Bloomberg’s political team of Mark Halperin and John Heilemann seem excited that Hillary Clinton has finally found her “passion” in this campaign.
Invited on Monday’s edition of PBS’s Charlie Rose show to discuss the campaign, the With All Due Respect hosts hailed that Marco Rubio’s abortion stance had shaken Clinton out of her stupor.
John Heilemann began the Hillary hype: “You saw her today give a very fiery, very passionate and I thought very authentic attack on Marco Rubio specifically and on the Republicans more generally on women’s issues coming out of the debate. The Republican Party right now is giving Hillary Clinton the thing that she needs which is someone to run against...She looked better today than I think she has in months.”
Later on Mark Halperin added: “In talking about reproductive freedom, in talking about Marco Rubio and his position about no exceptions for rape and incest for abortion – she was passionate and herself....She needs authenticity and passion and engagement. And she showed that today....Best day I’ve seen her have as a candidate in this cycle.”
Halperin did note that Rubio “struck back pretty hard at her on some of her positions on late-term and partial-birth abortion” but never mentioned Clinton being put on the defensive after the release of those heinous Planned Parenthood videos.
UPDATE: Here’s a clip from the Clinton Q&A session that Halperin and Heilemann were glorifying. Via Mediaite.
The following is the relevant exchange as it was aired on the August 10 edition of PBS’s Charlie Rose show:
CHARLIE ROSE: What about Hillary Clinton?
JOHN HEILEMANN, BLOOMBERG: What about her?
ROSE: Is she getting better on the campaign trail?
HEILEMANN: Well she is, I think -
ROSE: Because all you read about is trust and all these-
HEILEMANN: You saw her today give a very fiery, very passionate and I thought very authentic attack on Marco Rubio specifically and on the Republicans more generally on women’s issues coming out of the debate. The Republican Party right now is giving Hillary Clinton the thing that she needs which is someone to run against. And you can say she should be focused on Bernie Sanders. It’s not gonna inspire the kind of, the kind of visceral impulse to go on offense that this Republican Party does.
She thinks she’s going to be the nominee. And as they behave in ways to give her what her and her strategists think are rich targets, she could then come out and be on offense. And that’s the worst part about this stretch for her. Is that as long as she’s basically running against herself and running against the press and running against the e-mail scandal -- that’s a bad place for her to be. When she has a Republican Party to run against, she is in a much better place and she looked better today than I think she has in months -- politically. Purely -
MARK HALPERIN, BLOOMBERG: Anyone who knows her, what she’s like privately, should look at what she did today in New Hampshire. Because it was her. And it wasn’t - it was obviously somewhat scripted.
ROSE: You guys there?
HALPERIN: No, I watched the video. So I’m sure people can go watch it on YouTube.
HEILEMANN: It’s striking.
HALPERIN: In talking about reproductive freedom, in talking about Marco Rubio and his position about no exceptions for rape and incest for abortion – she was passionate and herself.
ROSE: See I didn’t know that was his position. No exceptions for rape and incest?
HALPERIN: It’s Scott Walker’s position, too.
ROSE: I know that.
HALPERIN: Rubio’s position was a little fuzzy up until the debate and some subsequent interviews but he now seems to have taken that position and his campaign is not denying it. He late this evening struck back pretty hard at her on some of her positions on late-term and partial-birth abortion, et cetera.
But my point is she was passionate today.
HEILEMANN: Yes.
HALPERIN: Today was -- I’m not sure how it’ll put a stop to the chatter but there has been widespread chatter for a couple of weeks not just based on the polling but based on her performance.
ROSE: That she’s getting better?
HALPERIN: No! The widespread chatter that things were in bad shape, bad shape.
ROSE: The trust element -
HEILEMANN: And the sense, well just the sense that she -- I think it’s beyond the question of polling. I think what people are seeing, Mark’s alluding to, is the notion that people looked to her and said “she’s going through the motions? This is, seems perfunctory to her. She doesn’t seem like she’s in this.”
ROSE: And the speech today in New Hampshire?
HEILEMANN: And today, in this question and answer session with reporters in Exeter, New Hampshire, she was in the moment. I mean she was in that campaign.
HALPERIN: I mean it’s rare that all three of us, some more than others, have spent time with her and listened to her talk like a normal person. It is rare that she displays that in public and she did today. And I think that will help her because - not just against Bernie Sanders but against all these Republicans, because what does she need? She needs authenticity and passion and engagement. And she showed that today.
She’s had good moments in the campaign, some set piece speeches. But in terms of being out there by herself, no script, just performing? Best day I’ve seen her have as a candidate in this cycle.
