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The Latest Version of Hillary Clinton
How many opportunities should she get to re-sell herself?
Going into the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton implored voters to keep a level head and not get carried away with a passing crush. Unable to match Barack Obama's inspiring oratory, she sniped, "You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose." But after winning Tuesday, she was all gooey sentiment: "I felt like we all spoke from our hearts, and I'm so gratified you responded."
Head, heart—what does it matter, as long as she wins? If it took a show of tears to elicit sympathy from New Hampshirites, Sister Frigidaire (as she was known in her youth) was prepared to engineer a melting thaw. And it worked. The only thing sufficient to summon a wave of emotion, though, was the prospect of losing.
The Clintons often manufacture shows of feeling—remember when Bill, caught smiling after the death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, feigned tears when he noticed a TV camera? Or when Hillary, after coming in third in Iowa, gave a victory speech sporting an eerily immovable smile? But they're always completely sincere in their self-pity or anger, both of which were on display after the Iowa debacle.
During last weekend's New Hampshire debate, Hillary Clinton fumed that she was not getting credit for all her accomplishments. "I want to make change, but I've already made change!" she exclaimed. "I'm running on 35 years of change."
Meanwhile, her husband scorned Obama's campaign as a "fairy tale," in which his countless horrible flaws were being covered up by the news media, or the vast right-wing conspiracy, or someone else who has resisted the appeal of the Clintons. When they fall short, someone else is always to blame.
Even that moment when her eyes welled up gave way to a flash of her rigid us vs. them mentality. "Some of us are right, and some of us are wrong," she insisted. "Some of us are ready, and some of us are not."
Like the tears, her victory speech suggested that Clinton is resolved to inhabit a new persona, at least as long as she needs to. Instead of her usual power suit, she wore a flowery brocade jacket that oozed femininity. She gushed about her "full heart," and how she had "found my own voice."
Sixty years old, with all that massive experience in the work of transforming the nation, and she's just now finding her voice? More likely, she's just found a new way to disguise her essential self.
This is not her first conspicuous change of convenience. When she and Bill were married, she declined to take his last name, only to suddenly adopt it for political reasons after he was voted out of the governor's office in 1980. She was Hillary Clinton ever after—until she got to the White House, when she suddenly insisted on going by Hillary Rodham Clinton. The "Rodham," however, is now history. Her campaign website makes a point of referring to her as Hillary Clinton or, more often, just Hillary.
Maybe this evolution is just one of the special complications that face women in politics. But it also suggests a willingness to use any false front that can be helpful. It betrays the calculating inauthenticity that makes so many people wary or hostile toward her.
Andrew Sullivan, writing in The Atlantic, says this quality is not just an artifact of Clinton's personality but a function of trying to succeed as a liberal in a conservative era: "Reagan spooked people on the left, especially those, like Clinton, who were interested primarily in winning power. She has internalized what most Democrats of her generation have internalized: They suspect that the majority is not with them, and so some quotient of discretion, fear, or plain deception is required if they are to advance their objectives. ... She's hiding her true feelings. We know it, she knows we know it, and there is no way out of it."
But maybe she's getting better at it. New Hampshirites voted for a candidate who, confronting defeat, let herself look vulnerable and human, and thus more appealing. If she becomes president, they may come to realize what we have learned before: With Hillary Clinton, what you see isn't necessarily what you get.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Rye-guy|1.10.08 @ 3:38AM|#
I beasted the predicting Hillary winning NH. Anyone who's wise
enough to not trust their brain would have.
I'd rather someone who think's she's entitled to be President win
than someone who think's he's entitled to be the Second Coming.
|1.10.08 @ 4:27AM|#
" someone who think's he's entitled to be the Second
Coming."
Pat Robertson's not running this time.
-jcr
ed|1.10.08 @ 8:03AM|#
"You campaign in poetry, but you govern in
prose."
