Post by bounce on Feb 9, 2006 8:47:45 GMT -8
I'm not sure where this came from exactly.
I got it in an e-mail
Anger Management
Hillary tries yet another look.
George Stephanopoulos handed Ken Mehlman a piece of cake on his Sunday
morning program, and the chairman of the National Republican Committee
took a big bite. He was asked whether he thought Hillary Clinton would be
the Republican's "dream candidate" or the one they most dread. Mehlman
had the right answer at the ready. He called the junior senator from New
York "angry" saying, "I don't think the American people, if you look
historically, elect angry candidates." How very skillful of this most
successful campaign manager, giving such potent ammunition to Hillary's
opponents in her own party. At the same time, he seems to have stopped
the senator's latest public incarnation as "Hillary The Scold" dead in
its tracks. By Monday, the press was already asking if she was "angry" at
the president's budget. The "angry" rap will certainly dog her trail for
the next few months, and possibly all the way to 2008.
In truth, Hillary has seemed in a bit of a snit lately. On Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, she let loose with that unnecessarily nasty "plantation"
crack during what seemed like a rare unscripted moment. Maybe she was
annoyed that one time Hillary-admirer Molly Ivins has been writing
columns with declarations such as, "I'd like to make it clear to the
people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary
Clinton for president." Or maybe she was irritated by that CNN Gallup
poll which showed that anti-Hillary voters outnumber pro-Hillary voters
three to one. Whatever it is, it seems to be getting to her.
It's not as if Hillary's doing much to help herself. At the State of the
Union address, while most of the other women in the House were looking
bright in red, cream, or purple, Hillary, in mouse beige, looked
downright drab and sour â?" except for her flashy new lipstick, which
only emphasized her pout. She couldn't even crack a smile when the
president called her husband, a fellow Baby Boomer, one of his father's
favorite people. Mehlman is right; Americans like candidates who can at
least get a joke.
Of course, Hillary has had some identity problems lately, pretending to
be an even-tempered centrist even while voting against Roberts and Alito
and trying not to take a position on the war. Although, perhaps this is
beside the point. Hillary, like Bill, is interesting more for her style
than her substance. In fact, with Bill the style is the substance;
Hillary, however, has always tried to use her style to hide her glacial
substance. At the moment, it seems she isn't quite sure what style will
best do the trick on her Road to the White House.
Even after all these years, this is a woman who is always experimenting
with the way she arranges herself for public viewing. It is partly about
the way she looks and dresses. Don't forget that, when she was First
Lady, Hillary used to change the way she did her hair every 20 minutes or
so. A new look for every presidential crisis, major or minor. Remember
the hair band, the flip, the long-gone shoulder-sweeping curls? But ever
since being elected senator from New York, she has stuck to her policy
wonk "competency look" â?" dark pants suits, sweaters tied around her
shoulders, chunky chokers, and sensible hair (sort of the look New York
women lawyers were into about six years ago, around the time she was
running for senator). But nobody much dresses like that anymore, and it
makes her look dowdy even to her fanatical devotees in Manhattan â?" not
to mention that nobody in the rest of the country ever dressed like that
anyway. It makes her look like one of the defense attorneys in a
corporate scandal trial. Not a good idea.
Yes â?" I know, I know â?" it's unfair that women are judged on the way
they get it together more than men are. But, like it or lump it, that is
just the way it is â?" as much as ever in this video age. And please
understand, I am not just talking clothes here, but rather about persona.
The real trouble is that Hillary is a star politician without a star
personality. She is missing the warmth, the humor, the innate
likeability. What she would like to sell, I'm sure, is what she and her
loyalists believe: that she is simply the smartest woman in the world,
and we are lucky to have her. But smugness, unfortunately for her, is not
that appealing â?" and she doesn't need Ken Mehlman to tell her that. In
2000 the Lewinsky scandal gave her some emotional vibrancy, making her
seem selfless and loyal and self-sacrificing. But for 2008 she needs some
emotions of her own, besides fierce ambition and righteous indignation.
With her anger proving problematic â?" Hey, Hillary, what's next?
â?" Myrna Blyth, former long-time editor of Ladies' Home Journal and
founding editor of More, is author of Spin Sisters: How the Women of the
Media Sell Unhappiness â?" and Liberalism â?" to the Women of America.
