In an editorial last Monday (9/4) backing Sen. Clinton for re-election, The New York Times led off with this assesment:
"Mrs. ClintonÂ’s biggest flaw is her unwillingness to risk political capital for principle. That is not to say that she lacks principles, but whenever her moral convictions become politically inexpedient, she will struggle to find a way to cloak
them in vague rhetoric or deflect attention with a compromise that makes the danger go away. All that is an issue of leadership, and it will be grist for discussion if she decides to run for president in 2008."
Sometimes she just avoids delicate political issues altogether:
"Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, one of 10 senators at a news conference yesterday [Thurs.] where the [Karl Rove-designed ABC] mini-series ["The Road to 9/11"] came up, left before she could be asked about it. A small throng of reporters who followed her out of the building toward her office were kept at bay by her aides." (NYT)
I'm not a registered Democrat, but if I were, I would proudly vote for Jonathan Tasini (and against Sen. Clinton) in the upcoming primary. Unlike the New York Times, I think the sacrifice of principle for political expedience is as much a detriment to being a good senator as it is for higher office and this trade-off seems to characterize the Senator more than anything else.
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