That's positively Churchillian. I get all goose-bumpy.
|1.10.08 @ 8:06AM|#
jcr, he wasn't banging her. blowjobs only.
insert obligatory rainbow party joke here.
|1.10.08 @ 8:21AM|#
I don't get it.
I'm certainly no pro-Hillary shill, but is there anything that the
woman could do that would prove she has real emotions?
She fails to cry: it's for political power
She cries: It's a stage act for political power
She rages: It's fake rage
She's demure: It's fake modesty
Steve Chapman says she's hiding her "true emotion"...uhh, what
would be good enough evidence that she actually HAS emotions,
Steve? Because none of the usual indicators of emotion (rage,
crying, laughing, calm) seem to be sufficient.
|1.10.08 @ 8:22AM|#
Normally I'd say charging a campaigning politician with
inauthenticity is like accusing the sun of being warm and bright,
but inauthenticity is so central to who Hillary Clinton is... It
really is her defining characteristic.
Still, with voters turning out so big for Obama in lily white Iowa,
she may be the Republicans' last, best hope for victory. After all,
Hillary Clinton doesn't even have the audacity to try to project
herself as a southerner anymore, does she?
Does she?!
|1.10.08 @ 8:24AM|#
"I'm certainly no pro-Hillary shill, but is there anything
that the woman could do that would prove she has real
emotions?"
Well for starters, she could stop eating people's children.
|1.10.08 @ 8:33AM|#
Well for starters, she could stop eating people's
children.
An amendment to Timothy:
Cthillary '08?
Gilbert Martin|1.10.08 @ 8:42AM|#
"Sixty years old, with all that massive experience in the work
of transforming the nation,"
Yeah and I'm still waiting for any of the media to ask her any
tough questions as to what, exactly, is all this experience that
she claims she has over the other candidates.
The only elected office she's held is Senator - exactly the same as
Edwards and Obama.
Being first lady is an honorary title, not an earned one and she
never accomplished anything of any more substance while first lady
than other than Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush or any other
first lady.
If being first lady counts as "experience" for being president,
then every other first lady is just as qualified for it as she
is.
Episiarch|1.10.08 @ 8:52AM|#
Hillary really, really gets people worked up. It's amazing. If she wasn't so ugly I'd accuse many of you of having a crush on her. Too bad she's not hot; that would make this ever so much more entertaining.
|1.10.08 @ 8:55AM|#
"You forget that Hill didn't stay home and make
cookies."
What did she do?
She put together one real estate deal, the partners of which, I
understand, all went to prison. ...except for Hillary and her
husband, of course.
She did work on Watergate in some capacity, which is something, I
guess. She worked for a bunch of charitable foundations as First
Lady of this and First Lady of that...
I have more respect for the professional accomplishments of the
women who regularly comment on this site. I have more respect for
the professional accomplishments of the women I know and work with
every day.
To my eye, holding up Hillary Clinton's accomplishments as
something to be impressed by seems like an insult to the
accomplishments of all the professional women I know...
...many of whom bring home the bacon AND bake cookies!
|1.10.08 @ 8:55AM|#
Hillary was a big hit with people earning under $50,000, just the kind of people who are too stupid to realize they are being lied to.
|1.10.08 @ 8:56AM|#
Three states down and were already solely focused on
personality. I think HRC's NH moment was genuine. Including this
piece, I now count 4,124,748,422 attacks on her (about half of
which are surrogate extensions based on the acts/words of her
husband; WTF). At some point that has to penetrate your mental
armor. Jon Stewart again nailed the total overreaction.
It seems like Chapman's antipathy is that this is "calculated".
Like every successul politician, HRC is a shrewd, calculating,
political animal. Like the guy said in Red October - "When I'm not
kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops".
While I expect cable and MSM will focus on electing our next prom
King (or Queen), I expect more from Reason (and Chapman). Ideas,
ideals, and policy prescriptions please. . . I don't give a rat's
ass about feelings and emotion. No matter your love or hate for any
candidate, can we please not fall into the "beer drink buddy" trap
again.
