While the Republicans were battling it out during a painfully long CNN candidate debate last night, who would have guessed that the true winner of the night would be…Hillary Clinton?
No, Clinton did not emerge victorious as a result of some failing of those vying to compete with the presumed nominee of the Democratic Party in the coming general election. Indeed, Carly Fiorina’s fine performance may have taken the nation considerably closer to an all female presidential race.
Clinton may have pulled out the biggest win of the night thanks to an absolutely charming—and often hilarious—performance on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon where the one time Secretary of State, in show biz vernacular, “killed”.
Fallon—whose impression of The Donald rivals his old Saturday Night Live cohort’s doppleganger of Sarah Palin—interviewed the Democratic frontrunner in the guise of Mr. Trump.
You have to see it to believe it—
Does anyone still remember how Democratic candidate for president, Bill Clinton, struggling to show America a side of himself beyond the scandals that dogged him throughout his campaign, took to the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992 to belt out a rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” while wearing a pair of cool shades?
Here's a quick reminder:
It was supremely hokey, more than a little corny… and it worked like a charm.
America saw a side of Bill Clinton that was both entertaining and personal and it the candidate to connect with us beyond the unseemly things we were hearing about him on a daily basis.
And don't think his choice of an Elvis tune was an accident. Clinton knew exactly who was the target of his performance.
So, is Hilary—now engaged in a political life and death struggle to recast herself as someone who is at least moderately likable— taking a page from her husband’s book?
You bet she is —and based on last night’s effort, not doing a half-bad job of it.
It is going to take more than a comedic appearance on The Tonight Show to get Hillary back in the good graces of her fellow Democrats—let alone the American public as a whole—but when the book is written on the 2016 campaign, last night’s piece of comedy may go down in history as the point where Hillary began to turn the corner.
Contact Rick at thepolicypage@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Rick can be seen weeknights at 8PM EST on "The Daily Wrap" on Newsmax TV and heard on Saturdays at 11am on his radio program with Michael Steele on Sirius XM POTUS Channel 124.
