The only thing more pathetic than a politician who rode into public office on her husband’s coattails….
… is a politician who cannot acknowledge, even to herself, that she rode into public office on her husband’s coattails.
UPDATE: This calls for a poll!!
Even with this she’d be better choice than a community organizer who rode in on Bill Ayers coat tails.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CzteDucRHo
The Shrillary at work!
I have to admit I have softened on Hilary. I used to think she was scary but I agree with Brian. She is kind of scary but I think she could handle the out and out loons better than O has. I don’t think the health care would be as bad. I don’t think Government Motors would be as bad and Cash for Clunkers would make more sense. Guy buys a car for 50 bucks and gets 4500 for it when you have no money?
OMMAG – Great sound bite! Please send a link of that to Obummer. You might make his hit list of descenters.
I still say she eats babies… next question.
If I were an citizen of the US, I would take Hillary over Obama anyday. The women isn’t stupid and to her credit she seems to have common sense going for her.
It’s very hard to form a fair opinion about someone once the media have turned them into a target. I think Hillary gets a raw deal. Females in politics get excoriated no matter what their qualities or foibles unless they’re Golda Meir. She would do better to let some of these things roll off her and develop a sense of humor but that doesn’t make her incompetent or silly. We’re so focused on inconsequentials. I would take Hillary over Obama any day of the year and I think in a couple of years, the Americans will agree that they made a drastically bad choice. What do you expect when politics becomes just another American Idol program?
rita nailed it !!
No disrespect intended Rita but Hillary once was the darling of the media. Owebama came on the scene and she was no longer the darling but she has never been the ‘target’ of the media. That position was reserved for Palin.
IMHO I think that comparing Hillary to Owebama is akin to comparing yellow beans to green beans. Hillary can more clearly define her position than Owebama but her position is still wrong!
Owebama can’t complete an intelligent sentence without the backroom boys feeding him the words through the teleprompters but his position is just as wrong as Hillary’s.
I have never been a fan of the POTUS selection process and I can only think of one modern day president that I believe put the country ahead of his own interests. Harry Truman.
I don’t disagree, Joe. When Bill was acting up, Hillary, as the loyal, stand-by-your-man helpmate, was stacking up sympathy credits. It’s only when she decided she wanted her own shot, that the media began redefining her as the harridan, the one who was going to push her way to undeserved power because of her association with Bill etc. etc. I know that men get some mileage and also demerits based on their spouses, but are they so closely identified with their families as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin? Male politicians benefit from having a spouse that is considered somewhat “lesser” (less in the public eye, less ambitious, willing to be subservient to his ambitions) but it’s a tough switch when roles are reversed. (Dennis Thatcher anyone?) Why can’t a woman go after power with as much hunger, naked ambition and gusto as a man? A realistic stab at power requires all sorts of alliances, networking and playing all your cards to advantage–yet we tend to sneer at women who do this while congratulating and rewarding men who know how to play “the game”. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were excoriated in seemingly different ways–one was attacked for being stupid and sexy and the other for being too ambitious and bitchy, but the motives were similar. I believe there is still a large segment of the population, somewhat (and surprisingly) over-represented in the media, who believe that women really don’t belong in the halls of power. No matter how women play it, if they go for top spot, they’ll be attacked as bitches or bimbos, whichever is the most likely to get mileage.
Sorry Rita but I don’t buy the feminist line. Hillary was the media darling from the time she left the white house until mid way through the presidential nomination process. She could do no wrong despite the numerous scandals and dead bodies lying in Bill and Hillary’s wake.
I do agree with you that Hillary exhibits naked ambition and just like men who display the same, naked aggression/lack of plan, she was pushed off the stage.
In a lot of ways she reminds me of Jack Layton with his ‘answer for everything’ way of attracting attention. The national leader must have that quiet self assurance in that they don’t have to be front and centre on everything.
Margret Thatcher had that ability to ‘let others’ as did Golda Meir, Hillary does not as is best exemplified by the petulance shown in this bit of video.
Could you imagine how long Michael Ignatieff would be leader of the Liberal party if he came out with a snark like Hillary’s? How many votes would PM Harper get next time if he did what Hillary just did?
Its not the ambition but how the ambition manifests itself that makes or breaks the politician.
No, Kate, you are wrong in this case. Hillary was one of the US top 100 lawyers in her own right, and she is eminently qualified to do what she does, with or without her husband. Here is an example of a woman who is riding on her (dead) husband’s coattails…. continue reading and you’ll find that she has made it a second career….
Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on January 5, 1998. Mary then began using the name Bono and won the Republican nomination for the special election to succeed him. She then won in the special election April 7, 1998. She won a full term in November and has been re-elected since. As of 2007, Bono was one of five representatives to be elected to their seats following the deaths of their husbands, along with Lindy Boggs (D-LA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Lois Capps (D-CA), and Doris Matsui (D-CA).
On December 15, 2007, Mary married Congressman Connie Mack IV from Florida in Asheville, North Carolina.[2] She has a son, Chesare Elan Bono (born 1988), and a daughter, Chianna Maria Bono (born 1991) from her marriage to Sonny Bono. She has four stepchildren, Christy, Chaz, Addison and Connie. In addition to spending time with her family, Mary enjoys a wide range of interests including music and outdoor activities such as hiking and camping. In the April edition of “Golf for Women” magazine, she was listed as “one of the 50 most powerful women who play [golf].[3]
I guess one could ask who was riding who’s coat tails as between Bill and Hill. I suspect they both benefitted from each other’s strengths – a partnership with synergy. Just because he was the public face in the first half of the game does not mean she did not contribute behind the scenes. They are both obviously intelligent, capable and ambitious people. Could Bill have made it as far as he did without Hill? Why should she not share the rewards?
Joe, I take your point. The ability to handle annoyances with grace and humor is vital for someone in the public eye. To be peevish is not the hallmark of a leader.
Hillary’s campaign did go sour after what seemed to be a promising start. But comments such as, “there’s just something about her that feels castrating, overbearing and scary”, and “the woman with the testicle lock box” and “will this country want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?” strike me as misogynistic. I can’t recall anything equivalent said about any of the front-running male candidates. Now, of course men were subjected to nasty comments and dirty tricks. McCain was old, Obama was superficial and glib, but these criticisms weren’t obviously linked to their gender.
I hope that I would not adopt a “line” without some examination. I made the mistake once of hiring a lawyer because she was female and I believed that being part of an “oppressed group” automatically conferred some cachet of superiority. After paying out a lot of money because of her incompetence I realized that a bad lawyer is a bad lawyer regardless of gender. Likewise for politicians or any group. But I think it doesn’t hurt to examine how women who aspire to the higher ranks of power are treated in the media and how public opinion can be influenced by such images as “hag”, “nag” “castrating”, “strident”, etc. etc.
I believe that there are gender specific insults but insults are part of being in public office. The insult is meant to hurt so the more hurtful the insult the more effective it is. However the point remains that both genders are insulted in as hurtful a way is possible.
What most disturbs me about politics is the constant thrusting oneself forward of politicians. I think this is one of the reasons I most respect PM Harper. He was pressed into running instead of pushing himself into the office. It is also why I most despise Hillary. She is pushing herself into office rather than being sought out by others.