Mark Shields: 'Overkill' by 'Right-Wing Radio' Will Make Hillary a 'Sympathetic Figure'

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“Overkill” from “right-wing radio,” in criticizing Senator Hillary Clinton, is her “secret weapon” that will “transform her into a figure of sympathy by a majority of people” -- and presumably help elect her President -- syndicated columnist and PBS NewsHour political analyst Mark Shields contended Friday night. On Inside Washington, a weekly panel show produced by ABC's Washington, DC affiliate which airs it on Sunday mornings after it first runs Friday night at 8:30pm on DC's PBS affiliate, WETA-TV channel 26, Shields argued:

“I think the secret weapon for Senator Clinton, if she is the Democratic nominee, is not simply Rudy's shortcomings, the perceived shortcomings of her opponent, I think you'll see on the part of right-wing radio -- conservative talk, however you want to call it -- such overkill that it will make her, transform her into a figure of sympathy by a majority of people.”

NPR's Nina Totenberg then chimed in: “That happened in her first Senate run.”

Video clip (23 secs): Real (750 KB) or Windows Media (850 KB), plus MP3 audio (140 KB)

In addition to appearing weekly on the PBS NewsHour and Inside Washington, before CNN canceled it, Shields was a regular on Capital Gang. Inside Washington also airs over the weekend on NewsChannel8, the DC area all-news cable channel operated by Allbritton Communications which also owns the local ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV channel 7.