Clinton won’t pretend to know the answer just to look good

Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold asked Hillary Clinton to comment on the incoming administration’s policy on Somalia, which he pointed out is both about the failure of Somalia as a state and about the piracy problem that has brought Somalia back to the edges of the collective American consciousness recently. In an unusual move for a politician, Hillary Clinton didn’t just say that she would have her staff reply later or try to give an answer that was full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. She told Sen. Feingold, “I have no wisdom on this,” proving she had wisdom, even if she didn’t have an answer.

She noted that the problems in Somalia are intractable — so much so that her husband inherited them from his Republican predecessor and Obama will do so from his — and that there are no easy solutions or low-hanging fruit that would enable her or the administration she will serve to snap their fingers and fix the problems easily. She plans to consult with those people, like Feingold, who have some expertise and some ideas, which is very Obama-like of her. I guess he’s even got some change Clinton can believe in.

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