Blyth is also an NRO contributor.
I got it in an e-mail
Anger Management
Hillary tries yet another look.
George Stephanopoulos handed Ken Mehlman a piece of cake on his Sunday
morning program, and the chairman of the National Republican Committee
took a big bite. He was asked whether he thought Hillary Clinton would be
the Republican's "dream candidate" or the one they most dread. Mehlman
had the right answer at the ready. He called the junior senator from New
York "angry" saying, "I don't think the American people, if you look
historically, elect angry candidates." How very skillful of this most
successful campaign manager, giving such potent ammunition to Hillary's
opponents in her own party. At the same time, he seems to have stopped
the senator's latest public incarnation as "Hillary The Scold" dead in
its tracks. By Monday, the press was already asking if she was "angry" at
the president's budget. The "angry" rap will certainly dog her trail for
the next few months, and possibly all the way to 2008.
In truth, Hillary has seemed in a bit of a snit lately. On Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, she let loose with that unnecessarily nasty "plantation"
crack during what seemed like a rare unscripted moment. Maybe she was
annoyed that one time Hillary-admirer Molly Ivins has been writing
columns with declarations such as, "I'd like to make it clear to the
people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary
Clinton for president." Or maybe she was irritated by that CNN Gallup
poll which showed that anti-Hillary voters outnumber pro-Hillary voters
three to one. Whatever it is, it seems to be getting to her.
It's not as if Hillary's doing much to help herself. At the State of the
Union address, while most of the other women in the House were looking
bright in red, cream, or purple, Hillary, in mouse beige, looked
downright drab and sour â?" except for her flashy new lipstick, which
only emphasized her pout. She couldn't even crack a smile when the
president called her husband, a fellow Baby Boomer, one of his father's
favorite people. Mehlman is right; Americans like candidates who can at
least get a joke.
Of course, Hillary has had some identity problems lately, pretending to
be an even-tempered centrist even while voting against Roberts and Alito
and trying not to take a position on the war. Although, perhaps this is
beside the point. Hillary, like Bill, is interesting more for her style
than her substance. In fact, with Bill the style is the substance;
Hillary, however, has always tried to use her style to hide her glacial
substance. At the moment, it seems she isn't quite sure what style will
best do the trick on her Road to the White House.
Even after all these years, this is a woman who is always experimenting
with the way she arranges herself for public viewing. It is partly about
the way she looks and dresses. Don't forget that, when she was First
Lady, Hillary used to change the way she did her hair every 20 minutes or
so. A new look for every presidential crisis, major or minor. Remember
the hair band, the flip, the long-gone shoulder-sweeping curls? But ever
since being elected senator from New York, she has stuck to her policy
wonk "competency look" â?" dark pants suits, sweaters tied around her
shoulders, chunky chokers, and sensible hair (sort of the look New York
women lawyers were into about six years ago, around the time she was
running for senator). But nobody much dresses like that anymore, and it
makes her look dowdy even to her fanatical devotees in Manhattan â?" not
to mention that nobody in the rest of the country ever dressed like that
anyway. It makes her look like one of the defense attorneys in a
corporate scandal trial. Not a good idea.
Yes â?" I know, I know â?" it's unfair that women are judged on the way
they get it together more than men are. But, like it or lump it, that is
just the way it is â?" as much as ever in this video age. And please
understand, I am not just talking clothes here, but rather about persona.
The real trouble is that Hillary is a star politician without a star
personality. She is missing the warmth, the humor, the innate
likeability. What she would like to sell, I'm sure, is what she and her
loyalists believe: that she is simply the smartest woman in the world,
and we are lucky to have her. But smugness, unfortunately for her, is not
that appealing â?" and she doesn't need Ken Mehlman to tell her that. In
2000 the Lewinsky scandal gave her some emotional vibrancy, making her
seem selfless and loyal and self-sacrificing. But for 2008 she needs some
emotions of her own, besides fierce ambition and righteous indignation.
With her anger proving problematic â?" Hey, Hillary, what's next?
â?" Myrna Blyth, former long-time editor of Ladies' Home Journal and
founding editor of More, is author of Spin Sisters: How the Women of the
Media Sell Unhappiness â?" and Liberalism â?" to the Women of America.
Blyth is also an NRO contributor.