BakedPenguin|1.10.08 @ 8:59AM|#
For those defending her, may I remind you that this is the woman who thought her husband didn't have enough executive power? That she has not (TMK) criticized Bush for his power grabs, only the way he has used the power?
|1.10.08 @ 9:01AM|#
Listening to Hillary Clinton talk about her professional accomplishments is like listening to some music icon sing about what a pain in the ass it is to be a rock star.
|1.10.08 @ 9:03AM|#
Penguin,
I'm no fan of HRC, but please name a candidate (with a chance to
win) who you think will reduce executive authority.
|1.10.08 @ 9:08AM|#
"I'm no fan of HRC, but please name a candidate (with a
chance to win) who you think will reduce executive
authority."
Can you name a candidate (with a chance to win) who is less a fan
of expanding executive authority than Hillary Clinton?
As a Senator, did she at any point ever oppose the expansion of
President Bush's authority?
..that's not a rhetorical question, by the way!
BakedPenguin|1.10.08 @ 9:13AM|#
Tbone - Obama has mentioned executive power as an issue, along
with some proposals for open government.
I thought Thompson might be enough of a federalist that he wouldn't
try to expand his power in office, but a brief visit to his website
didn't really give me any hope for that.
I still believe she would be worse on that issue than any of the
other candidates - particularly with a Democratic Congress.
Papa|1.10.08 @ 9:17AM|#
A brave photographer caught this behind-the-scenes shot of Hillary in NH: here.
|1.10.08 @ 9:18AM|#
As for HRC, I just have a negative "gut" reaction. Oh, I think she's smart and capable but I agree with whatever wag coined the phrase, "Hugo Chavez in a pantsuit." Like Chavez, I think she's more of a petty despot than a true socialist. As for authenticity, I don't see many politicians who are even remotely sincere. HRC, however, has a quality like scratching fingernails on a chalkboard. No, it's not her gender or her husband. I just don't like her. It's sort of like my reaction to the Dondero character who has been floating around here of late.
|1.10.08 @ 9:20AM|#
"I think HRC's NH moment was genuine. Including this piece, I
now count 4,124,748,422 attacks on her (about half of which are
surrogate extensions based on the acts/words of her husband; WTF).
At some point that has to penetrate your mental armor."
If it was genuine, I think it was probably due to her concern about
losing the nomination as things were really looking bad for her at
that point.
jp|1.10.08 @ 9:20AM|#
If she wasn't so ugly I'd accuse many of you of having a
crush on her.
She may not be hot, but she's not ugly. I'd say she's above average
for a woman her age.
|1.10.08 @ 9:23AM|#
"She may not be hot, but she's not ugly. I'd say she's above
average for a woman her age."
Yeah, because she's had plastic surgery.
LarryA|1.10.08 @ 9:29AM|#
What did she do?
She cleaned out the White House travel office, and designed the
most despised health care plan ever proposed.
Episiarch|1.10.08 @ 9:34AM|#
She may not be hot, but she's not ugly. I'd say she's above
average for a woman her age.
No, not in a smokin', Nancy Pelosi sort of way.
She needs to join Nancy in the Katherine
Helmond-in-Brazil look. That'll help her!
|1.10.08 @ 9:35AM|#
Ayn_Randian-
I'll be the first to admit, i have an irrational hatred toward the
Clintons at this point. I was a teen in the 90's and frankly i'm so
sick of those 2 and the Bush Dynasty that i will criticize each and
everything she does and she will never satisfy, i hate everything
about her. Her hair, her face, her voice, and yes her policies.
Just being honest, and i'm not the only one, she might win the nom,
but too many people feel the way i feel for her to win the office.
Same reason i'd never give anyone named Bush or Kennedy a chance.
again, irrational, but i think, understandable.
|1.10.08 @ 9:37AM|#
My wife; My PhD-educated, liberaltarian,
Richardson-as-a-first-choice-followed-closely-by-Paul wife, has
decided that now that all of the candidates whom she actually
respects are out of it, HRC should win because "she's a woman and
being a woman is hard."
