Hillary Ducking Sniper Fire

A firefight has erupted over "Sinbad-gate," or the differing accounts of Senator Hillary Clinton's trip to Bosnia in 1996 with the "Star Search"-winning comic and singer Sheryl Crow. On the Clinton conference call yesterday, for the first time, Howard Wolfson admitted Hillary "...might possibly have misspoken."

As reported here last night, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor released a statement pointing out that inaccuracies in prepared remarks are not misstatements, but rather "misleading." Then, at today's conference call, Phil Singer referred the first question on this to yesterday's transcript. I followed up:

TC: On the subject of Bosnia, you referred the last questioner to yesterday's transcript, but following that call, the Ob...

Phil Singer: The Obama campaign was mistaken. Those were not prepared remarks.

Following today's call, I contacted the Obama campaign for a response. A spokesman said they would be releasing a statement shortly.

Then, the real fun started. Now, there's video of Chelsea fielding a question on the incident:
Link: sevenload.com

The Clinton campaign points out that the remarks on the website are "as delivered" as opposed to prepared remarks, but did not offer to release the prepared remarks. The Obama campaign then released a memo entitled, "First time in 12 years she misspoke?", excerpted below:

TODAY on KDKA Pittsburgh radio: "You know I have written about this and described it in many different settings and I did misspeak the other day. ... and last week, you know, for the first time in 12 or so years I misspoke." http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/22441.php?contentType=34&contentId=592

Really? Below are four instances where Hillary Clinton misremembers sniper fire upon her arrival in Bosnia. (With some video of her reading her remarks.)

MARCH 17: Clinton: "There Was No Greeting Ceremony, And We Basically Were Told To Run To Our Cars. Now, That Is What Happened." [CNN, 3/1708]

MARCH 17: "I Remember Landing Under Sniper Fire. There Was Supposed To Be Some Kind Of A Greeting Ceremony At The Airport, But Instead We Just Ran With Our Heads Down To Get Into Vehicles To Get To Our Base." [Clinton speech (remarks as delivered), 3/17/08]

FEBRUARY 29: Clinton Said That The Welcoming Ceremony In Bosnia "Had To Be Moved Inside Because Of Sniper Fire." [NYT, 3/1/08] VIDEO

DECEMBER 29: .... So, we landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire. I don't remember anybody offering me tea on the tarmac...." [CNN, 1/1/08]

Why does any of this matter? I'll get to that in a minute. The Clinton campaign shot back with this memo, entitled,"JUST EMBELLISHED WORDS: SENATOR OBAMA'S RECORD OF EXAGGERATIONS & MISSTATEMENTS". Love the use of all caps. Then, in response to Hillary's remarks today about Pastor Wright, the Obama campaign launched another barrage:

"After originally refusing to play politics with this issue, it's disappointing to see Hillary Clinton's campaign sink to this low in a transparent effort to distract attention away from the story she made up about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. The truth is, Barack Obama has already spoken out against his pastor's offensive comments and addressed the issue of race in America with a deeply personal and uncommonly honest speech. The American people deserve better than tired political games that do nothing to solve the larger challenges facing this country," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Is this starting to remind anyone of that scene from "The Naked Gun" where Leslie Nielsen is crouched behind a garbage can having a gunfight with a bad guy several feet away?

Why is this a big deal? Honestly, the incident itself is of limited significance. Hillary's recollection is likely an amalgam of the actual events and her own anxieties at going to what was undeniably a dangerous place, head filled with sobering precautions from military personnel. Although the video of the greeting doesn't appear to be dangerous, I think we all remember the famous video from Iraq of the TV reporter delivering the news as a huge explosion goes off behind her. In a warzone, even a peaceful scene is fraught with danger.

Thus, in terms of Senator Clinton's mis-recollections of the event, it is understandable. Over the passage of time, certain details of traumatic events can become distorted. I was the victim of an armed robbery once, and one of the perps wore glasses, so when I think of the incident now, I picture the guy with giant, Darrel Porter-style specs on.

The point is, what she did was brave, and she doesn't deserve to be mocked by Sinbad for it. Unfortunately, in the age of Youtube, you've really got to get your mnemonic ducks in a row. It's enough to make Hillary wish Al Gore had never invented the internet.

The reason this has become a big deal, in my view, is her campaign's ham-handed response to it. On it's face, it is a quick, amusing little "Gotcha!" If you just say, "Well, yeah, I was scared, maybe it grew some in my mind...", there would be a few petty Clinton-bashers who would harp on it, but that's it.

Instead, Clinton's strategists have denied and avoided the question. On Saturday's conference call, before the video surfaces, they simply stood by Hillary's account. By yesterday, the video had surfaced, and still, the first time the question was asked, Howard Wolfson responded by reading 5 or 6 different news reports from that time. He responded to several follow-ups by comparing Senator Clinton to Eleanor Roosevelt and quoting those news accounts, in what was obviously a prepared defense, never addressing the issue of sniper fire.

The thing about reporters is, they don't like it when you ignore their questions. After the umpteenth attempt, Wolfson finally relented that she "...might have, possibly, misspoken."

If a candidate gets overly cagey or defensive about a question like this, it sets off alarms. Ickes responded almost angrily to two Bosnia questions today, referring the first to yesterday's transcript, and cutting me off halfway through mine. Now, The Hill is reporting that the Clinton campaign is in "Lockdown mode" over this story.

The press smells blood on this. This Presidential campaign has been a series of fireworks shows for the media. Just as the embers of the Reverend Wright story cool and drift to earth, along comes Sinbad and Sheryl Crow, and an imaginary production of "Full Metal Jacket" starring Hillary Clinton.

It's a big deal because sometimes when you play "Gotcha!", as the late, lamented Omar Little would say, "You get got."

Update: See David Knowles' story for Hillary's latest statement on this. How quickly would this thing have died if she had just said this from the start?

Here's the original video again, followed by another video from 2/29/08: