As a possible first Madame President, Hillary is a flawed science experiment because you can’t take Bill out of the equation. Her story is wrapped up in her marriage, and her marriage is wrapped up in a series of unappetizing compromises, arrangements and dependencies.
Instead of carving out a separate identity for herself, she has become more entwined with Bill. She is running bolstered by his record and his muscle. She touts her experience as first lady, even though her judgment during those years on issue after issue was poor. She says she’s learned from her mistakes, but that’s not a compelling pitch.
As a senator, she was not a leading voice on important issues, and her Iraq vote was about her political viability.
She told New York magazine’s John Heilemann that before Iowa taught her that she had to show her soft side, “I really believed I had to prove in this race from the very beginning that a woman could be president and a woman could be commander in chief. I thought that was my primary mission.”
Hillary, however, is no fool. She does have what it takes to run the country, and seems to be no more corrupt than anyone else. Sure she plays the gender card, but some of her opponents are still playing the gender card against her.
Many women I talk to, even those who aren’t particularly fond of Hillary, feel empathy for her, knowing that any woman in a world dominated by men has to walk a tightrope between femininity and masculinity, strength and vulnerability.
They see double standards they hate — when male reporters described Hillary’s laugh as “a cackle” or her voice as “grating,” when Rush Limbaugh goes off on her wrinkles or when male pundits seem gleeful to write her political obituary. Several women I know, who argue with their husbands about Hillary, refer with a shudder to the “Kill the Witch” syndrome.
In a webcast, prestidigitator Penn Jillette talks about a joke he has begun telling in his show. He thinks the thunderous reaction it gets from audiences shows that Hillary no longer has a shot.
The joke goes: “Obama is just creaming Hillary. You know, all these primaries, you know. And Hillary says it’s not fair, because they’re being held in February, and February is Black History Month. And unfortunately for Hillary, there’s no White Bitch Month.”
Of course, jokes like that — even Jillette admits it’s offensive — are exactly what may give Hillary a shot. When the usually invulnerable Hillary seems vulnerable, many women, even ones who don’t want her to win, cringe at the idea of seeing her publicly humiliated — again.
And just because she's so closely tied to Bill shouldn't disqualify her. Americans have a distaste for dynasties ... but why elect George Bush? Why not vote the Kennedys out of their various House and Senate seats? If political talent and leadership ability cluster in families, that per se is not a bad thing.
Jake Tapper has an article on his ABC News blog detailing how one Black superdelegate feels that Hillary has been wrongly playing the race card.
As Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, was telling the New York Times that despite having endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, he will cast his superdelegate vote for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, we were talking to a neutral superdelegate who had an interesting take on it all.
The highest-ranking African-American in Congress told us for our Good Morning America report this morning that the racially-tinged way in which critics charge the Clintons conducted their campaign in South Carolina is driving black superdelegates into Obama's arms.
"The surge -- if I may use that word -- occurred in direct correlation to the way that campaign had been ratcheted up," said Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-SC, the House Majority Whip who has not endorsed a candidate. "Those of us who live in the South especially, we know the code words when we hear them and we understand the tone. People felt some of that was going on and they reacted to it in a very bitter way."
Clyburn said that he had heard from many black lawmakers who thought the Clintons played the race card. Clyburn said of particular offense were former President Bill Clinton's comparison of Obama with Rev. Jesse Jackson. "It was an attempt to isolate the ethnicity of the candidate," Clyburn said.
On Capitol Hill, the lobbying from both campaigns has taken on an emotional and dramatic air. "I've seen a superdelegate driven to tears over this," Clyburn said. "It's a very emotional thing. People who have been waiting for years to vote for a woman or a black find themselves conflicted having to make a choice between the two at one time. That's very, very tough, especially on African American women."
What do you think?
I don't know what I think. Barack's campaign took far too long to respond to the reasonable requests of 80-20 PAC, an Asian-American political action campaign. In fact, it seemed that he finally responded only when he was behind Hillary.
I in fact would prefer Barack to Hillary. But, as I've previously said, I trust no politician.
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