Hillary: I will not lie

[denem]

(Forgive the ponderous tone - I'm addicted to platitudes)

An interesting article (to say the least) turned up in the Wall Street Journal today. Under the title THE END GAME- Clinton Hits Rough Patch As Iowa Showdown Nears The commentary was as follows:

BALLSTON, Va. -- As Hillary Clinton huddled with advisers not long ago, she was pressed to stake a position popular with the party's left-leaning voters on one issue. But the presidential front-runner resisted. It wasn't her position.

"If I do what you all want me to do, I'll look great for the next couple months," she said, according to one insider's account. "But what if I'm the nominee? I'll be ripped apart by the Republicans. And what if I'm the president? My hands will be tied."

The New York senator's response captured the tension at the core of her 10-month-old presidential bid, and helps illuminate why she has hit a dangerously bumpy stretch as January's first nominating votes near. Sen. Clinton actually is running two campaigns at once -- courting left-leaning Democrats to get the nomination, but mindful even now of maintaining a sufficiently centrist course to withstand Republican attacks and win election next November.

Beyond that, Sen. Clinton views her campaign as a template for her possible presidency. Having witnessed Bill Clinton's early struggles reconciling campaign promises with governing -- and guided by his private advice now -- she knows first hand that what candidates say now for political points can haunt them as president. Close advisers call this caution her "responsibility gene."

This changes the way I see HRC's campaign. The "triangulation", the careful qualifiers, the refusal to be pinned down, speak not of prevarication, nor cynicism, nor poll driven anything else but honesty. "The responsibility gene" is a refusal to deliberately misinform voters.

Promises are serious business. They tie the hands of a President. They must not be made lightly. Here lies Hillary's ducking and weaving. A more cynical would say something expedient. You can always change it later. But Hillary intends to keep her promises.

To be fair most of the democratic field fit his mold. The surprise is that the very things Hillary is most of criticized for, speak of the same basic honesty.