The media declared late last week that Hillary Clinton just had the best 10 days ever—10 days so momentous they will likely go down in history alongside Napoleon’s Hundred Days.
Clinton’s campaign was quick to announce her the winner of Thursday’s testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, despite the revelation that she knew within hours that the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi had been a terrorist attack carried out by an "al-Qaeda-like group." Clinton had told the public that the attack was the result of a spontaneous protest of an anti-Islam video.
Notwithstanding the troubling possibility that Clinton misled the public about a terrorist attack two months before a presidential election, the media was quick to agree with Clinton’s communications team that her testimony was the cherry on top of an excellent, amazing, truly world-historical ten days.
An article by Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post on Thursday set the tone for the next day of media coverage.
"Over the last 10 days, Clinton proved (or re-proved) that she can perform under the brightest of lights and can even get a break or two," Cillizza wrote, under the headline "Hillary Clinton is on a major roll."
Pundits on CNN and MSNBC repeated the "ten days" line incessantly over the next day. MSNBC host Chuck Todd was particularly taken with the phrase, using it six times in one day on two different shows.
When the media discover a catchy line, they stick to it. Not long ago, the media was mournfully noting that Clinton’s private email scandal was "not going away." In that instance, they were right.