President Obama and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet at a Martha’s Vineyard soiree Wednesday, which will present the two Democrats with the perfect opportunity to kiss and make up after Clinton criticized Obama’s foreign policy strategy in a recent interview with The Atlantic.
The party will be held on the Massachusetts island for Ann Jordan, who is married to Democratic advisor Vernon Jordan, reports the Associated Press. Obama is currently spending his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, and Clinton will be signing copies of “Hard Choices” Wednesday at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on the island.
In advance of the party and her inevitable meeting with the president, Clinton had her spokesman deliver a statement to Politico Tuesday expressing her excitement at “hugging it out” with Obama at Jordan’s bash Wednesday.
“While [Clinton and Obama] had honest differences on some issues, including aspects of the wicked challenge Syria presents, she has explained those differences in her book and at many points since then,” read the statement. “Some are now choosing to hype those differences but they do not eclipse their broad agreement on most issues. Like any two friends who have to deal with the public eye, she looks forward to hugging it out when they see each other tomorrow night.”
The spokesman also characterized Clinton as “proud to serve with President Obama” as secretary of State and stressed Clinton’s effort to communicate to the president that she was not attacking him in The Atlantic interview.
“She continues to share his deep commitment to a smart and principled foreign policy that uses all the tools at our disposal to achieve our goals,” the statement said. “Earlier [Tuesday], the secretary called President Obama to make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him, his policies, or his leadership.”
In her interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Clinton criticized Obama’s “don’t do stupid s–t” foreign policy line.
“Great nations need organizing principles,” Clinton told Goldberg, “and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”
Unfortunately, a hug on the beach on Martha’s Vineyard will likely be a superficial and insufficient attempt to solve the Clinton-Obama feud.
