Opinion: Hillary Clinton’s wobble felt round the world

Good morning. This is Matthew Fleischer, digital editor of The Times Opinion section. Here’s hoping you all had a better week than Hillary Clinton.

As you undoubtedly saw, cellphone video caught the presidential front-runner on the verge of fainting after leaving early from a 9/11 anniversary event in New York. She was diagnosed with pneumonia, given a prescription of antibiotics and bed rest and was back on the campaign trail within the week.

So that was that, right?

Ha!

This is the 2016 campaign. An ill-opportune sneeze from Clinton would have been grounds for a dozen think pieces.

What could possibly justify all the fuss? Los Angeles Times Opinion contributor Melissa Batchelor Warnke spoke for thousands of Times readers when she wrote that any public sign of weakness from Clinton is a reminder of the frightening truth that Donald Trump could very well be the United States’ next president.

When I read that Clinton fainted, my heart sank. The lead she’d taken over Trump has been evaporating in national polls, although she has maintained her edge in several key battleground states. Her controversial statement that roughly half of Trump’s supporters fell into a “basket of deplorables,” the term she used to refer to the ones who were racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic, brought her margin down to about 2%. (Though I’m not quite sure I understand why; as many have pointed out, those who don’t perceive themselves as harboring deplorable beliefs should have nothing to be offended by.) The margin between Clinton and Trump is so close now that any slip on her part, of the tongue or of the body, could result in the election of a Putin-loving, immigrant-stigmatizing, flip-flopping, shallow and painfully unqualified former reality-television host slash ersatz self-made emperor as the United States’ 45th president.

For those who believe, as I do, that Trump’s candidacy is an insult to the safety and intelligence of our country’s electorate, Clinton’s poor health is cause for concern only to the extent that it has the potential to improve her opponent’s chances. Granted, neither the 68-year-old Clinton nor the 70-year-old Trump is a spring chicken. But consider who might take over for them if they suffered an incapacitating medical emergency: Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, may be a snooze, but he’s far more qualified to lead than Trump or the Republican nominee for veep, Mike Pence. Pence is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, an aw-shucks-dad type who has been a consistent opponent of reproductive rights and equality under the law for LGBT Americans. Pence once described himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” He’s the kind of evangelical who apparently thinks, “I’ll throw in with a twice-divorced former abortion rights advocate who vilifies a good chunk of God’s people. He could really get me somewhere.” Like Trump, he represents a platform that is deeply hateful.

For those of us who believe the integrity of our country’s future is predicated on a Clinton presidency, any wobble is cause for concern.

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