Clinton answers the wrong question

BRIDGETON, Mo. – We often wonder about how the presidential candidates endure the grueling campaign, often getting just a few hours of sleep and then performing nonstop on their feet and in the glare of the cameras. Hillary Clinton, for one, pretty much always manages to be attentive and sharp all day and far into the night.

So it was a clear sign of the pressure leading up to Super Tuesday in two days when she answered the wrong question at a town hall meeting here.

A woman in the audience asked Clinton how long it would take to end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bans openly gay people from serving in the military. And she asked more broadly about “equality to the LGBT population,” using a common acronym for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.

Clinton, whose voice was also croaking, must’ve just swapped out in her mind one acronym, LGBT, for another, NCLB, or the No Child Left Behind legislation detested by many Americans.

“I’m very much against reauthorizing that bill,” she said, spending a couple sentences on education policy.

But then, somehow, she realized her mistake, and turned to the actual question. “I want to end discrimination and I want to end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.”