Politicians are wise to have their stump speeches fact-checked before making them. (With the literacy level of the average public-schooled intern it still might go bad.)
Mrs. Clinton stumping in Maine as a Democratic candidate made me laugh when she said that when she drove by the Maine mills inactive, they should get up and running [words to that effect]... they should be burning wood- with all the trees in Maine. It was in her speech in Lewiston, Maine; but never reported. I could just picture little Leprechaun laborers lugging logs to an enormous wood fired furnace all day long..for what purpose?
Exactly.
This is 3rd grade history for New England. There's a Patriot's Day Holiday in MA and ME.... The Boston Marathon is run on that day .... The Red Sox always play at Fenway at 11 AM on that day.....
If it had been off an cuff statement to answer a town hall question she would be given a pass. It is local history and voters wouldn't expect her to know every detail of regional history.
This is, however, a prepared speech in NH. It would have taken 10 seconds to fact-check on Wikipedia. Instead, she made a statement that any 3rd grader would know is incorrect. Why should anything else she says be taken seriously by an uncommitted voter scrutinizing her positions?
She will be dismissed out of hand as someone who doesn't do their homework.
She's a Tea Party spokesperson. She can't come across as someone who doesn't respect the intellect of local voters enough to get 3rd grade history correct on a topic she herself chose to present.
The arguments that other politicians have made gaffes is specious. Independent New Englanders already know they're bullsh.t artists. They're looking for someone who isn't.