Clinton Threw Shade At Ted Cruz At The Debate

At the Democratic debate on Thursday, Hillary Clinton threw shade at Ted Cruz by forcefully endorsing "New York values." This was, of course, a reference to Cruz's ill-advised and counterproductive attacks on Donald Trump who, according to Cruz, "embodies New York values." Needless to say, a comment like that doesn't go over very well in New York, and Clinton subtly reminded everybody in the state that Cruz gleefully insulted them several months ago.

"We worked hard to keep New York values at the center of who we are and what we do together," Clinton said, reflecting on her time as a senator, "and that is — that is exactly what I want to do as your president."

Clinton was doing a few things with this comment. First and foremost, she was reminding the audience of New Yorkers that she's one of them. She represented New York in the Senate for eight years, but that was quite a while ago. Given that the state's primary is less than a week away, it's in Clinton's interest to remind the state's Democrats of her New York ties, and defending New York values is a great way to do it.

The remark served a secondary function, too. Clinton effectively reminded New Yorkers that Cruz likes to bash "New York values," and that could conceivably hurt the Texas senator's support when the state holds its Republican primary on April 19. It's also just a good attack on Cruz in general: It's really bad form for a politician to essentially write off an entire state as having deficient values, and if Cruz manages to get the nomination, you can bet Clinton will bring this up during the general election.

In addition to these political considerations, Clinton was also simply defending New York, in the broadest sense, against Cruz's assertion that the state is insufficiently moral. And that's just a noble thing to do, regardless of who's doing it.