In another column we will get to the substantive reasons why Hillary Clinton should not be our next president (“In your opinion,” as my wife says to me), but let’s start with her campaign kick-off as evidence that she lacks a number of character traits we usually like to see in a president.
First, she announced her presidential bid in a video — not in front of real people — stating that she wants to be the “champion” of “everyday Americans.” And then off she went on her first campaign swing, a so-called “listening tour” in a not-so-everyday American vehicle, a Secret Service van equipped with heated leather seats, a 29-inch flat-screen TV (with Blue-ray player) and a full-size bed that folds out with the touch of a button.
Destination Iowa! But first a stop at a Chipotle fast-food restaurant, in which she and an aide walked in wearing sunglasses, ordered lunch, ate without interacting with a single “everyday American,” and walked out without putting a penny in the tip jar that sat at the counter in full view of both Hillary and her aide.
Iowa at last, where she finally got to sit down over coffee with those “everyday Americans,” although, as it was later discovered, there was nothing “everyday” about them. They were hand-picked Democrats. Many were supporters from past campaigns, several were actually Democratic government officials, and quite a few of them were driven from their homes to this “impromptu” coffee klatch in Council Bluff, Iowa, by Hillary staffers. Of course, being longtime fans of Hillary’s they probably didn’t object too strenuously when the Secret Service confiscated all of their phones before this get-together. Hillary has often banned photos of her at public events, including her most recent book tour of her mega-flop biography Hard Choices (which, in addition to selling poorly, was hardly read by the people who bought it. According to a formula devised by Amazon.com for determining how far into the Kindle versions of books readers got, on average people read up to page 33 of Hard Choices (656 pages), and folded).
Hillary also severely restricted press access during this listening tour, and adding insult to injury, when Hillary drove (allegedly, anyway; historically the woman is chauffeured everywhere) to a meeting with Democratic Party leaders in Iowa, she (or her driver) parked her luxury van in a handicapped parking spot.
On the last leg of her tour, perhaps aware that the “everyday” flavor of her tour was somewhat lacking, she flew home commercial, even carrying her own bag, but upon landing was met on the tarmac by a luxury Lincoln Town Car and a police escort, which drove her back to her luxury multi-million-dollar home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
