ANNOUNCER: It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something’s happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call, whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military – someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?
– Clinton Campaign Ad
Although, Hillary Clinton wants us to believe that she’s prepared to answer that 3 a.m. call on Day One, the 11,046 pages her heavily-redacted public schedules released last week doesn’t support her claim that she has the type of experience that makes her better qualified than Barack Obama to pick that phone – unless the call is about selecting flowers for the White House social event, posing for photographs or one of the many other ceremonial chores usually performed by a first lady.
An analysis of the schedules obtained under the freedom of information Act, which compels the release of certain public documents, shows that Sen. Clinton was active in pushing the administration’s proposed health care overhaul. However, after that failed, she retreated to the routine duties typical of presidential wives.
Furthermore, The New York Times reported that the former first lady did not hold a security clearance, making her ineligible to see most of the documents needed to provide informed advice on international and national issues.
Clinton’s effort to bolster credentials as a potential president comes at a time when polls show Obama bouncing back from distractions created by the airing of videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor. A CBS poll showed that 69 percent of those interviewed thought Obama did a good job of addressing the race issue in his speech last Tuesday. When asked whether the Democratic front-runner did a good job of explaining Rev. Wright, 71 percent said yes and 24 percent said no.
Obama suffered his greatest drop among those interested in his ability to unite the country. More than half – 52 percent – said yes he can. However, that was down from 67 percent in February.
The Illinois Senator can take comfort knowing that 14 percent said that they are now less likely to vote for him, another 14 percent said they are more likely to vote for him and 70 percent said the Jeremiah Wright flat made no difference in their plans.
The release of Hillary’s schedules disrupts her plan to paint herself as a national security expert.
Typical of Clinton’s first lady duties, her schedule shows that at 9:50 a.m. on April 12, 1993, she and the president received a commemorative Easter egg from the head of the American Easter Egg board. An hour later, she was participating in the annual Easter Egg Roll. Later in the day, she was present at a Christmas card meeting.
On the campaign stump, Clinton brags about visiting more than 80 countries as first lady. What she does not say is that she performed mostly ceremonial functions. She would attend official dinners, but would also visit clinics and schools while her husband met with other leaders.
Analyzing the documents, The New York Times noted: “When the World Trade Center was attacked for the first time on Feb. 26, 1993, President Bill Clinton flew to New York to be briefed on the attack and the response by city, state and federal authorities. According to newly released White House calendars of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s time as first lady, Mrs. Clinton stayed behind in Washington to attend a photo shoot with Parade magazine and a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar.
“Seven years later, in October 2000, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were enjoying a quiet weekend at their new home in Chappaqua, N.Y., when word came that the Cole American destroyer had been attacked in a Yemen port. Mr. Clinton rushed back to the White House to deal with the crisis. Mrs. Clinton returned to the campaign trail in her run for the Senate.”
The Web site, factcheck.org, noted that Hillary Clinton has made several exaggerated foreign policy accomplishments. Referring to May 14, 1999 trip to Macedonia, Hillary Clinton said she had negotiated the opening of Macedonia’s borders to accommodate fleeing refugees from Kosovo. Factcheck.org stated, “Clinton did not in fact ‘negotiate on matters such as opening borders for refugees during the war in Kosovo.’ Macedonia had reopened its border to Kosovar refugees the day before Clinton’s arrival, as has been widely reported.”
One of Bill Clinton’s greatest failures was his refusal to halt the genocide in Rwanda. On this issue, the Clintons appear to be stretching the truth. At an Iowa campaign stop last December, the couple said Hillary had advocated the use of U.S. troops in Rwanda.
However, factcheck.org noted: “We’re hardly in a position to dispute a private conversation between Bill and Hillary Clinton. It is worth noting, however, that the conversation doesn’t seem to have had any sort of verifiable effect. The conversation is not recorded in the memoirs of either Clinton. And there is no record of the former president raising the possibility of deploying troops with any of his advisers.”
The newly-released schedules show that Hillary was nowhere around when Bill carried on his affair with a White House intern. If the phone rings at 3 a.m., it may be to learn the whereabouts of Bill Clinton.
– George E. Curry, former editor-in- chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA New Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com
