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Doris Kearns Goodwin: Criticized on conservative website for liberal bias

Whenever NBC News needs someone to put the current presidential campaign into historic context they usually go to liberal historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and in recent days, on two different NBC News outlets, Goodwin has delivered with her unique historic and liberal perspective on Hillary Clinton.

On this morning's "Today" show, NBC's Andrea Mitchell went to Goodwin for a critical take on Hillary, but even when asked to find a negative about the Senator from New York, Goodwin couldn't help but fill her critique with superlatives as she determined Hillary may need to soften her "articulate" and overly "prepared," image by intentionally making a mistake. The following analysis was aired on the August 7, "Today" show:

Andrea Mitchell: "So far, Clinton has scored points in debates by showing she is knowledgeable. Now experts say she may also have to prove she's likable."

Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian: "It means she may have to take a risk of making a mistake. She may have to take a risk of not being so articulate and so prepared, to show spontaneity, to show humor."

As any student of recent history knows, Hillary is more than capable of making un-calculated mistakes. Perhaps Goodwin believed her disastrous attempt to socialize health care and her infamous "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies" remark were all part of an ingenious strategy to humanize the "so prepared" Hillary.

In fact, judging from Goodwin's comments from her appearance on Tim Russert's CNBC show, back on July 28th, Goodwin seems to have developed an image of Hillary as an innocent victim who has been forced to overcome the mistakes of others:

When Russert asked Goodwin to rate the '08 candidates' ability to overcome adversity, Goodwin noted Hillary's great accomplishment of having "withstood" such public trials as Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky.

Goodwin: "Looking back. I think for Hillary Clinton, to a certain extent, having withstood the extraordinary damage to her reputation with both Whitewater and the humiliation with the Monica Lewinsky affair, and being willing to slog it out again on the public campaign trail, shows that she's come through something."...
Read entire article at Newsbusters