I'm telling you, this nation is fucked.
Episiarch|1.10.08 @ 9:40AM|#
I'm telling you, this nation is fucked.
Nah, just sounds like you have a stupid wife. More like
you're fucked.
|1.10.08 @ 9:40AM|#
HRC is the most ambitious person I've ever witnessed. Everyone in public life lusts for power, but Hillary doesn't draw breath without first calculating how it may be best utilized to advance the power and influence of Hillary Clinton. She is also very smart, and of all the egomaniacs at her level, the best at critical self analysis.
|1.10.08 @ 9:42AM|#
"No, but at this point I don't see much distinction. Do
you?"
Dick Morris was at a commercial real estate developer's conference
not too long ago, and you should hear some of the things he
said.
Check out dickmorris.com ...see his comments on the Hillary
video...
"She's the closest thing we have to a European Socialist", among
other things. He told us we should expect the first two years of a
Hillary administration to be class warfare like we've never seen.
...and that we'd hopefully see a Gingrich type reaction after that,
but in the meantime...
In terms of foreign policy, she's more of what the Bush
Administration was about than the Bush Administration was. He told
us there was no way she was ever going to withdraw troops from
Iraq. ...and let's not even talk about surveillance, the Patriot
Act, etc.
If I had to identify one candidate from the two major parties that
was most hostile to libertarian ideas, it would be Hillary
Clinton.
I'd rather have the Baptist minister!
|1.10.08 @ 9:44AM|#
"i hate everything about her. Her hair, her face, her voice, and
yes her policies. Just being honest, and i'm not the only
one"
You and 55% of us according to a recent Rasmussen poll I saw.
|1.10.08 @ 9:49AM|#
That's an uncharacteristically perceptive comment by Sullivan,
about HRC's generation of Dems suspecting that the majority of the
US is not with them. Whether or not most Americans hold the same
opinions as these Democrats is a matter of opinion (I think they do
not), but I think it's a fact that Hillary's generation feel they
have to deceive and obfuscate in order to advance their agenda -
but this is completely acceptable, you understand, because they
know what's best for the country and that's what matters. Remember
in the 2004 election, Howell Raines wrote that John Kerry needed to
lie about what he intended to do, and then once in office just do
it? The reason being that the American voters were just too stupid
to be trusted to vote for the guy who knew best. The honesty and
the cynicism of that piece was kind of breathtaking. I think I'll
look for it.
I'd be very happy to have no more Boomer Presidents, ever, even if
it means having a guy as old as Maverick in the White House.
|1.10.08 @ 9:49AM|#
"she's more of what the Bush Administration was about than the
Bush Administration was."
One conservative woman commentator called her Bush Lite in a
skirt.
|1.10.08 @ 9:52AM|#
"You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose." But after
winning Tuesday, she was all gooey sentiment: "I felt like we all
spoke from our hearts, and I'm so gratified you
responded."
That's because she was campaigning.
And then all downhill from there.
Boooooooorriiiiiinnnnnggggggg!
Gilbert Martin|1.10.08 @ 9:54AM|#
"While I expect cable and MSM will focus on electing our next
prom King (or Queen), I expect more from Reason (and Chapman).
Ideas, ideals, and policy prescriptions please. . ."
Well let's see.
Hillary is a liberal democrat and all her ideas are based on the
ideology of socialism/commumism/collectivism.
And it is, of course, an absolute physical impossibiltiy for
anything based on that ideology to ever be anything other than an
abject failure.
End of policy discussion - back to the Hillary is a calculating
phony theme.
|1.10.08 @ 9:54AM|#
The good news is I have a hard time imagining her carrying the
South by herself. ...and Hillary Clinton is no longer associated
with the South.
