“Old trick. Making him look credible, and then his support for her.”
You may be right. It seemed that one of the Clinton strategies to discredit their opposition was to issue false leaks that they could then refute. They are at best, deceitful.
The best strategy to stop this kind of approach is to tell the public they are going to do it - before they do it.
Panetta is a Democrat party man. He does as he is told to do by the party, and is rewarded for his loyalty. He lives well.
The best chance “The Party” has since they blew their wad so to speak with their current act is always first, and foremost tied to their alliance with the Leftist news media , and then a celebrity figure. In this case it’s the Clinton’s again.
In anticipation of the question as to how Obama beat out Hillary in 2008 I believe it was punishment of the Clinton’s by the party for serving themselves first, and putting the party as second in their co administration. The Clinton’s have been working hard to regain the trust of the party since, thus all the attention to Obama, and now it’s time to declare him a failure, and promise the American people a better future with the experience Obama did not have regardless of Hillary’s lack of experience at anything but charades.
They need credibility to overcome her tenure in the Obama administration, thus Panetta has been called upon to save the day. You will see many more such figures other than Panetta, but all tied to the Democrats in the near future as they gear up to run Hillary for POTUS.
Just my opinion.