In addition to voting for a bill then being happy it didn't become law I also voted against a similar bill?'

Maybe she needs to take a poll before she answers that.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 04:59 AM

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