As I've said elsewhere, just behind Paris Hilton, I suspect she's
probably the most hated woman in the South. ...but she might be
able to make up for that (maybe in Florida) with the right running
mate, who should be from the South.
I understand no Democrat has won the Presidency without a
Southerner on the ticket since Roosevelt?
|1.10.08 @ 9:59AM|#
"I understand no Democrat has won the Presidency without a
Southerner on the ticket since Roosevelt?"
Watch her start emphasizing that she's from Arkansas.
Regarding carrying Florida, maybe not if Bloomberg runs.
|1.10.08 @ 10:00AM|#
For those of you who are even remotely in a swing state (for
example, not NY, so I don't have to answer this question).
If it comes down to Hillary vs. McCain, who do you vote for?
(assuming you vote at all)
Hillary vs. Huckabee?
|1.10.08 @ 10:02AM|#
"Hillary is a liberal democrat and all her ideas are based on
the ideology of socialism/commumism/collectivism."
"And it is, of course, an absolute physical impossibiltiy for
anything based on that ideology to ever be anything other than an
abject failure."
But she will pretend to be a centrist in order to get elected.
|1.10.08 @ 10:04AM|#
"If it comes down to Hillary vs. McCain, who do you vote for?
(assuming you vote at all)"
"Hillary vs. Huckabee?"
For the Libertarian ticket.
jp|1.10.08 @ 10:04AM|#
For those of you who are even remotely in a swing state (for
example, not NY, so I don't have to answer this question).
If it comes down to Hillary vs. McCain, who do you vote for?
(assuming you vote at all)
Hillary vs. Huckabee?
For me, it will depend on which way it looks like Congress will go.
(I'm one of those gridlock people.)
Gilbert Martin|1.10.08 @ 10:06AM|#
"Watch her start emphasizing that she's from Arkansas."
Except that she isn't from Arkansas - she's actually from
Illinois.
|1.10.08 @ 10:07AM|#
"For me, it will depend on which way it looks like Congress will
go. (I'm one of those gridlock people.)"
If Hillary is the nominee, the Republicans will take over Congress.
They will show up in droves to keep Hillary out and vote a straight
Republican ticket most likely.
|1.10.08 @ 10:08AM|#
"Watch her start emphasizing that she's from Arkansas."
"Except that she isn't from Arkansas - she's actually from
Illinois."
I knew that.
|1.10.08 @ 10:10AM|#
Hillary v. McCain - McCain.
Hillary v. Huckabee - Hillary. Because I believe either of them
would be equally disasterous and I would want the Democratic party
to pay for their voluntary enslavement to the Clinton machine (and
I voted for the guy twice). Plus I'm kind of a hawk and I think
she'd be one crazeee mother of a CIC. Plus I would enjoy watching
certain types of peoples' heads explode when they saw that her
foreign policy was no more nuanced, no more sophisticated, no less
aggressive and no less inclined to shootin and bombin than Bush's.
Plus I would like to watch various Muslim heads of state try to
deal with her. Oh God, I'm beginning to talk myself into it.
Obama v. either Romney or Huckabee - Obama.
R C Dean|1.10.08 @ 10:10AM|#
I'm certainly no pro-Hillary shill, but is there anything
that the woman could do that would prove she has real
emotions?
She fails to cry: it's for political power
She cries: It's a stage act for political power
She rages: It's fake rage
She's demure: It's fake modesty
Good point, but given her long history of skillful media
manipulation and politically convenient shows of emotion, its
really hard to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I would say, however, that I would tend to believe that her
displays of anger come from the heart.
Plus, what Gilbert Martin said re "experience." I will grant that
Hillary was probably more involved in the backroom political
knifework of the Clinton administration that most first ladies, but
really, is that the kind of experience that you want to build a
Presidency on?
From The Keystrokes of John Q.|1.10.08 @ 10:27AM|#
Listening to Hillary Clinton talk about her professional
accomplishments is like listening to some music icon sing about
what a pain in the ass it is to be a rock star.
