Progressive MSNBC host Krystal Ball asked an “uncomfortable question” after the series of Hillary Clinton gaffes over the last few weeks: “Is Hillary Clinton our Mitt Romney?”
Ball has previously begged Hillary not to run for president so the field remains open for politicians to her left, like Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren (RELATED: The coming liberal revolt? MSNBC’s Krystal Ball urges Hillary to cede nomination to Elizabeth Warren).
But “The Cycle” co-host went a step beyond mere ideology on Tuesday, hitting Clinton not over her establishment credentials but her basic ability to connect with the American people.
Ball pointed two Hillary blunders: Her comment that she and Bill were “dead broke” when they left the White House, and her testy exchange with NPR’s Terry Gross about her “evolution” on gay marriage. (RELATED: NPR Host Grills An Annoyed Hillary Over Her Gay Marriage Flip-Flop)
“If marriage equality was still a drag for Democratic candidates, do you think Hillary would still have come out in support?” Ball asked.
“As I watched all of this unfold, I’ve begun asking myself an uncomfortable question,” the MSNBC host continued. “Is Hillary Clinton our Mitt Romney?
“Smart? Sure,” Ball explained. “Confident? Absolutely. Incredible resume? Without a doubt. But also, kind of tone deaf and unrelatable.”
“I mean, be honest,” she challenged. “Didn’t Hillary’s ‘dead broke’ comment make you think, just for a second, about Mitt saying Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, or he likes firing people?”
“And like Mitt, after decades in public service we still can only really speculate on what Hillary Clinton is all about,” she noted. “Is she a triangulating moderate, a secret liberal, a DLC [Democratic Leadership Council] Wall Street Dem? What will she run on? What sort of president would she actually be?”
Ball asserted that Hillary’s approval is now starting to “ebb” because people are remembering “the real Hillary” from 2008. “She exuded confidence, but with no core belief,” she explained. “It seemed like the real answer to why she was running for president is simply because she wanted to be president.”
“Will 2016 be different? It’s possible,” Ball concluded. “But so far I haven’t seen change I can believe in just yet.”
