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Clinton Standard Time

February 07, 2008 4:05 PM

At 3:51 pm ET, the principal here at Washington Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, just announced that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY -- who was supposed to be here for a 2:30 p.m. ET rally -- will be at least another 20 minutes. If not more.

The kids don't seem to be to bothered by it -- they've missed half a day of school, either way -- but some of the adults from around here are a little peeved.

"I've got a life to lead," one of them said.

Candidates are late all the time on the road, but this is a bit different. Clinton has been in the area since yesterday, and her campaign office -- where I'm told she is -- is just 10 minutes away.

The principal made a joking reference to hoping that Clinton wouldn't make a practice of being as late as her husband used to be when he was president. That was about 45 minutes ago, though.

Clinton's regular traveling press corps says this is pretty standard.

What could be more important that meeting voters in Virginia, where the primary is just five days away? (And by the way, Clinton is due at a rally in Seattle, WA, later tonight, into which this delay will indubitably spill over.)

We're waiting to hear what's going on.

-- jpt

UPDATE: She finally showed up, at 4:20 pm ET. The crowd was praised for its patience.

UPDATE #2: Sen. Clinton was late, I'm told, because she was taping an interview with Katie Couric for 60 Minutes.

February 7, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (9)

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She was late to the MTV voter show too. The other candidates were on time.

Posted by: amanda | Feb 8, 2008 2:34:58 PM

Well, it's obvious why Sen. Clinton was late to the rally: the kids waiting for the senator to arrive couldn't vote and probably outnumbered the adults who could. The senator can potentially reach more voting adults through her interview with Katie Couric than at a local rally. (Never mind that only four people in the nation watch CBS News and take it seriously.)

Posted by: chuck | Feb 8, 2008 9:06:26 AM

I think principally that the people at the rally should have been valued more than 60 minutes. Don't tell me they wouldn't reschedule for Hillary Clinton.

Perhaps she should take a course in leadership so she can more effectively show respect for her supporters.

Posted by: Andrew Heine | Feb 8, 2008 2:32:04 AM

I was at the rally today. I drove two hours to get there, stood in line for hours, and of course, sat for a while in the gym because Hillary was running late. I didn't care she was running late as I was just thrilled to be apart of something special... to witness history.

Hillary was amazing. She hand's down has my vote on Tuesday!!!

Greg

Posted by: Greg | Feb 7, 2008 9:40:29 PM

All the other candidates always on time?

Posted by: Ana in Shanghai | Feb 7, 2008 8:31:07 PM

Of course in this day of I- I - I why would Mrs Clinton be on time. It's all about her isn't it? After all she is the Queen to be. Oh no wait she has real compition from another Dem. Oh well time to bring out the tears and say how hard everything is. Give me a break. BE ON TIME LADY.

Posted by: Mike | Feb 7, 2008 7:39:59 PM

Give me a break. Lets check the schedules of all the other candidates and make a statistical analysis of who's more late than whom. Short of that this type of post is nothing more than anecdotal sniping. On second thought, let's not investigate the lateness issue. It has no meaning.

Posted by: Dan S | Feb 7, 2008 6:39:50 PM

Quit complaining....

Posted by: Tony | Feb 7, 2008 5:15:54 PM

JW, you may want to look up the meaning of the word "surrogate."

Posted by: DKNY | Feb 7, 2008 4:33:15 PM

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