Clinton-Palin coffee date: Beer Summit 2 in the making

President Obama sought to bridge America’s racial divide over beer.

Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she would welcome sitting down to a cup of coffee with Sarah Palin.

On two separate Sunday morning talk shows, Secretary Clinton said that she would “look forward” to chatting at a café with Ms. Palin – the former Republican vice presidential candidate, soon-to-be millionaire author, and closest thing that politics has to a lightning rod in a red pant suit.

It was, almost certainly, a moment of Sunday morning small talk. Yet if cable news’ coverage of Obama’s Beer Summit is anything to go by – with their countdown timers to zero hour and careful deconstruction of each man’s beer selection – CNN, Fox News, and MSBNC are surely mustering all of their resources into seeing if there is any possible way to bring about Clinton Kaffeklatsch (a.k.a. “Beer Summit, the Sequel”).

Palin: Let's talk

In her comment Sunday, Clinton was responding to an excerpt from Palin’s forthcoming book, “Going Rogue,” in which Palin wrote:

“Should Secretary Clinton and I ever sit down over a cup of coffee, I know that we will fundamentally disagree on many issues. But my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail. A lot of her supporters think she proved what Margaret Thatcher proclaimed. 'If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.’ ”

For the self-described hockey mom, the comment amounts to a self-imposed two minutes in the literary penalty box. In August 2008, Palin said that Clinton was essentially whining when Clinton suggested that she was not being treated fairly by the media because she was a woman. (See the video here.)

Speaking about Clinton’s complaint, Palin said: “When I hear a statement like that, coming from a woman candidate, with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism, or maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think 'Man, that doesn't do us [as women] any good.’ ”

Even then, she hedged her criticism in respectful tones, prefacing her comments by saying: “I say this with all due respect to Hillary Clinton, and to her experience and to her passion for changing the status quo also…”

In “Going Rogue,” the olive branch (or is that a biscotti?) Palin extends to Clinton suggests that her kind words about Clinton in 2008 were indeed heartfelt and not merely the perfunctory prologue to a political assassination attempt.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton notably refused to heap criticism on Palin, even when given the opportunity to do so.

Which raises the question: What in the world would two such political polar opposites discuss. Not healthcare reform and “death panels,” one would assume.

In the Palin-parlance of March 2008, perhaps they would do a little “whining” about the media. In the last speech before resigning as Alaska governor, Palin accused the media of “making things up.”

And, in the end, perhaps Clinton did have a point: In a survey conducted for Lifetime TV last December, 65 percent of women said that male and female candidates are held to different standards on the campaign trail.

See also:

A sneak peek at 'going Rogue'

Republicans 'Going Rogue' in upstate New York

Palin 'effects change' – one Tweet at a time

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