Jon Stewart to Hillary Clinton: No one cares about your book
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Version 0 of 1. Hillary Clinton appeared Tuesday on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote her book, "Hard Choices." Stewart briefly discussed the 656-page tome about Clinton's tenure as secretary of state and then asked exactly what everyone is wondering. "No one cares," about the book, he said. "They just want to know if you're running for president." Stewart, like so many, tried to get the answer -- even telling Clinton that it sounded like she had just declared that she was running. Like so many others Stewart couldn't confirm anything, but he gets points for asking the most creative questions. "I was going to make an announcement, but you spoiled it for me," Clinton joked. "That's a yes?" he asked. Instead Stewart gave Clinton a mock high school career aptitude test to gauge whether she would be a good fit for the Oval Office. Stewart asked if Clinton would rather commute to work or have a home office. "I've spent so many years commuting, I'd kind of prefer a home office," Clinton said. "Do you have a favorite shape for that office?" Stewart asked. "Would you like it to have corners or like it not to have corners?" The fewer corners the better, Clinton replied. The world is complicated enough, she said. Pointing to two unauthorized biographies of Clinton and her family and the hullabaloo around her book, Stewart asked Clinton if she thought the circus surrounding her would stop if she simply declared that she does not plan to run for president. "I think a lot of people would lose their jobs if it all stopped," she said. "I've been amazed at what a cottage industry it is." Clinton said she believes that America essentially needs a new marketing campaign. "We have not been telling our story very well," she said. "And let's get back to telling it to ourselves first and foremost." Clinton said the U.S. has not done this well since the Cold War (what about Bill Clinton's presidency?) when lines were drawn between the Soviet Union and the United States and American ideas permeated the globe, like when Vaclav Havel said he was inspired by Lou Reed. The first step is getting America to agree on what the country stands for. ""I think we need to get back to a consensus in our own country of who we are," she said. While the show was edited, it was done so in such a way that Clinton pivoted right to income inequality -- prompting Stewart to remark that it was a clear sign that she plans to run for president. Clinton backed away from the comments she made a few weeks ago about how she and Bill Clinton were "dead broke" after leaving the White House. Instead she focused on how lucky the two of them were to start their careers at a time when they thought they could make it simply by working hard, climbing the ladder and being fortunate enough to take advantages of opportunities given to them. "I think a lot of people don't believe that it exists for them any more," she said. Clinton said the Congress is "no longer functioning effectively" and that the executive branch "hasn't kept up with the times." It is not nearly as technologically driven as it should be, she said, and doesn't have the type of "agility" and "technology" it needs to function today. Technology has changed the way governments operate and communicate with one another -- people are now "empowered by the bottom up," she said. According to Politico, Clinton addresses Hamas's rejection of a cease-fire in the full interview, which has yet to be posted online. Clinton expressed concern for people in Gaza, but asserted Israel's right to defend itself. Clinton negotiated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in 2012.
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