I think the way the media discusses Hillary Clinton is just astounding. Every time she makes a hawkish utterance or expresses a vaguely pro-lifish sentiment, her friends in the media immediately talk about how she’s brilliantly “positioned” herself.

Here’s one typical example from this weekend’s Meet the Press:

MR. RUSSERT: Andrea Mitchell, you heard Hillary Clinton say that we should not have a withdrawal of troops at this time. There should not be a timetable, that that would be a green light to the terrorists, totally separating herself from Ted Kennedy and other Democrats; quite striking.
MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Very striking. Hillary Clinton, since she joined the Armed Services Committee, which was her choice and what she wanted when she went to the Senate, has positioned herself very smartly for her own political future, both in ‘06 and potentially ‘08. And she has made herself very much a moderate Democratic voice on these defense issues.

I keep seeing this sort of commentary everywhere, every time she says something moderate. What is so amazing is that even mainstream journalists cannot bring themselves to even pay lipservice to the idea that Hillary is actually expressing her feelings or convictions on these issues. I’m not saying she isn’t, but if I were her press people I’d be mighty peeved that no one says “Hillary is a moderate.” They all say Hillary is “positioning herself as a moderate.”