Spin Cycle

Rudy Giuliani, who has framed his entire candidacy on stopping attacks like the one that killed Benazir Bhutto today, was the first out of the box linking the tragedy to the campaign. But to the extent that it influences the upcoming Iowa caucus to any degree, Bhutto's murder might help (in the narrowest political sense) Hillary Clinton, an early admirer of Bhutto.

For Clinton, the killing underscores two critical arguments in favor of her candidacy:

1. That she's the real agent of change. The biggest "change" any democratic country can implement is the election of its first woman leader. (On that score, Pakistan, which many Americans regard as a blood-soaked autocracy slipping back into the dark ages, leads the USA 2-0) And the backlash against such a change can be violent indeed.

2. The obvious one: That Americans need stability and experience in unpredictable times.

On the other hand...

Pakistan set off five nuclear tests (although it has produced weapons-grade fissile material since the late-1980s) in 1998 on Bill Clinton's watch, even though his administration imposed sanctions. And it was Bhutto's father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who initiated the atomic program in 1972.

-- Glenn Thrush