Seeing her "Hillary Clinton is a monster" comment brewed into global controversy has clearly given informal Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power a dose of paranoia. The Ottawa Citizen reports:
Yesterday, Ms. Power telephoned the Citizen in a panic, trying to retract comments she had made two minutes previously in an interview about her former Harvard colleague and close friend, Mr. [Michael] Ignatieff, who is Canada's deputy Liberal leader.
Ms. Power suddenly realized that wishing Mr. Ignatieff well in his political endeavours, as she did in the initial interview, could be perceived as Mr. Obama hoping Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government falls. Ms. Power is no longer an Obama adviser, but is still seen as close to him.
Actually, Ms. Power's original comments about an Obama-Ignatieff North America appeared to come merely in the context of extending good wishes to two friends.
Mr. Harper was never even mentioned. Neither was Stéphane Dion, the man who beat Mr. Ignatieff -- only temporarily, some Liberals hope -- for the job of leader.
But Ms. Power certainly expressed the hope that Mr. Ignatieff becomes Liberal leader some day.
"I think you have not heard the last of Ignatieff," Ms. Power said in the first conversation. "That was just a first foray. He's just getting, from my talks with him, more and more sophisticated."
Then came the second conversation.
"To say we haven't heard the last of Ignatieff, I think, is perfectly fine," Ms. Power said. "To say 'an Ignatieff-Barack continent' is probably pretty stupid and not all that helpful on my part."
Now, if my mom were Samantha Power's mom, she would probably be calling her up right now to scold her for perpetuating the problem by apologizing when she hasn't done anything wrong. But Power still seems not to understand that every random conversation with a reporter should be considered on-the-record unless another designation is agreed to in advance. Sigh. This endless primary truly is anxiety provoking. Haven't we all said or written things we wish we hadn't?
--Dana Goldstein
