How Clinton Should Handle the Stumbling Story

Julian Zelizer wrote for CNN about how Hillary Clinton should handle the media coverage of her stumble at the 9/11 event:

Hillary Clinton's supporters were dismayed when the video clip started to circulate of their candidate stumbling on Sunday as she left a 9/11 event and walked toward her car. The candidate, who is suffering from walking pneumonia, according to her spokespeople, had to cancel her West Coast appearance.

Her supporters rightly claimed that it was unfair to blow up the incident. Candidates get exhausted, they get sick, and they can slip from time to time. It does not mean anything about their overall health or their campaign. It is also unfair to take a small moment like this and turn it into a 24-hour story, creating concerns that something bigger is really wrong. There is no evidence at this point to give credibility to any such claims.

But fair or not, these moments can matter. Just look at former President Gerald Ford, one of the most athletic persons to ever inhabit the White House.