One problem with Hillary Clinton's strategy of praising John McCain's national security experience to diminish Barack Obama's credentials is that, if she ends up facing McCain, her ability to attack will be much constrained. We know with almost perfect certainty that the media won't call McCain on foreign policy ignorance. But given that Clinton spent the last few months praising his credentials on the issue, it's going to be rather hard for her to do it. If she attacks him in a debate, he can just give a Reaganesque chuckle and say, "well Senator Clinton, a few months ago, when you were running against Senator Obama, you were praising my experience and judgment. Now you're attacking it. But I haven't changed." It's all the worse because Clinton could have spent the last few months getting coverage for saying that McCain didn't know what he was talking about, Obama didn't know what he was talking about, and that's why the country needed Hillary Clinton. That would have hurt McCain and preserved her freedom of movement. As it is, how can you blame the media for accepting McCain's aura of experience if even Hillary Clinton is granting him that advantage?
