The Hillary Papers

Now that news organizations have had some time to scour the 11,000-plus pages of Hillary Clinton's datebook from her time as first lady, more than a few stories are popping up questioning the credibility of Clinton's claim that her time in the White House should be looked upon in the best possible light as the nation contemplates her bid to return there.

From Reuters we have, "First lady records show Clinton promoted NAFTA." Salient bit:

Demorcatic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be renegotiated, but newly released records showed on Wednesday she promoted its passage.

From The Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias comes "Hillary and FMLA." Here's the intro:

Dana Goldstein notes the collapse of Hillary Clinton's argument that she played some kind of key role in passing the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The Associated Press chimes in with, "Clinton Schedules Show Drop in Policy Role":

Hillary Clinton's daily schedules show that her formal policy role in the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton, shrunk once Congress shelved the health-care plan she helped craft in the administration's first two years.

The British paper The Telegraph adds, "Hillary Clinton papers sink experience claims":

Hillary Clinton's boasts that she gained major foreign policy experience as First Lady have been undermined after 11,046 pages of her White House schedules provided scant evidence to back up her claims.

From The Washington Post comes, "In HIllary Clinton's Datebook, A Shift":

HIllary Rodham Clinton arrived in the White House with a schedule befitting a president, packed with policy sessions, meetings with senators and trips to promote an ambitious political agenda. But after the collapse of her health-care plan in 1994, she retreated to a more traditional first lady's calendar of school visits, hospital tours, photo ops and speeches on a narrower set of issues.

And rounding-out this little round-up is The New York Times which reminds us that the documents themselves were "released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and a lawsuit." More analysis:

The documents offer no support for her assertions on the campaign trail that she helped negotiate the Irish peace accords or facilitated the flow of refugees in the Balkans, but neither do they disprove them. There is no evidence to back up her assertion that she helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, the first legislation Mr. Clinton signed as president in February 1993.

Now, I know what you Clinton supporters are already saying. "Media conspiracy!" My point with this post isn't to say that Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president, just that maybe not as qualified as she so often claims on the campaign trail.