Of course, we wish Secretary Clinton a fast recovery from the bout of pneumonia that was recently diagnosed and that has been the cause of much attention over the past 36 hours. It's something that, if caught in its early stages, can be knocked out quickly with antibiotics and rest. With someone who's used to a schedule that would knock many of the rest of us out, Secretary Clinton has already proven during her State Department tenure, as well as during her runs for the Presidency in 2008 and this year, that she's able to handle the rigors of the toughest jobs.
We would also like to offer a wish from our peanut gallery that her closest campaign aides get better, fast. What we mean by that is, frankly, it's not that hard to judge when a person is looking drawn/ under the weather/ tired due to illness. (We're not doctors, but we can play one on this blog, and we thought she didn't look herself in televised appearances earlier in the week.) If you're a campaign aide, what do you do? You quickly make sure they get a medical professional to look at them, and maybe you have to cut down on or cancel appearances. It's called "candidate management." Her staff needs to get better at it... fast.
The price you pay when you don't manage is a 36- hour news cycle that runs a clip of your candidate stumbling 40 times in 10 minutes, or a national newspaper whose headlines this morning are: "Clinton Falls Ill at 9/11 Service," and "Nominee's Health Status Has Long Been Guarded" (both from the print edition of the
Combined with the faux outrage by the same media over the "basket of deplorables" comment, the unforced error of having your candidate fall ill at a marquee event like the 9/11 memorial in New York City is bordering on political malpractice by her campaign staff. This is a weekend that could've been all about any one of Rump's real scandals or latest outrages that were garnering attention -- his pay for play bribery scandal, his remarks about the "rubble" of the military command, his use of his "charitable" foundation to fund political attacks on opponents, etc. (Or how about Rump's comment the day after 9/11 about the Twin Towers coming down?) Instead we get deflection and a drumbeat of asinine overreaction, to the extent that some are speculating about her dropping out of the campaign, including some unnamed pants- wetting Dems.
So, yes, please get better soon, Secretary Clinton. But, as importantly, we hope her campaign staff gets better soon because, as she's said herself, she's all that stands between us and the Apocalypse. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren said to Clinton's staff back in June, "Don't screw this up."
