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Hillary And Petraeus

At the Armed Services Committee hearing today I got the sense that, for reasons unclear, Hillary was determined not to make news or leave much of an impression at all. She spoke in a noticeably soft and subdued voice (which may be related to the fact that she looked exhausted), and, although critical of the war and skeptical that Petraeus would ever declare Iraq unsalvageable, rolled out nothing with the ring of a calculated Penn- Garin-tested slogan or soundbite.

Something to watch for when Obama has his turn this afternoon, incidentally, is how much talking he does. Last time Petraeus came to Washington he took some jibes for asking a long-winded, speechy question that didn't even leave time for Petraeus to answer.

--Michael Crowley