Hillary Clinton, that's who. Fox News reports:
[Mrs.] Clinton has pulled out of an appearance at a New York rally next week to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because she doesn't want to be seen alongside Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a "partisan" event, her aides say.
Several American Jewish groups plan a major rally outside the United Nations on Monday. Clinton had initially accepted an invitation to join, but her aides objected when they learned Palin will also be part of the rally. . . .
"[Palin's] attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event," Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said Wednesday. "Sen. Clinton will therefore not be attending."
It's rather Orwellian to describe an event as "partisan" because it was designed to include members of both parties. As for Mrs. Clinton, she has an obvious political motive for avoiding Palin. She is much more likely to win the presidency in 2012 if Barack Obama loses this year--but she cannot afford for Democrats to think that she is acting on that basis, and appearing with Palin would reinforce that suspicion.
All this was anticipated by "Saturday Night Live," whose season premiere this weekend featured a sketch in which Tiny Fey as Palin and Amy Poehler as Mrs. Clinton staged a joint appearance to protest media sexism.
"Good evening, my fellow Americans," said Fey as Palin. "I was so excited when I was told Sen. Clinton and I would be addressing you tonight."
Replies Poehler as Mrs. Clinton: "And I was told I would be addressing you alone."
-JAMES TARANTO
[The Wall Street Journal]
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