Coming off the worst two weeks of her campaign, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton returns to the debate stage today with hopes of regaining her footing.
But the topic that knocked her off stride in the last debate — driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants — is back in the news and likely to resurface when the Democratic candidates face off in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer abandoned a plan to give licenses to illegals amid a public furor that was sparked by Clinton’s comments during an Oct. 30 debate. Clinton initially expressed support for Spitzer’s plan, but then equivocated, drawing fire from her Democratic rivals.
The question about driver’s licenses was asked by debate moderator Tim Russert of NBC, who also tripped up Clinton with questions about records that have not been released by the Clinton presidential library. Afterward, Clinton conceded her debate performance was not “my best.”
But her husband, former President Bill Clinton, called Russert’s questioning “breathtakingly misleading.” A Hillary Clinton supporter suggested on a conference call with senior campaign officials that Russert “should be shot.”
On Tuesday, a top aide to Hillary Clinton indirectly warned moderator Wolf Blitzer not to be too hard on her in Thursday’s debate. The warning was issued via the Drudge Report, an influential Web site that has received numerous leaks from the Clinton campaign on such topics as her fundraising prowess.
“This campaign is about issues, not on who we can bring down and destroy,” a senior Clinton aide told cyberjournalist Matt Drudge. “Blitzer should not go down to the levels of character attack and pull ‘a Russert.’ ”
Blitzer, who said he had not been directly contacted by the Clinton campaign, called the New York Democrat “a sophisticated, strong politician.” But he also issued his own veiled warning.
“If she can’t handle the heat during a Democratic contest, wait until the Republicans really start going after her,” he told TV Newser. “If she’s the nominee.”
Blitzer also defended Russert against criticism by Bill Clinton.
“I think Russert was doing his job,” he said. “He was trying to follow up and be Tim Russert. He asks tough questions. That’s what people want. I admire him.”
Finally, Blitzer took issue with Bill Clinton’s complaint that six “boys” — a reference to the other Democratic presidential candidates —ganged up on one “girl,” his wife.
“Hillary Clinton is the front-runner,” Blitzer said. “No matter if it’s a boy or girl, there’s a tendency to gang up on that person. It’s a natural phenomenon.”
