Michael Tomasky hopes that Hillary has learned her lesson after James Comey's "warning." Howard Fineman believes the Clinton campaign can now focus on "other issues." And Eugene Robinson insists she had a "great day."
To all three men I would say the following: WTF?
Seriously, guys. In what alternate universe are the three of you living? A warning? Other issues? A great day? I expect this kind of denial from the people who write for The Daily Kos and Media Matters, not from writers of esteemed publications as The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post and The Washington Post.
Let's be clear here. One, Hillary Clinton has had a lifetime of warnings thrown her way and has ignored virtually every one of them. Two, the only way her campaign can turn to other issues is if the Sun were to somehow go super nova. Three, as for her having a great day, well, yes, compared to someone suffering from leprosy, I suppose she had a hoot and a half.
The simple and undeniable truth is that, due to her own recklessness, this email server issue that everyone assumed would be in her rear-view mirror remains front and center. It will continue to dog her for the next four months and, should she win the White House, for the balance of her public life. No one but she was to blame.
And that's why it is critical not only to her presidential aspirations, but to whatever legacy she wishes to leave behind, that she hold her own press conference as soon as possible. She must face the American people and admit what they and every sentient being in the galaxy already know: that this was no mere brain fart. What happened here speaks to a pattern of behavior that is disconcerting to an awful lot of people, including many of her supporters.
Her mea culpa should be direct and without qualification. No "I'm sorry if what I did was taken the wrong way" crap. She needs to own what she did and admit it was wrong. Period. There's a reason people don't trust her and apologizing to the nation can go a long way towards restoring that image. It will also show the voters that she is willing to do something few politicians do and Donald Trump has never done once in his entire life: admit she was wrong.
This isn't for her staunchest supporters; nor is it for her harshest critics. I submit that nothing she does or says will have any impact on them. It's for the millions of people out there who don't like Trump but who still can't bring themselves to vote for her. Touting her vast experience and her policy chops may sway some of them, but it won't be enough for the rest. How else can you explain why, even with all the chaos in the Trump campaign, she is only a few percentage points ahead of him?
Based on the resumes of both candidates, this contest should be over by now. The fact that it isn't speaks volumes about the amount of damage Hillary Clinton has done to her reputation and the amount of work she will have to do to resuscitate it.
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