Dear Ken,
Since you stealing my thunder on this subject Im going to piggy
back and play one upsmanship:
Listening to Hillary Clinton talk about her profession
accomplishments is like taking advice from an unemployed
motivational speaker.
On the Dick Morris thing: Say what you will about him he was dead
on about Hillary in his Predictions. He predicted the Senator Run
was apart of a strategy toward running for President in 2008. He
also said she'd have a centrist record in the Senate. *Queue
twilight zone theme*
PS
I have always been apathetic to Hillary and I like Bill's
persona.
|1.10.08 @ 10:32AM|#
People who look at the Democratic field and single out Hillary
Clinton as a radical socialist are telling us a lot more about
themselves than about her.
But there are those who view John Edwards as being to right of this
former Wal Mart Board Members, merely because he is a male,
southern, and not involved in the political campaign that ended the
Reagan/Bush era.
|1.10.08 @ 10:33AM|#
Screw the South. The Democrats don't need the south
anymore.
The Republicans have become a regional party which owns the south
and can win few states elsewhere. Let 'em have it.
|1.10.08 @ 10:38AM|#
I am much more fearful of John Edwards than I am of Hilary. Fortunately he has little chance of winning, and *hopefully* won't be anyone's running mate.
Gilbert Martin|1.10.08 @ 10:38AM|#
"People who look at the Democratic field and single out Hillary
Clinton as a radical socialist are telling us a lot more about
themselves than about her."
Nobody is "singling her out" as a socialist - they're all
socialists. It just so happens that the subject of this thread is
Hillary and not Edwards or Obama.
|1.10.08 @ 10:43AM|#
Listening to Hillary Clinton talk about her profession
accomplishments is like taking advice from an unemployed
motivational speaker.
Has somebody been watching Little Miss Sunshine? :-)
|1.10.08 @ 11:13AM|#
The author doesn't like the way Hillary smiles, doesn't like the
way she cries, doesn't like that she plays to the camera, doesn't
like the way she uses empty buzzwords, doesn't like that she hasn't
been consistent in using her maiden name in professional life
...
Who cares? There are plenty of good reasons to hate Hillary, but
this column is about as substantive as a Dick Morris soundbite.
fyodor|1.10.08 @ 11:20AM|#
I'm tempted to say oh leave the old bat alone and that we should care more about her policies than her public persona(s). But then, it occurs to me that part of the problem of politics from a libertarian POV is the tendency of politicians to pander to the current trends and latest whims of the squeakiest wheel of an interest group of the moment rather than to stick to time tested principles of liberty and following the Constitution. So maybe there's a valid reason to focus on Hillary's willingness to change as it's fashionable and convenient. But don't overdo it or you're gonna make people feel sorry for her!!
|1.10.08 @ 11:22AM|#
Screw the South. The Democrats don't need the south
anymore.
That is just so inclusive and understanding of you, Joe.
The Republicans have become a regional party which owns the
south and can win few states elsewhere. Let 'em have it
http://www.opinionjournal.com/ecc/calculator.htm
You either have an odd definition of "The South" or "Few".
The county by county map shows even further that the Democrats are
merely a party of local special interests.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm
|1.10.08 @ 11:29AM|#
I agree with the Mayor - seems an awfully risky election
strategy and I don't expect the Democrats to use it, at least not
this year.
Yeah, I know - I'm a fucking illiterate twit. Plus I'm Southern for
demographic purposes.
|1.10.08 @ 11:35AM|#
She says she's been "running on 35 years of change."
It would seem a presidential cycle of Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush,
Bush, Clinton, Clinton is as far from change and as near to the
status quo as any other option out there.
|1.10.08 @ 11:36AM|#
"People who look at the Democratic field and single out
Hillary Clinton as a radical socialist are telling us a lot more
about themselves than about her."
So when Dick Morris calls her "...the closest thing we have to a
European Socialist" on that video I linked to above, what is he
telling us about himself?
