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The Clinton campaign has been sending out former first daughter Chelsea Clinton out to college campuses as a surrogate since the start of the year. By her estimation, she's been to 70 campuses selling her mother's candidacy. This week, Chelsea's campaign activity became news when a student at Butler University asked how former President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky might have affected Senator Hillary's Clinton's reputation and candidacy.
It was a highly legitimate, excellent question. Said affair led to the president's impeachment. It led to the decimation of the final two years of President Clinton's second term. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, it's pretty much accepted fact that the Monica Lewinsky affair was a major national news story and a historical blemish on the Clinton presidency. As much as it might make Chelsea uncomfortable, it's clearly something much larger than a private family problem.
Did the Monica Lewinsky scandal impact Hillary Clinton's reputation? It is a completely legitimate inquiry of Hillary's campaign, which Chelsea – by her own free will – has allowed herself to become a part of. Time to put on your big girl pants, Chelsea.
Somewhere along the way, the protective bubble that protected Chelsea Clinton as a teenage first daughter was artificially extended into her adult life. Would I ask Chelsea about her father's affair at a social function or in a private setting? No, that would be in poor taste. But, if Chelsea, age 28, is going to put herself on the campaign trail as a high profile surrogate, then she needs to get a backbone.
If you can't stand the heat, Chelsea, then please leave the kitchen and return to your hedge fund job in New York City. Chelsea was a guest at Butler University, and when a Butler student asked a tough but legitimate question, she should have shown some moxie and offered a thoughtful response. Instead, she acted like a princess who is entitled to some special brand of selective privacy.
If Chelsea was staying out of the public eye and conducting her life privately and away from the glare of the campaign, then I'd be all for leaving her alone. But, she's chosen otherwise. The political past, present, and future of her parents is completely relevant.
If you are going to go onto a campus for an open question and answer session, then step up. If you can't do it, stay home, because you're not prepared. Students should be respectful, sure, but that doesn't mean students should only lob softballs at the First Princess.
Until Chelsea can engage students as an adult and a true campaign surrogate, she needs to stay home or at least off the nation's campuses where hard-hitting discussion is a treasured tradition.
