She just won’t stop. First, she made the assumption that Musharraf, Bhutto, and Sharif would be on the ballot this coming election in Pakistan.

“If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election, then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (.pdf) Dec. 28.

“He could be the only person on the ballot. I don’t think that’s a real election,” she told ABC’s George Stephanopolous December 30.

He won’t be the only person on the ballot, because he’s not on the ballot. Bhutto wouldn’t have been, either. The upcoming elections are parliamentary elections – not presidential. Musharraf was already reelected as president in October of last year. Sharif wouldn’t even be allowed to run, as he’s a convicted felon in Pakistan. See, Bhutto could’ve been Prime Minister – not president. She wasn’t challenging Musharraf’s reelection. She was going to serve as PM, with Musharraf in the role of president.

Anyway, Clinton’s campaigning is hunkering down, refusing to admit error.

ABC News’ Brian Wheeler, Teddy Davis and Kate Snow report: The Clinton campaign says Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., did not make a mistake when she talked about Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a presidential candidate, in a recent interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

“Well, his party is on the ballot,” said communications director Howard Wolfson, in an interview at Clinton headquarters in Des Moines, Tuesday, suggesting that the senator knew the difference between the man and the party being up for election, but was using shorthand. “And I don’t think anybody questions that Sen. Clinton has a vast and deep knowledge about foreign policy.”

His party is on the ballot, but that has nothing to do with her original remarks:

“If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election, then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (.pdf) Dec. 28.

“He could be the only person on the ballot. I don’t think that’s a real election,” she told ABC’s George Stephanopolous December 30.

He already stood for reelection, and wasn’t being challenged for his role as president. He isn’t on the ballot, as Clinton expressly said. Musharraf isn’t standing for reelection, and isn’t a “candidate”. Instead of admitting she was wrong, or made a mistake, her campaign hunkers down and defends her ignorance.