From The Keystrokes of John Q.|1.10.08 @ 11:51AM|#
Has somebody been watching Little Miss Sunshine? :-)
Shane,
Have no idea what that is, but I'll watch it if it's reminiscent of
what I just said. I was going to mention that beat up line about an
one legged soccer player...
Steve Verdon|1.10.08 @ 11:58AM|#
Ayn Randian,
I don't think the claim is that she is emotionless, but that you
can't tell what her true emotions are since she and her husband use
so many gimmicks, including displays of emotion, to manipulate
their image. Was her crying fake or real? Beats me, but given how
political that whole family is, my initial hypothesis is fake and
for the sake of political gain.
People who look at the Democratic field and single out Hillary
Clinton as a radical socialist are telling us a lot more about
themselves than about her.
When you want to nationalize a huge segment of the U.S.
economy...what else do you call it?
|1.10.08 @ 11:59AM|#
Have no idea what that is, but I'll watch it if it's
reminiscent of what I just said.
It's actually a 1/2 way decent comedy. worth a rental.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_miss_sunshine
The reason i thought of it is that one of the characters actual is
an unemployed motivational speaker.
From The Keystrokes of John Q.|1.10.08 @ 12:11PM|#
Shane,
I just checked out the link! I saw previews for this a while back!
I'll definitely check it out now! Thank you for the
recommendation.
|1.10.08 @ 12:41PM|#
There's something mighty strange, well-nigh inexplicable in
fact, in how so many experienced pollsters could have been so
totally incompetent in their polling techniques as to have a
fifteen point spread between prediction and reality, and on
election eve no less.
I don't know what New Hampshire's voter ID and verification
requirements are for primaries, but there were huge numbers of
out-of-state cars (mainly Massachusetts) parked in the lots of
Clinton rallying places the day before.
Why is nobody even whispering the dreaded F-word?
|1.10.08 @ 12:52PM|#
I think the biggest difference between "cosmos" and "paleos" is that the former want "the State out of the way", while the latter want "the State of their backs", the latter will never sell, never has and never will, it comes off as too selfish and shortsighted.
Gilbert Martin|1.10.08 @ 1:17PM|#
"I don't know what New Hampshire's voter ID and verification
requirements are for primaries, but there were huge numbers of
out-of-state cars (mainly Massachusetts) parked in the lots of
Clinton rallying places the day before.
Why is nobody even whispering the dreaded F-word?"
I mentioned it yesteday on another thread. As I understand it, any
out of state resident can vote in the New Hampshire primary by
showing up and simply stating that they intend to move to New
Hampshire.
I also heard the stories about out of staters stacking Hillary's
rallies. I don't doubt that some of them were stacking the primary
vote as well.
|1.10.08 @ 2:45PM|#
" more of a petty despot than a true socialist"
These are not mutually exclusive.
-jcr
|1.10.08 @ 2:49PM|#
"If being first lady counts as "experience" for being president,
then every other first lady is just as qualified for it as she
is."
I'd take Jackie Kennedy over Hillary. And yes, I know she's
dead.
-jcr
|1.10.08 @ 3:22PM|#
john,
There were a lot of Massachusetts cars parked at Obama's big rally
on Saturday, too.
Given the size of the turnout, the difference between Hillary's
projected and actual vote totals is over 20,000.
Perhaps the reason the dreaded "F" word hasn't been uttered is
because it is wholly implausible.
|1.10.08 @ 3:23PM|#
I personally received a robo-call inviting me to Hillary's rally
on Saturday, and I live in Massachusetts.
Dark imaginings cam be a lot of fun, but Easy There Big Fella.
Paul|1.10.08 @ 4:21PM|#
So she's the "Madonna" of politics. Check.
I personally received a robo-call inviting me to Hillary's
rally on Saturday,
Joe,
That was no robo-call, it was Hillary.
Why is nobody even whispering the dreaded F-word?
