Mrs. Clinton’s chief concern has never been “getting the truth out” or “cooperating with investigators,” it has been to protect herself, to “maintain her political viability within the system,” to use a phrase of her husband’s from one of his long-forgotten scandals. Mrs. Clinton believes she is entitled to the nomination and the White House; she barely acknowledges the need to campaign as the other Democrats and Republicans do. She never comes off well in any situation that is beyond rigid control of her staff. She fumbles and dodges and gives inconsistent, often contradictory answers. That’s why she grants very few interviews (and only with tame questioners); why she answers very few questions; why she insists her volunteers not speak to the press; why her audience is screened to eliminate opponents; why her “campaign events” are staged; and why, instead of telling the truth, she makes jokes.
Despite her desire that this whole thing disappear, Mrs. Clinton is mounting two defenses: First, whatever she did was “authorized” by the State Department. She neglects to point out that she was Secretary of State at the time, so the “authorization” was self-serving – she in effect authorized herself to do whatever she wanted to do. The second tactic is to turn this into a question of whether or not the material in question was “classified.” If she has to fight, she wants to fight on that front, because there are dozens of rabbit-trails that investigators will have to run down. Actually, the real issue here is Mrs. Clinton’s behavior and her sense that the laws do not apply to her as they do to everyone else.
As one revelation follows another, the disintegration of her campaign may be not farther away than one prominent Democrat saying that the party cannot support her. It might not happen – but if the bad news continues to drip out and she keeps telling new lies on top of old, it might happen tomorrow.