Not even the campaign denies that Hillary was booed (again) this morning at the Take Back America conference. What’s got the bloggers riled up: why she was booed. They contend that she wasn’t booed because she said she supported the troops, or that she declared their mission a success but because she said the disaster in Iraq is the fault of Iraqis (the contention that the military operation has been a success is a weird assertion to make, no matter what you say about the Iraqis, IMHO, but whatever). The tape is not especially helpful in sorting this out, but I’m more fascinated by this discussion’s utter pointlessness. How can any observer say, for sure, what any one (or more than one) person in the audience was reacting to? To my ears, she gets through both sentences, “The American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government that has failed to make the tough decisions,” before she pauses and one can hear the (weirdly high-pitched) boos, so the catcalls could have been in response to either assertion. Or both.
Points to her for the graceful, self-deprecating way she handled the reaction, whatever its origins: “I always enjoy coming here.”
UPDATE: Also, I should note that she entered and exited to enthusiastic applause. Though who knows the reasons why… (Kidding.)