The Morning Joe panel was at a loss when Bill Kristol and Joe Scarborough asked what Hillary Clinton's main achievement was as Secretary of State Thursday on MSNBC.
Host Joe Scarborough stirred the pot initially, suggesting Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) is the most qualified female Democrat to run for president.
"You mean apart than Hillary Clinton?" gasped John Heilemann.
"I think she's as qualified, yes, I do," Scarborough replied.
Kristol agreed with Scarborough's assessment, noting Clinton was largely a failure as Secretary of State. He then posed the question "what achievement, I'm serious, one sentence, what has Hillary Clinton done? What's her achievement in politics that qualifies her to be president of the United States?"
Heilemann initially deferred, saying he didn't want to do an ad for Hillary Clinton but noted she will probably attempt to answer the question in her forthcoming book.
Scarborough put the question to Chuck Todd, who like the rest of the panel found the question difficult to answer.
"I think that they wouldn't try to do it as one issue," he said.
"But look. Is there a one big crowning achievement where you see her right there and then in a crisis moment as Secretary of State, especially compared to, for instance, John Kerry. I mean in many ways the problem she's got about her four years as Secretary of State is the comparison to John Kerry who's been -- he throws himself into every controversy. And Secretary Clinton, she'd get involved, but she played a much more quiet role. She never liked to play as public of a role as Kerry. So I think that comparison is going to be something she has to deal with on the trail."
Mika Brzezinski concurred with Todd, adding "the Republicans will say during the big crisis moment, Benghazi, where were you?"
Heilemann, seemingly uncomfortable with all the Clinton criticism, jumped in to conclude he expects the Clinton camp to make the case she helped repair "America's battered image" around the world.