Just about everyone in the world recognizes Hillary Clinton is in crisis management mode over her email scandal.
But one should never forget Hillary has been in this position before.
She did it with Filegate. She did it with Travelgate. She did it with Fostergate. These were not so much Bill Clinton scandals as they were Hillary Clinton scandals. She was in the middle of each of them – the architect, the perpetrator, if you will.
And she got away with all of it.
Today, most people wouldn't be able to tell you what any of those scandals were about – official misuse of FBI files, cronyism and profiting over official White House travel and the mysterious death of one of her closest "friends" – associate White House counsel Vincent Foster – and the cover-up that followed.
What's more, Hillary Clinton was at the center of political fundraising scandals that would have sent other mere politicians to prison for a long time. Instead, the people who did her dirty work went to prison for a long time – people like Hollywood mogul Peter Paul.
My question is not whether Hillary will overcome this political crisis. It's how she will do it.
I have no inside knowledge, of course. I've been one of Hillary's biggest detractors since 1992. Her husband personally targeted my news organization for a politically motivated audit in 1996. I was fingered by the Clinton-loving Big Media as one of a handful of "Clinton haters" back in the day. And, while I never harbored any "hate" for the Clintons, I'm pretty sure I can say the reverse was true.
So, I'm just guessing about how Hillary is going to play this. But I'm not without some experience in matters like this given my history as one of the few journalists who actually investigated Clinton scandals in the 1990s and paid a price for it.
I don't think her staged U.N. presser this week, in which she tried to explain her email habits as secretary of state, will do the trick.
What will she do?
A friend of mine old enough to remember the bad old days of the Clinton administration had an inspiration: Watch for Hillary to play the grandma card.
What do I mean by the grandma card?
I did a little research to discover the media were instantly obsessed with the birth of Chelsea Clinton's daughter, Charlotte Clinton-Mezvinsky, Sept. 26, 2014. It was big news worldwide. We got to see the Clintons cooing with their first grandchild, smiling like the good old days before Monica Lewinsky and Juanita Broaddrick and Paul Jones and Kathleen Willey, et al.
But the stories died down after a few days – as did the photo ops.
It wasn't until Nov. 11 – six weeks later – that another barrage of stories and photos about Charlotte made the rounds. But they weren't so much stories and photos about Charlotte or Chelsea. They were really stories and photos about Hillary.
What was the story line?
The hook was evident on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" when Bill made an appearance promising big news.
"I understand you want to make a big announcement about your wife today," DeGeneres said, teeing up the softball.
Yes, Clinton said laughing: "She's the happiest grandmother in the world."
That story, or some other twist, made the rounds for several days.
It was total manipulation. Hillary was no longer a political shrew, a deviously cunning political operator. She was, instead, a doting grandma. There! Just look at the pictures for yourself.
I think we're way overdue for an encore presentation.
It's been 15 weeks since we've seen adorable pictures of Charlotte.
It's been 15 weeks since we've seen Hillary cradling her granddaughter in her arms.
It's been 15 weeks since Bill told the media that his granddaughter is "the best thing since sliced bread."
Hillary has no answers for why she broke the law and jeopardized national security secrets with her reckless email policy. So she's got to change the subject.
Watch for Charlotte to be strolled out any day now.
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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