Hillary Clinton claims snipers pinned her down again

Gee, bet you can't guess what Sen. Hillary Clinton's opening line is on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"?

She says "it's so great to be here." A show stopper. But not that. She says she was worried about not making it to the show. And Jay says, "Oh." And Clinton says, "I was pinned down by sniper fire." And Jay says, as he did last week, "You know in L.A. that might be true actually."  (Laughter)

After that, things slow down a bit. Clinton sort of but not really explains how she came to tell that Bosnia whopper and the subject gets around to sleep, which most Americans will be about to do when they're watching Tonight tonight. And Clinton says she's lucky because she can nap for a few minutes here and there during her impossible campaign days.

She says it's been "a great election so far" and she sees the Democratic contest with Sen. Barack Obama as....

"really close." She thinks her daughter Chelsea is really smart, not just because the young woman thinks her Mom would make a better president than her Dad.

And they touch on Bill's recent displays of anger and his wife suggests he's just protecting his family.

And then Jay comes around to the Michigan-Florida situation, which gets a little awkward, especially if you're falling asleep.

She says:

"Take Michigan, for example. The Democratic Party says, 'Yes, do a revote.'  I said, 'Do a revote.'  People came forward and said, 'Look, we'll give you the money to do it so it doesn't come out of taxpayer money,' and Senator Obama's campaign said, No, they wouldn't do that. 

"And I'm just asking, how are we going to make sure that we get people from Florida and Michigan to feel like the Democratic Party is on their side.  So that when the general election does come, they're going to think we care about them, and we want their votes come November.  So we have to resolve this; otherwise, I think it undermines the whole nominating process."

And Jay notes:

"But he wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan."

And Hillary responds:

"No, but he had a choice to be on it.  He just took his name off of it."

And Jay adds:

"Well, because the Democrats said it's not going to count."

And Hillary starts to explain but realizes she's getting too deep in the weeds for late-night TV, so she says:

"The problem is that it's very ‑‑ it's not worth going into today.  You can read about it.  There's lots of blogs and things written about it.  There was a decision about rules, but two states did change the rules, and they weren't penalized; so Michigan and Florida say, 'Well, they weren't penalized, why are we?'  It has to be worked out.  That's my bottom line.  Let's work it out, or let them revote, one of the two."

So, bottom line, the two of them don't get the Florida-Michigan situation fixed tonight either.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[gene]

My recollection may not be that good since I stopped paying attention to the Democratic nomination after the most electable and by far best candidate, John Edwards, dropped out of the race. Unfortunately, the quality of my night-time television viewing was interrupted when Clinton showed up on the Leno show (JRE was great when he was on the show a few weeks ago). Subject to my recollection, (1) Obama (and Edwards and several other candidates) took their names off of the Michigan ballot in the context of the Democratic Party rules relative to Michigan not getting any delegates to sit at the Convention (I always wondered why Clinton did not take her name off of the ballot, but now I know why); (2) All of the candidates agreed not to campaign in Michigan and they all followed through on their word; and (3) Clinton had tremendous momentum and financial support and was the "inevitable nominee" at the time, and thus she was in FULL agreement that the Michigan and Florida votes would not count towards delegates. My, how she has changed her tune now. Oh, by the way, before you Obama supporters get too high and mighty I also note, subject to the quality of my recollection, that all of the candidates also agreed not to campaign in Florida. However, Clinton attended fundraisers leading up to the Florida Primary, but defended her actions as being in compliance with the agreement not to campaign in Florida because these were PRIVATE fundraisers and Obama ran television ads leading up to the Florida Primary, but defended his actions as being in compliance with the agreement not to campaign in Florida because he was not PHYSICALLY in Florida. BTW, JRE did not campaign in Florida in accordance with his agreement not to. My, oh my, Hillary Clinton and Obama have both developed a nuance of the definition of "IS" as originally formulated by Bill Clinton. I suspect by November (if not sooner) the Democrats will have realized the huge mistakes they have made and will have buyer's remorse as they will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (akin to the Wide World Of Sports motto) and put John McCain into the White House...UNBELIEVABLE. Is it any wonder why Al Gore and John Edwards (and anyone else with integrity) have not endorsed either Clinton or Obama to date.

[Jake]

To the first comment posted.
"How is John Edwards more electable?"
He garnered fewer votes and is the only candidate that was on a losing ticket for the Presidency. Just because you like a candidate more does not make him/her or more electable. I am an Obama supporter, but HRC and Obama supporters can make this claim not Edwards...

Interesting, though about Obama running ads in Florida. I never heard that and will look it up. I thought Hillary only attended the Clebration event in Florida?

[dave]

'so that when the general election does come, they're going to think we care about them, and we want their votes come november.'
hillary again clearly states that she still does not care about THEM but only about 'their votes.' and that she deceitfully wants people to THINK she cares about them so she can pick up their votes.
but as with mccain, joking about misdemeanors does not excuse them, nor inspire confidence.
not at all.

[Mike]

I thought Hillary's jokes fell flat --- even with help from Jay. I'm always worried when someone says "I'm going to fight for you," because it reminds of the old line "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." Her kind of help we don't need --- especially if it's the kind of help she rendered Bill Clinton during the health care fight in the 1990's. The funniest part of the interview was Hillary's explanation of the Michigan and Florida issues, essentially: "Despite the violation of the rules, let's let them participate so I can win (I hope)."

