Hillary Claus

Hillary Clinton's Christmas-weekend TV ad shows her sitting at her famous couch wrapping presents. They've all got tags — reading "Alternative Energy," "Middle Class Tax Breaks," "Universal Health Care," and "Universal Pre-K." (Also "Bring Troops Home," but she's already made clear that that box is empty.) I'd embed the video here, but you'd think it was a Club for Growth parody, so instead I'll link directly to her campaign website.

Hillary actually sees herself as Santa Claus, handing out presents to the voters. Except, as my colleague Justin Logan notes, instead of putting together the toys at the North Pole with her elves, she’ll just take our toys, wrap them up, and then give them back to us after taking her cut and then pretend that it’s a great act of beneficence.

I complained once about teenagers interviewed by Parade magazine who "seemed to regard the new president as a combination of Superman, Santa Claus, and Mother Teresa." But they were teenagers, not 60-year-old presidential candidates. Only one of the teens interviewed had an adult understanding of where government benefits come from. "I worked every day last summer,” he told Parade, "repairing and setting up cattle fences, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in very hot weather. I got a good tan, but other than that it wasn’t worth it — just to have the government take a third of my money and have it go to someone I don’t even know who didn’t earn it in the first place. Do something about taxes.” He's old enough to vote now. If only he were old enough to run for president.