Hillary Clinton on Wednesday reversed course in her handling of
questions about her private email server when she was secretary of state.
In recent weeks,
she has either dismissed the controversy or joked about it. But on Wednesday
she said she had made a mistake.
"My use of
personal email was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn't the best
choice. I should have used two emails -- one personal, one for work -- and I
take responsibility for that decision," she said when asked at an Iowa
event.
The answer shows
much more contrition than she has of late, even acknowledging that she
understands why people care about the issue.
"Well, I
know people have raised questions about my email use as secretary of state, and
I understand why. I get it," she said during a press conference at a local
community college.
This is a
departure for Clinton, who in past answers has been combative -- and at times
joked -- about whether the issue matters at all.
In Nevada earlier this month, for example, Clinton said her
email use was normal.
"Everybody
is acting like this first time this has ever happened. It happens all the
time," she said.
When a reporter
pressed her about the issue growing until Election Day, Clinton shot back,
"Nobody talks to me about it, other than you guys."
And she
generated headlines when, speaking in Iowa earlier this month, she espoused praise for the social
message app Snapchat because, she
said, "Those messages disappear all by themselves."
Clinton came to
Iowa looking to move past the stories swirling around her campaign. In front of
an audience of 200 people at the Des Moines Area Community College, the 2016
candidate pitched her plan for rural America, focusing on more spending for
government programs that provide capital and credit to rural business owners,
farmers and ranchers.
With former Iowa
Gov. Tom Vilsack standing beside her, Clinton called for the creation of a
"national infrastructure bank" that would invest in projects looking
to "improve the country's rural transportation, water and broadband
infrastructure."
"I want
America to be in the future business, too, and I believe a strong America
depends on strong rural communities," she said.
Making this
pitch in Iowa was a no-brainer for Clinton. In addition to the state being the
site of the first caucus in the 2016 calendar, more than 35% of Iowans live in
rural settings.
Clinton also
proposed "strengthening" the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal rule
that requires gasoline to be comprised of up to 10% in renewable fuels. The
issue is critically important to Iowa, the top corn-producing state in the
nation.
The former
secretary of state said she would "expand the overall contribution that
renewable fuels make to our national fuel supply" as president.
While her
statement was heralded by Iowans and ethanol advocates, Clinton has not always
been for strengthening ethanol. In a 2002 debate over an energy bill, Clinton
derided a then-pending requirement that two billion gallons of corn ethanol be
blended into domestic gasoline per year.
"We are providing a single industry with a guaranteed
market for its products -- subsidies on top of subsidies on top of subsidies,
and, on top of that, protection from liability," Clinton said in
2002. "What a sweetheart deal."
But in a May op-ed,
Clinton said it was time to get the fuel standard "back on track."
Vilsack, who
formally endorsed Clinton on Tuesday in an op-ed, offered an impassioned
defense of Clinton on Wednesday, speaking to both her personal character and
her conviction for the job she seeks.
"I know of
no one in America today who is tougher and more tested than Hillary
Clinton," he said, calling his decision to endorse her "an extremely
personal" one. "She is the best candidate from my party to win this
election."
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