[petesb]

hillbill is such a liar living in fantasy world ,people should wake up and see her for what she is, immoral and unethical ....

[Buj]

This MI FL debate is tiresome. The Obama camp says 50/50 which though not perfect (a half delegate count based on January but without states' SD is a better option) is reasonable..........given HRC insistence that even pledged delegates are up for grabs at the convention anyway. So why not accept the 50/50 representation?

She is plainly a hypocrite that you just cannot trust. Everyone will be always in the dark if she was to be the president. She is the kind of person who will back down on an agreement or a promise, and yet millions believed her when she says she is really for them. Her track record just does not concur.

And by the way, to gene | April 04, 2008 at 01:30 AM,
Obama's television ads are part of a nation-wide ads package deal that he made and i'm not sure he has any ablity to pull the ad off FL airwave.

[steve]

Unlike the author of this article - I enjoyed the Leno Show and the interview with Hillary. It's good she can acknowledge her mistakes. The media and press,in large and as a whole, ignore huge mistakes and mis-speaks of Obama. The bottom line is: Hillary is out there everyday talking about the economy, which is what matters most to me.

[Jeff in Orlando]

Who would have ever guessed Hillary as a comedian on late night talk shows. She should go for it since she is done as far as the Democrat nomination is concerned. And, if Bloomberg challenges and beats her in the Senate race, what is left for Hillary? Since she is fast becoming a national joke, comedy is a natural transition. Bubba can join the act as straight man. Trouble is, as with their political act, the two of them would never know when to leave the stage once people got tired of them.

[alex]

So she lies at least 3 times about sniper fire, then goes on nationwide TV and jokes about the fact that she's a liar?

So typical of the Clintons, and so telling of why she'll soon be out of the race.

[Justin]

CNN Polls showed Edwards was more electable (fyi) before they took him off the polls and chastised him for citing them.

I don't think its just an "Edwards Backer" argument. Its a realist argument. Look no non-southern democrat since Kennedy has won (or even been close). Kennedy won the closest election up until then basically because of LBJ.

Democrats need to realize this. Its completely unreasonable, but not impracticable (as indicated). Its hard enough, in fact almost impossible, for a non-southern dem to win. Couple this with the extra "baggage" of diversity and other fringe factors with these candidates and the answer is clear.

John McCain will sadly and unbelieveably be the president in 2010 becasue California and New York may run the country, but they DON'T DECIDE WHO WINS THE PRESIDENCY. Florida, Texas, NC, SC, TN, and GA decide this!! Its about time that people, especially the "neo-leftist" in CA, NY, and MA realize this.

It isn't fair, and its actually kind of ridiculous, but its the way it is. Neither Dem will win a single state in the south unless Blacks turn out in the same numbers they did in the primaries...AND REPUBLICANS DON'T VOTE!!!

[Dropped Out?]

She announced she dropped out of the race also, right?

[gene]

Thank you Justin, as you explained reality better to Jake then I could. My comments had nothing to do with my desire for JRE to be the President, but rather the reality of the situation. Unfortunately, my passion for an Edwards presidency and that he is the one Democrat who could have beaten the Republicans and thereafter had an opportunity and a chance to turn this country around does leave me disgusted with the Democratic Party for "what could have been".
Being an Obama supporter (Jake) and unaware of the Florida ads is somewhat troubling to me, but not surprising based upon the people that I know who support Obama and are unaware of many things about his campaign and what lies beneath the surface and for the most part has not been scrutinized by the media. Oh by the way, the argument (Buj) about being part of a national ad campaign purchase that could not be pulled off the Florida market...c'mon, you expect Americans with a brain who think to buy that explanation...that is the kind of explanation that I would expect from the Clinton campaign...just like the absurd (and entirely dishonest out of context) explanation from Hillary to Leno about Obama taking his name off of the Michigan ballot...what a joke. UNBELIEVABLE.

[David]

Does anyone know to which other two states Clinton was referring (and which were not penalized when they changed the rules, as were FL and MI), when she was making her FL/MI delegate argument?

[N.E. BodybutHillary]

Laugh while you can monkey girl. Getting caught red handed in a lie where you claimed to have been in the same peril as the young men and women you have sent to Iraq is nothing to make light of.
Your arrogance is disgusting, your character is flawed, and your word is meaningless.
Why not just claim that it depends on what your definition of sniper fire is.

[alee21]

I get it, Hillary is always wrong and Obama is always right. Obama deserves to be president because he is always right. And he never never lies. He is the Holy One.

What a laugh!

First of all the Bosnia thing has been blown out of proportion by the media, fanned and manufactured by the Obamaites, trying to detract from the fact that the trip was real, there was danger (just because it wasn't deep in Viet Cong territory doesn't mean there was no danger) and that Hillary accomplished a great deal on that mission (did anyone bother to read about what transpired on that trip, beyond the first 5 minutes?)

I think Hillary did a good job with the Bosnia joke – it put things into perspective: i. e. people making a mountain out of a molehill and choosing to ignore her accomplishments on that trip.