Hillary Clinton Delivers A Commander In Chief Level Performance At MSNBC Town Hall

Hillary Clinton delivered a rock solid performance at an MSNBC town hall from Illinois where she looked like a candidate who would be ready to be Commander in Chief on day one.

Clinton was talking about Trump when she said the best form of protest against the Republican frontrunner is to vote against him. The former Sec. of State also called on the American people to organize against Trump.

Chris Matthews played clips of Robert F. Kennedy and Trump back to back and asked Clinton to compare them. Clinton compared RFK’s language to calm people down to Trump’s demagoguery. Clinton also called out Trump’s birtherism. She called Trump more than wrong and offensive. Clinton called Trump dangerous.

Listen to Sarah Jones and Jason Easley discuss how Trump may win the primary, but lose the war to Democrats:

Clinton admitted that she no longer trusts the polls because polling has become difficult. She said that the polling is going to have to get better because people rely on the information. Clinton was asked about Michigan. She said that she is building a broad, inclusive coalition, which shows in the fact that she has gotten more votes than any other candidate.

On trade, Clinton said that she is not the same as Bernie Sanders because she knows that the United States has to trade with the rest of the world. Chris Matthews asked Clinton if she was a hawk. She answered no that she is a smart power advocate.

Matthews asked Clinton why she kept supporting regime change. Clinton said that Matthews was guilty of overstatement by linking Libya and Iraq. Clinton said that Libya was different from Iraq because there were no US ground troops and no Americans were killed. Former Sec. of State Clinton said that in the vast majority of cases, the US should not be knocking off foreign leaders, but she said that it is a mistake to say that war can never be prevented, and people can’t be saved.

Hillary Clinton sounds like a Commander In Chief when discussing foreign policy.

Clinton was asked by an audience member about her plan to deal with college debt. She discussed her new college compact. The mayor of Springfield, IL asked about what steps she would take to screen immigrants properly. Clinton said immigrants have to go through a process where they are vetted and screened.

Clinton delivered a solid performance in the town hall, but it is getting to the point where there are too many of these events. Neither Clinton or Sanders said much that could be classified as new to viewers.

What is clear is that Hillary Clinton has a defined foreign policy ideology. If she captures the Democratic nomination and goes on to win the general election, Clinton is prepared to step into the Oval Office and make things happen. There will be no need for a learning curve with Hillary Clinton.

Clinton passes the presidential eyeball test, and her biggest hurdle to occupying the White House is the fact that Bernie Sanders has a clear domestic policy message that is resonating with Democratic voters. If Clinton has a big night on what is being called another Super Tuesday, she will have taken a big step towards both becoming the Democratic nominee and winning the White House.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association