The Perils of the Presidency

I'm not usually a big defender of Hillary Clinton's -- and this photo of her with one-time Obama backer Tony Rezko, whom she condemned in Tuesday's debate as a "slumlord" certainly makes a "hypocrisy" charge easy to make.

But the fact is that presidents (and first ladies) take tons of pictures with people they may not know terribly well. It was true when it applied to President Bush and Jack Abramoff and it's true when it comes to Hillary Clinton.

Nevertheless, photos like the Clinton/Rezko picture are an occupational hazard for any prominent politician -- and Hillary's enjoying plenty of the upside of having ocucpied the White House for eight years. This is one of the downsides.