Clinton's 2-pronged problem

Hillary Clinton's health has suddenly become front and center in the race to the White House. This issue is no longer just a talking point of a few conspiracy theorists on the Right; now every voter wants to know why Clinton failed to address her transparency problem and withheld information on a relatively minor issue, pneumonia -- assuming this is the only thing she suffers from. (This is Hillary we are talking about.)

Hillary has a two-pronged problem -- health and credibility, which are now fused together thanks to her incompetent staff. Someone should have had the brains to stop Clinton, who will turn 69 in October, from attending the memorial service at ground zero after she was diagnosed with pneumonia and started taking antibiotics. Now every American wants to know whether someone who has lied about their health can speak the truth on other matters.

Perhaps she decided to attend the event because she felt this was her home turf. After all, she represented New York in the U.S. Senate and still lives in the state. But this decision backfired when the video of her apparent collapse was shown and her campaign trip to California had to be canceled. The video is now seared into the collective memory of millions of Americans who are going to show up at the polls in less than two months.

This is not how Americans wanted to see their potential commander-in-chief on the saddest day of the year, a day that remembers the terror victims and serves as a reminder of just how vulnerable America is. So it is particularly problematic for Clinton that her collapse took place on this day, just when she was keen on projecting strength and resolve as a leader who can protect the homeland.

What she projected was weakness, not strength, and that is why the dramatic incident on Sunday is nothing short of an earthquake for the campaign. She was dealt a major blow, although this race is far from over.

In past elections, if this was a normal race, the incident and her staff's catastrophic handling of the press -- not to mention their long silence right after the incident -- would have been game over for Clinton. As for her rival, Donald Trump, his response was dignified, even presidential. He acted like a gentleman when he wished her a speedy recovery and a quick return to the campaign trail. He knows that he doesn't need to attack her on this because the press is doing it for him, the same press that has bludgeoned him nonstop until that incident. What a strange world we live in.

Now the onus is on her; it is up to her to prove she has what it takes during the debates. The press will now watch her every move, and every cough, and she will have to show vitality and energy. Some 350 million doctors are going to be monitoring her situation between now and election day.

There is an episode of "West Wing" in which a White House adviser is asked what to do about a certain scandal. His advice: Release every possible document you can find; flood the press with documents so that reporters are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of material. "The new slogan around here is gonna be, 'Bring it on.' ... [They will] have access to every piece of paper you ever touched," the adviser tells the president. This is what Hillary should have done in response to questions about her health. In 2008, then 72-year-old Republican nominee John McCain released all of his health records, which totaled some 1,000 pages. The media got bored and chose to read Tolstoy's "War and Peace" instead.

Clinton has too many problems: She has failed to generate the same enthusiasm President Barack Obama had when he ran in 2008, and she does not project trustworthiness. Americans will tolerate anything, but they will never accept dishonesty. They may be willing to forgive lies from a Clinton, but only if his first name is Bill.

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