In an effort to lessen damage done to her struggling presidential campaign by the recent revelation that she lied about details of a trip to Bosnia as First Lady, New York Senator Hillary Clinton will deliver a speech this Friday about the role of bald-faced lying in society.
The speech, described as "historic" and "a landmark event" by advisers close to Clinton, could be a make or break moment for the senator.
Excerpts from the prepared text have already leaked.
I can no more stop lying than I can stop talking. I can no more stop lying than I can stop breathing. Lying is a part of me, and it is a part of America, this country I love.
Another...
We have a choice in this country. We can call attention to every one of my misstatements... we can broadcast videotaped proof that I've lied on YouTube and on every cable news network... we can compare my actual record to the things I make up in my speeches. We can do that.
But if we do that, I could lose this race. Senator Obama could win. And everything would change!
The speech ends on a poignant note:
There is a young woman who organized for our campaign in one of the big, blue states I won. I forget her name. She joined my campaign because she's afraid of electing a black man who might be a muslim.
And once, she went around the room asking a group of volunteers why they were there. They all had different answers. Some support me because I say I passed the Family Medical Leave Act. Some because I say I've never supported NAFTA. Some because I say I brokered peace in Northern Ireland. But when she got to a little old man at the other end of the room, he didn't say any of that. He simply said, "I'm here because Hillary will say whatever it takes to win."
Now that moment alone will not win this election for me. But it's where we start. If enough people accept that it's not what I say, but why I say it that matters, we can pull this off. And by we, I mean I.
Clinton will deliver the speech on Friday from the tarmac of a Bosnian airstrip, while ducking heavy sniper fire and running back and forth in front of the podium with her head down.