Matt Vespa:
Pass the aspirin. That’s probably what many on Clinton’s team were either asking, or taking, after the fallout from the former first lady’s medical episode at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City over the weekend. A presidential candidate was whisked away in full view of the public, she was taken to her motorcade, she wobbled as she entered the van, and then disappeared for 90 minutes. What’s wrong with her? Where did she go? What’s her condition? All legitimate questions, as is the true state of Clinton’s health. At 9:30 a.m. on September 11, the Clinton camp added another headache to their list. This is after not fully quelling the narrative surrounding her email fiasco and the Clinton Foundation.
Now, Politico reported that after the collapse, a new memo was issued to surrogatesto portray her with vigor:
Hillary Clinton wanted to “power through” her pneumonia, but after Sunday’s overheating episode, it “seems like the smart thing to do” to take some downtime, even though she is “raring to get back on the trail.”Those phrases, projecting strength, prudence, and vigor, were among the six bullet-pointed talking points about Clinton’s health the campaign distributed to its army of outside surrogates Tuesday morning.
[…]
The memo — which sought to underscore Clinton’s famous stamina and to argue she had been transparent about her health — was distributed a day after Clinton’s top campaign officials assured voters that the Democratic nominee had no undisclosed medical conditions, that she’d be back on the trail within the week, and that more medical records were forthcoming.
[…]
The surrogates were guided to say they could “understand why she wanted to attend the 9/11 memorial on Sunday, as a Senator from New York when the tragedy occurred.” And they were instructed to note that even after her diagnosis, which was shared only with a small handful of aides in her inner circle, Clinton attended “a working session on national security, taking questions from the media and attending an evening event.”
As for Clinton’s decision to take a few days off the trail, resting at her Chappaqua home? No cause for concern. “It seems like she’s doing the smart thing by taking a few days off to rest,” the memo continued, “and I’m sure she’s raring to get back on the trail.”
Well, she plans on returning to the trail this Thursday. Again, I’m not complaining over this trip up. Anything that makes Lady Macbeth’s presidential ambitions more miserable isn’t a bad thing, folks.