Spin Cycle

Former ambassador Joe Wilson of Niger-uranium and Plame fame has endorsed Hillary, on a phone hookup with liberal bloggers who think he's a big hero because he got attacked by Bush.

Wilson and Clinton apparently bonded from their shared experience as victims of right-wing attacks and -- interestingly -- over Wilson's belief that Hillary, more than other Democrats, understood the need for a continuing albeit reduced U.S. role in Iraq. In other words, a hero of the Democratic left vouches for her with the left because he shares with her a belief, not shared by the left, that the solution to Iraq is a little more complicated than just leaving.

This brings to mind a recent, and quite astute, Washington Post column about how Hillary inserted a paragraph about the need to stay in Iraq in her recent Iowa speeches, but emphasized get-out-now rhetoric in her press releases and the other ten pages of the speeches.

Is this what good candidates do? Trick voters into thinking you agree with them when you don't? Or argue with them, and persuade them that you're right? Maybe Hillary's rise and McCain's fall answer the questions.