Watergate vs. Benghazi

Does the Benghazi affair have the potential to be another Watergate? I just finished reading All the President's Men by Woodward and Bernstein (now reading Woodward's State of Denial about the Bush years). The Watergate investigation brought down the President of the United States. The Watergate break-in took place during the election year of 1972, and was swept under the rug until after Nixon defeated McGovern. But, here is one big difference: four men died in Benghazi. No one died in Watergate.

Lies were told by the White House in both situations. Cover-ups occurred in both situations. congressional hearings were held in both situations. Nixon tried to protect his top aides to the very end of his presidency. Obama seems quicker to dump people under the bus. Are you listening, Hillary?

Here's a thought: What if Hillary decides to throw Obama under the bus?

Update: From Michael Hastings at BuzzFeed: "The jaw-dropping testimony at the House Oversight Committee Wednesday completely shredded the Obama Administration’s original story about what happened in Benghazi, while offering damning evidence that the State Department ignored multiple, urgent requests for better security at the American outpost in eastern Libya."

Taken together, this is the kind of unfolding scandal the media typically loves to make Issue Number One — the drip-drip quality of each revelation; the gut-wrenching drama of that horrible night; the shoddy treatment of the victims from the State Department; the fact it should have been prevented, and smoking guns that prove it; Hillary Clinton’s political future; and, the shifting explanations from the White House during an election year, calling into question one of its signature foreign policy victories.

Instead, Benghazi has been a below-the-fold story. The New York Times gave Libya a 23-word tease on the bottom of its front page the morning after the hearings. And not one nightly newscast Wednesday led with Benghazi — in favor of horse-race coverage, NBC and CBS had it as their third story, and ABC as their second.
Read more here:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/the-media-dropped-the-ball-on-benghazi

 Update 2: Of course, the Nixon team's cover-up of Watergate enabled Nixon to win the 1972 election. It was not until the next summer that the implosion occurred. Nixon enjoyed a huge lead over McGovern throughout 1972. That is not the case this year. We have what most of the pundits predict is going to be a close election. Walter Russell Mead, however, wonders out loud today if Benghazi will cost Obama the election.

"To the extent that the administration hoped to turn American attention away from the Middle East, the events of 9/11/12 have frustrated that goal. This is unlikely to be a foreign policy election, but it looks as if the president’s advantage in foreign policy will continue to erode through election day. It remains to be seen whether that will have a material impact on this very close race."
Read more here:  http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/10/11/will-the-benghazi-debacle-cost-obama-the-election/
via Instapundit