The American Spectator

When Hillary Clinton told Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson “What difference does it make?” during today’s congressional hearing on the Benghazi attacks, she unveiled the slogan for her 2016 presidential campaign.

It’s the story of her life.

What difference does it make if Hillary was named after Sir Edmund Hillary six years before he climbed Mount Everest?

What difference does it make if Hillary wasn’t really under sniper fire in Bosnia?

What difference does it make that tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Syria over the past two years? Assad is, after all, a “reformer” in Hillary’s eyes.

So if four Americans just happen to be killed in our consulate in Libya on the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks what difference does it make to Hillary if our government claims their deaths came about as a result of a spontaneous protest over an internet video?

The reason Hillary can make such an utterance is because none of her shortcomings seem to bother a majority of our populace who continue to hold her in high esteem. Indeed, she has reached the pinnacle of her popularity as two out of every three Americans have a favorable view of the outgoing Secretary of State.

If Hillary can say “what difference does it make” regarding how her fellow Americans were killed in Benghazi without most of us batting an eyelash then she quite reasonably has every expectation to take up residence in the White House in four years time. Should that come to pass it would not speak well of us.

Yet it is is important that Hillary was largely away from American soil during Obama’s first term in her capacity as America’s top diplomat. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. But if Hillary once again becomes part of the rough and tumble of day to day electoral politics and reverts to previous stridence this popularity will undoubtedly diminish. That could make a very big difference in 2016.