Thursday, April 03, 2008

HILLARY CLINTON

The Watergate Story, While Juicy, Is No Tuzla Dash

I talked about this story, of the misdeeds and dishonesty of a young Hillary Clinton, with Captain Ed yesterday:

Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”

A couple of factors will keep this story from getting the attention it deserves. First, while this was apparently in David Brock's book in the mid-90s, Democrats have been well-trained to question the timing. Also, most Americans may or may not hold a misdeed from 1974 against a candidate. Thirdly, I'm wondering how many Hillary supporters are backing her because they think she's the honest, trustworthy, and ethical candidate. My guess is they're backing her for other qualities.

By comparison, Hillary's tale of the "Tuzla Dash" is a much more damaging - or as Ed put it, a more easily digested story — because it's much more recent, it involves multiple retellings of an implausible story, and there's clear video evidence refuting her claims. 

04/03 08:50 AMShare