The Political Chase

Bill Clinton: Media not fair to Hillary

Former President Bill Clinton says the media is not being fair in its coverage of Hillary. His complaint? If reporters covered the candidates public records better, Sen. Clinton’s position in the presidential campaign would well ahead of the other candidates. Taking an indirect swipe at Barack Obama, President Clinton said he could not understand why the media ignores Hillary’s experience.

Referencing a study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Clinton said:

One percent of the press coverage was devoted to their record in public life. No wonder people think experience is irrelevant. A lot of the people covering the race think it is (irrelevant).

Sixty-seven percent of the coverage is pure politics. That stuff has a half life of about 15 seconds. It won’t matter tomorrow. It is very vulnerable to being slanted and rude. And it won’t affect your life.

There is no doubting Bill Clinton’s intelligence and obviously he has done his homework, but when his wife’s campaign focuses on issues such as Barack Obama’s class work in kindergarten, what can he expect?

Maybe President Clinton should start knocking the heads of Hillary’s campaign managers and tell them to focus on the issues. If her campaign places a priority on issuing mudslinging press releases, the media is going to report it. Better still, maybe Sen. Clinton should be managing her campaign and the media rather than President Clinton.