As Newsbusters' Jeffrey Meyer wrote earlier today, Jon Stewart lobbed softballs to Hillary Clinton last night on the Daily Show. It would have been nice if he asked if she were reconsidering the possiblility of running for president due to her book sales tumbling so quickly or what she thinks about the possibility of Elizabeth Warren running for the same office. However the interview was significant in one respect: Hillary gaves the strongest hint yet that she is definitely going to throw her pantsuit into the ring.
It came at the 1:30 mark of this video when Hillary answered Stewart's question about her preference for the shape of her office. Your humble correspondent who was watching it live took notice of it, the loud response of the studio audience also noticed it, and both Jonathan Karl and George Stephanopoulos of ABC's Good Morning took note of it. In fact, almost anybody with the slightest sense of humor also got what Hillary was really saying. So who didn't get it? Per Liljas of Time magazine who put his clueless observation on full display.
JON STEWART: A little confusion. You know, it takes me back to my days post-college. Let me... You know, there are ways that we can decide whether or not... I have it’s like a career aptitude test and it can help you.
HILLARY CLINTON: This is good. I'm ready.
STEWART: So do you... Let me just ask you, because this is going to help you sort of hone in on if you want to even do this job. Let me ask you a question. Do you like commuting to work or do you like a home office? What’s you’re...
CLINTON: You know, I've spent so many years commuting; I'd kind of prefer a home office. That's where I wrote my book. It was on the third floor of our house, so that works.
STEWART: Do you have favorite shape for that home office? Do you like that office; let's say would you like that office... Would you like it to have corners or would you like it not to have corners? I don’t know.
CLINTON: You know, I think that the world is so complicated, the fewer corners that you can have, the better.
So what did Per Liljas conclude from these strong hints that the studio audience immediately responded to?
Hillary Clinton’s Tuesday appearance on The Daily Show failed to provide any clarity on whether she will run for President, despite host Jon Stewart’s best attempts.
So what do you need, Per? A sign on the screen that explains the obvious subtext to you? Just to help you out, the shape of the office the President works in is oval. No corners. Get it? Hint. Hint.
