Ground&Pound

I heard this on the radio today...

Chelsea was doing a question and answer session at a college campus when someone asked her.

"Do you think the Monica Lewinski scandal hurt your mothers credibility?"

Chelsea told the person that it was none of their business and didn't answer.

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What do you think?

Is this a valid question?

Does it hurt Hillary's credibility?

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Zapp Brannigan

No, I don't think it's a valid question and I thought Chelsea handled it EXTREMELY well.

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"I've made it with a woman. Inform the men."

Ground&Pound

Do you think it will became an issue if Hillary wins the nomination?

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matclone

Only if you want to make it one.

Ground&Pound

Personally, I don't think it affects her ability to hold office nor is it a knock on her credibility.

However, I think the mudslingers in the media like Rush L and his clones would be all over this.

I also think that when you run for public office, you are opening up your life to public scrutiny.

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skipster

I'm not so big on the valid/invalid thing for questions. How can a question be invalid? Or, how can one be valid, for that matter? There is no way to determine this. But, a question can be irrelevant, which I think could be debated for this particular question.

I suppose its a relevant question such that Chelsea is a spokesperson for her mother's campaign -- if she can answer questions about what could increae her credibility, she could also answer questions about what could decrease her credibility. How can a question about her mother be irrelevant in such a high-stakes campaign? I guess I'm saying that the good also comes with the bad.

I suppose she could also have said that credibility is in the eye of the beholder and told the individual to look within to judge for himself if credibility is gained or lost.

Either way, I think what Chelsea has done by answering the question as she did was tell us that her mother's campaign does not like to deal with issues that are not rosy and good. This could present a problem if elected president -- the worldis full of situations that are not rosy and good. If the Clinton administration would act the same way in office as on the campaign trail when faced with adversity, our country would be in deep trouble.

Spider

I heard on one news report that the person who posed the question was a Hillary supporter who wanted to give Chelsea a chance to show how strong her mother could be in the face of adversity.

My feeling is that if Chelsea chooses to put herself out there, she's got to be prepared to take the heat and not dodge the tough questions. A question about her own personal life might be off limits, but this was a question about a much publicized issue.

Or to put it another way, I agree with Skipster.

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"Love never dies." The Beatles

matclone

Shall we ask McCain if his credibility is damaged because his first marriage ended, or Obama about his teenage drug use, or either of them if they masturbate, or ask McCain's children these questions to see how the "campaign" reacts to "tough" questions and question their toughness if they don't want to talk about it?

Spider

None of those issues was headline news, nor were any of them brought before Congress; and McCain's children aren't (to my knowledge) out actively campaigning for him.

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"Love never dies." The Beatles

matclone

The underlying suggestion here is that Hillary is not credible (the basis for this charge is not clear, but let's plant the thought).

--Neither of the other candidates were sitting first wives or prone Presidents.
--Bill's infidelity is not Hillary's.
--Chelsea's campaigning for her (or not) should have no reflection on Hillary's credibility, but let's plant the thought.

Hillary's credibility is in question because of what? Because she didn't divorce Bill? If so, that maybe we have questions for McCain. And this affects her ability to be President, how?

Why should she or anyone associated with her feel obligated to respond to scurrilous charges?