Curtains for the Clintons; When They Lose MoDo, They've Lost Their MoJo

Kind of a neat update at the bottom.

Maureen Dowd (MoDo) 

Empty seats at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto last week during Bill and Hillary Clinton’s speaking event.

"I’m feeling something foreign, something I’ve never felt before. It takes me a moment to identify it."I’m feeling sorry for the Clintons."In the 27 years I’ve covered Bill and Hillary, I’ve experienced a range of emotions. They’ve dazzled me and they’ve disgusted me."But now they’re mystifying me."I’m looking around Scotiabank Arena, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’s a depressing sight. It’s two-for-the-price-of-one in half the arena. The hockey rink is half curtained off, but even with that, organizers are scrambling at the last minute to cordon off more sections behind thick black curtains, they say due to a lack of sales. I paid $177 weeks in advance. (I passed on the pricey meet-and-greet option.) On the day of the event, some unsold tickets are slashed to single digits."I get reassigned to another section as the Clintons’ audience space shrinks. But even with all the herding, I’m still looking at large swaths of empty seats — and I cringe at the thought that the Clintons will look out and see that, too. It was only four years ago, after all, that Canadians were clamoring to buy tickets to see the woman who seemed headed for history.
"It’s a sad contrast with the sold-out boffo book tour of Michelle Obama, who’s getting a lot more personal for the premium prices. But introspection has never been within the Clintons’ range."I can’t fathom why the Clintons would make like aging rock stars and go on a tour of Canada and the U.S. at a moment when Democrats are hoping to break the stranglehold of their cloistered, superannuated leadership and exult in a mosaic of exciting new faces."What is the point? It’s not inspirational. It’s not for charity. They’re not raising awareness about a cause, like Al Gore with global warming. They’re only raising awareness about the Clintons." . . .

UPDATE: Tickets for Clintons' stadium speaking tour now marked down 90%

. . . "Obviously, the humiliation of facing a crowd in Toronto last week that filled fewer than 17% of the seats in the giant hockey-basketball arena was more than the Clintons could bear.  Even with a theater about one third as big, the danger of a sea of empty seats was so big that drastic markdowns were necessary.

"Everyone who paid the original prices is now officially a sucker." . . .