John, they will when (if) they start losing.
douglas gray|1.10.08 @ 5:06PM|#
The sentiments involved in choosing a President have much in common with both the Grammy's and American Idol. There is some rationality in the process, but not an awful lot.
Big Cat Kahuna|1.10.08 @ 6:38PM|#
what would be good enough evidence that she actually HAS
emotions
I think I would be convinced if she abandoned politics and public
life for a time not less than 5 years, only returning reluctantly
for a single interview in which politics was strictly
avoided.
Yes. That would do it.
Edward|1.11.08 @ 12:42AM|#
Ron Paul has the racist vote locked up, but it wouldn't go for Hillary anyway. You think Dr. Paul--as the groupies like to call him--will get the nomination? For wacko of the year, I mean.
SuprKufr|1.14.08 @ 3:21PM|#
The Democratic party is the party of inclusiveness, healing,
coming together, looking past "us v. them", seeing nuances, and
finding common ground.
That is, unless you're from the South, in which case you can screw
yourself.
|1.16.08 @ 11:18PM|#
Time Magazine - Obama's Experience.
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008
Obama's Varied Record By AP/CHRISTOPHER WILLS (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.)
?
By some measures, Barack Obama has a thin record. He's a Senate
newcomer who has never worked in the White House, governed a state
or run a business. Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham
Clinton points to his resume as evidence that Obama is not ready
for the White House. "He was a part-time state senator for a few
years, and then he came to the Senate and immediately started
running for president," she says dismissively.
Obama's accomplishments are more substantial and varied than
Clinton suggests. And he has a longer record in elected office than
she does, as a second-term New York senator.
Obama was a community organizer and led a voter-registration effort
in Chicago that added tens of thousands of people to the rolls. He
was a civil rights attorney and taught at one of the nation's
premier universities. He helped pass complicated measures in the
Illinois legislature on the death penalty, racial profiling, health
care and more. In Washington, he has worked with Republicans on
nuclear proliferation, government waste and global warming,
amassing a record that speaks to a fast start while lacking the
heft of years of service.
The Illinois Democrat likes to quote something Bill Clinton once
said: "The truth is, you can have the right kind of experience and
the wrong kind of experience. Mine is rooted in the real lives of
real people, and it will bring real results if we have the courage
to change."
After college, Obama moved to Chicago for a low-paying job as a
community organizer. He worked with poor families on the South Side
to get improvements in public housing, particularly the removal of
asbestos. "Nobody else running for president has jumped off the
career track for three or four years to help people," said Jerry
Kellman, who first hired Obama as a community organizer. Obama also
fought for student summer jobs and a program to keep at-risk
children from dropping out of school. More importantly, say those
who worked with Obama, he showed people how to organize and
confront powerful interests. "He had to train residents to stand up
for their own rights," said former organizer Loretta
Augustine-Herron, who was part of Obama's Developing Communities
Project. Obama left that job to get a law degree. Afterward, he
returned to Chicago and ran Project VOTE. The organization
recruited hundreds of registrars to sign up new voters,
particularly within the city's black population. Registration
jumped nearly 15 points between the 1992 primary and the general
election. The registration wave was credited with making Carol
Moseley Braun the first black female senator and helping Bill
Clinton carry Illinois in his first presidential race.
It also got insiders talking about Obama as a political candidate.
Obama then spent several years focusing on the law, both as an
attorney at a small firm specializing in civil rights and as a
lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago. As an
attorney, he was on the team that successfully sued the state of
Illinois for failing to implement a federal voter-registration
law.
Obama also worked on case of a whistle-blower who lost her job
after exposing waste and corruption in a medical research project.
The whistle-blower ended up with a $5 million settlement. Obama was
elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, when Democrats were
in the minority. He proposed hundreds of new laws, including
universal health care, tougher gun control and expanded welfare,
but saw most of them spiked by Republican leadership. --And that's
just the first half of the article. -
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1704117,00.html
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