The Gaffe-Obsessed Press

I basically agree with Greg Sargent that the press--in the absence of any real story--seems to have become completely enthralled with every little verbal screwup that a candidate makes. But the beef with Clinton's RFK remarks are only halfway about the gaffe. The fact is that part of Clinton's argument has been that Obama is a neophyte and she's a pro--"Ready On Day One," this idea inevitability etc. But she's consistently done things that have shown that she has a limited understanding of the political landscape. It's true, and unfortunate, that the press is gaffe-obsessed. But if you know that, then you adjust your game accordingly. Given that she'd repeated the RFK line at least twice, you have to wonder why someone hadn't pulled her aside and said, "Maybe you should discontinue that one."

But more than tactics, this latest contraversy goes to why Obama simply can't put her on the ticket--Hillary is evidently never wrong. It's been noted that she apologized to the Kennedy family, but not Obama. In fact, she didn't even do that--she gave this half-hearted, mealy-mouth, passive aggressive "If I've offended anyone" line that's national code for "I was in no respect wrong."Someone who believes she/he is always right is the last thing we need right now. We've had eight years of that.