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Grrrr—Time to Protect Chelsea

The Clinton campaign may have shined the media glare on Chelsea this week by having her call up the hosts of The View, but that doesn't mean they're ready for the harsh lighting. David Shuster of MSNBC's Hardball said on the air that it's a "little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea's out there calling up celebrities" and superdelegates. Then he asked, "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" (Here's the full exchange with Bill Press.) A Clinton spokesman called Shuster's statements "beneath contempt" and said he can't envision the campaign participating in any more debates on that network.

Is this use of pimped out inherently offensive? Is that, in fact, what the campaign is doing with Chelsea? Are they now taking excessive umbrage so they can generate coverage and sympathy? Sorry to be so cynical, but the question about Chelsea's role seems pretty inevitable, if not the words Shuster used. If they expect her to be treated as the daughter in the bubble, doesn't she have to stay in the bubble? (Or maybe I am having a Friday afternoon moment of heartlessness.)