As a great fan and supporter of Hillary Clinton, I'm delighted to see that she has finally come forward to acknowledge that the privately operated email server was a mistake.
Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized Tuesday for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, calling it a “mistake” – uttering words that many of her allies had wanted to hear from her in hopes that they would quell the controversy that has dogged her presidential candidacy for weeks.
...
“That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility,” Mrs. Clinton
Lest you think this is diabolical Clintonesque spin in the face of bad news, let me
point to a comment I posted over 2 weeks ago, suggesting that an apology was in order for her own sake.
To many of her honest supporters, it was clear that the right road forward for Hillary was to acknowledge, apologize and re-build trust.
While some Clinton supporters did make the defensive argument that any weakness would be seized on by the enemy, Hillary's apology is the best thing that could have happened to the campaign for three reasons:
1. An apology is the right thing to do. The personal server was ill-advised, and put the nation's secrets at jeopardy.
2. Hillary has lost a lot of credibility over this. The earlier she can start rebuilding towards a position of trust, the better it is for all of us Democrats. I want all our potential nominees to be as strong as they can get!
3. Hillary Clinton is a remarkable woman who is much bigger than this ill-thought snafu. I sincerely hope she can make this a teachable moment on cyber-security for the benefit of the country.
1. It was wrong of Hillary to have used a personal server
For many of us in the IT industry, it was very clear that a personal server was a huge vulnerability -- investigators finding confidential secrets was just an inevitable detail. I worry more about all the exploits that investigators could not find because there is no trail.
I am a Democrat because I believe that an efficient government improves all our lives. Part of building an efficient, trustworthy government is for the Secretary of State to utilize, secure and strengthen the communications infrastructure her Department. It is not a huge vote of confidence in the US government for Democrats to point out that " But it was the State Department's email that was hacked." The fact is that a vast number of hacks are never detected. IMHO, it is doubly shameful that the Sec of State used a personal server, and that her department's secrets were hacked.
Being well-intentioned or even legally in the right is not a sufficient bar for Democrats.
We want government to be run by trustworthy, caring and capable leaders. I support Hillary because she is the most caring and capable person running (IMHO). Coming clean is the first step to becoming trustworthy in the public's eyes.
2. The earlier Hillary can start rebuilding from a position of trust, the better it is for all Democrats.
Hillary has a long road ahead in transforming her public perception into a trustworthy leader. Many of us were dreading a "Mea Culpa" moment getting pushed to late next year. The longer the runway to moving past the issue, the better it is for Clinton.
Unfortunately, a big part of her defensiveness (that comes across to some as deceit) comes from the two decades of unrelenting attacks she has faced from the right-wing hate machine. I respect her for having come through all of that as a powerful and caring woman.
I can only hope that this moment of honesty sets the tone for the rest of her campaign.
3. Hillary can make this a teachable moment for a Cyber-Secure US Government.
Even over the last 7 years, the IT industry has seen very rapid innovation in a huge range of technologies -- cloud, mobile, big data, Internet of Things, sharing economies, and so on. The US government systems are still a patchwork of semi-secure, vulnerability ridden, hodge-podge of infrastructure with antiquated software and systems. It did not surprise me when Hillary said that she spent very little time thinking about email servers. Very few Cabinet members do ... but they must.
Cyber-security will be far more important to the defense of the nation than the multi-billion dollar robot mule, next-gen bomber or microwave ray gun that we're spending money on. It is a wonky subject that the manly men that run around claiming to be Defense Experts don't quite get. A concerted attack on Amtrak, American Airlines or NYSE will cause more economic and human tragedy than a boatload of terrorists. We are instead obsessed by a Billionaire's fantasy of Wall on the Southern Border, while the attacks will come over optical cables.
It would be very timely and responsible for Hillary to think through what she would do about Cyber-Security. If she was wrong in being thoughtless the first time around, I would love to see her fix it by being ever more thoughtful.
(Disclaimer: I sell DataCenter solutions to Feds and large Corporations. I know some but by no means all about cyber-security. My views on political strategy are worth about what you paid.)