In an interview with a Tampa Bay reporter (listen to the first interview), Hillary Clinton displayed the tin ear that has gotten her to where she is today: second place in a one-place race.
R: Some people might say, where were you when we needed you? When the rules and bylaws committee was stripping away our delegates, you were silent, and some of your top advisors, Harold Ickes Tina Flournoy, were voting for that penalty.
Clinton: Well, I don’t agree with that decision of the Democratic party, and I’ve been pushing for them to rectify that decision, and I hope that they will do so...
Oh, Hillary.
See, here's the thing. When we ask you where you were, we're not asking what you think about it now. We're asking you why you didn't act in a way that would be in accordance with your currently stated belief.
Think about this in terms of the Iraq War. You were for that initially, too. Before it became a big debacle, when the criticisms of those brave souls who stood up against the war and said:
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics...
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
were borne out.
So I ask you now: when did you make a Florida speech when they needed you? When did you stand up when there were actual consequences and say the things that you say now so loudly? It would have mattered before the rules committee met and passed judgment - just like your opposition to the Iraq war only makes sense if you can look back and call your initial vote a mistake.
The answer? You didn't make a speech, and you still can't say that you've made a mistake in letting your advisers push this thing through. Now, personally, I don't think it was a mistake to punish people for breaking the rules in Florida, but if I changed my mind, I would admit it.
See, this is the thing. The American people don't want a leader who has 20/20 hindsight. They want a leader who has some reasonable foresight. They want a leader who anticipates problems and comes up with solutions.
They don't want a leader who's there to hold their hands after they've been wronged, they want a leader to prevent them from getting screwed in the first place.
We already have a President who isn't there for us when we need him. On 9/11, he was in an undisclosed location. During Katrina, he was eating birthday cake with John McCain.
So, when the question is "Where were you when we needed you" the answer isn't "I am there for you now." Because, frankly, you're not needed anymore.