CBS: WaPo’s Sally Quinn Says Hillary ‘Is A Tortured Person’

On Thursday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith talked to Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn about what Hillary Clinton’s legacy will be after leaving the presidential race on Saturday and Quinn declared that: "I think that this is a tortured person who has run and run and run and gone for it and gone for it, and it's power, and it's this and it's that, and 'I've got to be there.' There's never a moment where you see her relaxing, where you see her really stopping to smell the roses."

Smith began the segment by asking: "What are we to take away? What did we see? What did we really witness?" Quinn responded:

...Hillary doesn't know what she wants. And she doesn't know who she really is...Remember when she first came into the White House and she had a different hairdo and a different outfit? She looked completely different. And people kept saying, 'Who is she?'...And even during the campaign this time...she was the strong one and the weak one. And, during this campaign, she -- she allowed him [Bill Clinton] to, on some levels, sabotage her. She was feisty at some point and even shrill, and then she would cry.

Quinn then suggested that Hillary needed some time off: "And I think that that – what she needs to do now -- and I know this sounds really strange, but -- if I were Hillary Clinton, I would go off to a retreat somewhere... I would take a sabbatical and stay there for three months, and not talk, and meditate, and think, and try to figure out who I really was and what I really wanted."

At the end of the segment Quinn even gave Hillary some relationship advice: "...maybe what she really needs is a wonderful, loving relationship with somebody instead of just going after power and being this ambitious person that I think she thinks she oughta be."

When Quinn appeared on the show on March 26, she told Smith she was upset to see "the press lie down" when it came to asking Chelsea Clinton challenging questions on the campaign trail.

Here is the full transcript of the segment:

HARRY SMITH: And joining us from Washington is Sally Quinn, columnist for the Washington Post. Sally good morning, good to see you.

SALLY QUINN: Hi.

SMITH: We'll be very interested to see what Hillary Clinton has to say on Saturday. But as we've all had this sort of front row seat to watch this evolution from that first 60 Minutes story where 'I'm not going to stand around and stand by my man' to what we've witnessed even in the last couple of months. What are we to take away? What did we see? What did we really witness?

QUNN: I've been intrigued by the questions in the last couple of weeks, 'What does Hillary really want?' And I think that the answer is that Hillary, up until now, has wanted what she thinks she should want. And what I think is that Hillary doesn't know what she wants. And she doesn't know who she really is. From the very beginning, when she married Bill Clinton, when she moved to Arkansas, she gave up her lucrative career, she changed her name during the campaign, 'I'll stand by my man.' She -- her personality changed. Remember when she first came into the White House and she had a different hairdo and a different outfit? She looked completely different. And people kept saying, 'Who is she?'

SMITH: A little Al Gore syndrome.

QUINN: And, even during -- right, exactly. And even during the campaign this time -- well, during the Monica thing, when she stood by Bill Clinton, she was the health care maven. I mean, she was the strong one and the weak one. And, during this campaign, she -- she allowed him to, on some levels, sabotage her. She was feisty at some point and even shrill, and then she would cry. And then, you just played this soundbite where she said 'I've found my voice.' But I don't think that she ever did find her voice.

SMITH: Right.

QUINN: And I think that that – what she needs to do now -- and I know this sounds really strange, but -- if I were Hillary Clinton, I would go off to a retreat somewhere.

SMITH: [Laughter]

QUINN: There's a wonderful one in West Virginia called Bhavana.

SMITH: Right.

QUINN: A silent retreat.

SMITH: She needs a spa?

QUINN: And I would stay there.

SMITH: Right.

QUINN: I would take a sabbatical and stay there for three months, and not talk, and meditate, and think, and try to figure out who I really was and what I really wanted. I'm serious. I think that this is a tortured person who has run and run and run and gone for it and gone for it, and it's power, and it's this and it's that, and 'I've got to be there.' There's never a moment where you see her relaxing, where you see her really stopping to smell the roses --

SMITH: And maybe if she does that --

QUINN: And stopping to say, 'Who am I and what is it that I want?' Maybe -- maybe what she really needs is a wonderful, loving relationship with somebody instead of just going after power and being this ambitious person that I think she thinks she oughta be.

SMITH: Alright, alright. Sally Quinn great to see you. Thanks very much for your thoughts this morning.

QUINN: Thanks.