Fox News reports:
Hillary Clinton has pulled out of an appearance at a New York rally next week to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because she doesn’t want to be seen alongside Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a “partisan” event, her aides say.
Several American Jewish groups plan a major rally outside the United Nations on Monday. Clinton had initially accepted an invitation to join, but her aides objected when they learned Palin will also be part of the rally. The Alaska governor is also expected to meet with several foreign ministers during the U.N.’s opening General Assembly session.
She’s got every right to refuse to appear with Palin, and I can even see why she wouldn’t want to. Given that many Democrats are suspicious that her support of Barack Obama is lukewarm at best, creating a Clinton-Palin photo opportunity might cause her some troubles. However, this part is just silly:
“[Palin’s] attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event,” Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said Wednesday. “Sen. Clinton will therefore not be attending.”
It wouldn’t have been a partisan event if Clinton had attended. At the very least it would have been bi-partisan, and I strongly suspect the event was intended to be non-partisan. But it will be a partisan event now, at least as viewed by the press. Clinton has made it so.
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