Spin Cycle

Hillary pushes back this morning on critics of her RFK assassination comment, claiming her words are being twisted and pivoting to restate her reasons for staying in the race in a front-page column penned for the Daily News.

Who turns their front page over to a self-serving campaign press release from the local senator?

Anyhow:

"...(S)ome took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different - and completely unthinkable.

"I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual....I realize that any reference to that traumatic moment for our nation can be deeply painful - particularly for members of the Kennedy family, who have been in my heart and prayers over this past week. And I expressed regret right away for any pain I caused."

As on Friday, she makes no mention of Obama. Some, not unreasonably, thought she was saying she was staying in the race because Obama might be assassinated in June, like RFK. Taking her at her word that she didn't mean that, why suddenly this complete hangup about mentioning Obama?

Having made a gaffe -- not in her heart, but in her verbal formulation -- she embeds a political calculation in the way she frames and phrases her apology, avoiding the guy whose life might be put at risk. And then she uses it in the rest of the piece to turn her own mistake into an advertisement:

I'm historic! I'm a great leader! I wasn't brought up to be a quitter!

Anything but a straightforward, simple apology.