opinion

Editorial: Clinton may be most qualified, but she struggles to connect

Hillary Clinton may be the most knowledgeable and capable candidate now running for president of the United States.

The former senator and secretary of state met with The Des Moines Register’s editorial board for almost two hours this week and fielded questions on a wide range of subjects that demonstrated the depth and the breadth of her knowledge on foreign affairs, health care, the tax code, the economy and other matters.

She was not only well-informed and articulate, she was also personable, engaging and persuasive — all the qualities one would expect from an experienced lawyer, politician and diplomat.

But she also was defensive and, in some respects, evasive, when discussing her use of a private email server to conduct State Department business. When asked whether she thought her use of that server made her communications more vulnerable to hackers, she sidestepped the question entirely with a lawyerly response: “There is no evidence at all that my server was breached.”

Two weeks ago, for the first time, Clinton offered a clearly stated, but long overdue, apology for her use of the server. But in meeting with the Register on Tuesday, she seemed to find fault not with her own actions but with those who have questioned them. “I’m sorry it has been so much the subject of speculation and curiosity,” she told the editorial board, perhaps not realizing just how condescending that sounded.

In some respects, Clinton’s defensive posture is to be expected, if not excused. No other modern-day political figure has been subjected to the relentless barrage of scurrilous, wholly unfounded attacks, both personal and professional, that Hillary Clinton has endured for the past 23 years.

For the most part, she has handled it all very well. But there have been times, as the email scandal demonstrates, in which she has dismissed legitimate concerns about her conduct with the scorn and disdain that's best reserved for the fringe elements who work 24/7 to disseminate anti-Clinton propaganda.

Fortunately, Clinton now seems to recognize that many people’s reservations about her candidacy are tied not to questions of leadership and ability, but to the perception that she is simply going through the motions in seeking the Democratic nomination, treating herself as the heir apparent and taking their good will for granted.

Clinton’s tightly controlled, choreographed campaign events of the spring and summer, which were clearly intended to shield her from the press and the public, have helped fuel that perception. At the Iowa State Fair, she mingled with the crowd but declined an invitation to address Iowans at The Des Moines Register Soapbox. In doing so, she somehow managed to appear aloof and imperious even while eating a pork chop on a stick in the 90-degree heat.

In just the past few weeks, however, Clinton has made herself more accessible to the media and has been more candid and forthright in response to the questions asked of her.

Regardless of whether this is part of the newly unveiled campaign strategy of rehearsed spontaneity, or a sincere effort to connect with voters, it’s worth pursuing. Clinton’s command of the issues is such that it’s almost inconceivable that she would commit the sort of verbal gaffe that has derailed the campaigns of other candidates.

Still, it’s surprising that some of her policy positions are not fully fleshed out. When asked how she would address the issue of Social Security insolvency, for example, she said that for now she simply wants to challenge the Republican claim that because the program is in crisis, privatization must be considered.

“My immediate goal is to refute and rebut the Republican position,” she said. “That’s my starting point. I am not going to concede that we have this big emergency and we all have to run around like our hair is on fire. We do have to deal with the long-term solvency of Social Security. There are a couple of ways to do that. I am open to that discussion.”

When it comes to Social Security, “discussion” is always a handy substitute for “action,” which is why the program paid out $73 billion more in benefits last year than it raised from taxes. Clinton should lay out a plan for addressing the problem, as Sen. Bernie Sanders has with his call for a Social Security payroll tax increase on the nation’s top earners.

But like most politicians, Clinton’s greatest weakness seems to be her inability to recognize, or at least acknowledge, her own weaknesses. It’s an affliction that plagues almost everyone who dares to run for president, but it’s one that could, if she’s elected, greatly undermine Clinton’s performance in office — just as it has her campaign.

The Iowa caucuses are still four months off. Hillary Clinton needs to use that time to continue to connect with voters on a personal level while demonstrating that she has learned from past mistakes.

The Hillary Clinton File

Personal biography: Born Oct. 26, 1947, in Chicago, Ill. Lives with her husband of 40 years, former president Bill Clinton, with whom she has one child, Chelsea, now 35.

Education: Graduated from Wellesley College in 1969, and earned a juris doctor from Yale Law School in 1973.

Political career: Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. Ran for president in 2008, and in 2009 was named secretary of state, a position she held until 2013.

First impressions

About this series: The Des Moines Register has invited all declared candidates for president to meet with the editorial board. After each meeting, we publish editorials giving our impressions of the candidates.