I was watching the "after-party" to the SOTU on both NBC and CNN. On NBC, Brian Williams spoke with Hillary, and asked her a direct question about the Ted Kennedy endorsement of Obama. She spoke for several minutes, but flat out failed to answer the question at all. She didn't even mention Kennedy or the endorsement in her answer, instead talking in vague generalities about herself and her campaign. Williams was out of time and didn't follow up, so she totally got away with a flat out evasion of a direct question.
Then, a few minutes later, on CNN, Anderson Cooper was interviewing the various political celebrities who were wandering around. There was Mitt, arguing why he was a voice for change and how the system is broken (did anyone ever tell him he's stealing lines from John Edwards??), then on came Obama, who answered questions, including one about the Kennedy endorsements, with a suitable mixture of humility and gratitude, but who avoided saying anything controversial. After Obama had left, Anderson stated explicitly that Senator Clinton had been scheduled to be interviewed as well, but had cancelled at the last minute, and that she had given no reason for the cancellation.
Watching Clinton when Brian Williams asked her a direct question about the endorsement, it was hard to tell what she was feeling, because she just flat out ignored it -- kind of like ignoring the loss in South Carolina and just launching into her stump speech instead of a "concession" speech, as if doing that would somehow erase the loss and make it just another campaign day.
Because of the way she ignored the question, I feel that the Clintons are freaked at the Kennedy endorsement, and the media frenzy it has generated, with specific statements by reporters that the Clintons had lobbied strenuously to have Kennedy "sit it out." She doesn't want to talk about it. She doesn't want it talked about by anyone else, and she is just going to ignore it and hope there isn't enough time between today and Super Tuesday to make a difference. But it has already made a huge difference. Not so much the endorsement itself (Kennedy is a mixed blessing), but the reasons behind it that are leaking out to the press -- i.e., that Kennedy was furious with Bill Clinton's behavior in South Carolina, etc. One of the reporters (I think it was Andrea Mitchell, but I'm not sure), specifically said that sources had told her that when Kennedy and Bill Clinton spoke, Kennedy was angrier AFTER the converstion than before.
The last few weeks have really changed my feelings about the Clintons. I have supported Edwards, and am flirting now with voting for Obama in the California primary, but I have always felt that I had chosen my candidate for the primaries based on fairly subtle nuances in positions, but that I could enthusiastically support any one of the three who became our nominee. My enthusiasm for Edwards remains, but I don't feel he is still viable, and now I have to face a choice between voting for Obama or risking Hillary winning big in California. The last few weeks the Clintons have totally turned me off. I don't want either of them back in the White House either singularly or as a "team." Yes, (at least right now) I'll vote for Hillary if she is the nominee rather than allow McCain or Romney to win, but I have no enthusiasm left for her, and in fact feel strongly that her campaign and its tactics leave a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Since I'm smack in the middle of her demographic, it's not a good sign if women like me are becoming more and more turned off by her and her husband's attitude and tactics.
So did anyone else see the interview with Brian Williams and the comments by Anderson Cooper? What are your thoughts? Take the poll.