I do not like the people with whom Hillary Clinton has surrounded herself. It's like 1992 all over again. We do not need that. Mark Penn makes my skin crawl.
The fact that she "found her voice" in New Hampshire - excuse me while I vomit - is, well, stupid. If she hadn't found her voice before NH, then there's something wrong with her.
I don't think it's a good sign that my first thought when I saw her "emotional moment" before the NH primary was, "Well, they must have planted the woman who asked her that question and the whole thing was staged." I mean, seriously - I am a woman, a feminist, but this is what Clinton does to me.
And don't even get me started on Gloria Steinem's Op/Ed in the NYTs that was essentially a "you are either with us or against us!" rant about women supporting Obama over Clinton. That really pissed me off. You are wrong, Steinem - so wrong. This isn't about the hegemonic order giving a black man a pass and more hard luck credit over a woman. Yes, I would love to have a woman as president, but I do not think Hillary Clinton is the right PERSON to be president.
And Maurenn Dowd, who I am not usually a fan of, hit the nail on the head in her Op/Ed:
There was a poignancy about the moment, seeing Hillary crack with exhaustion from decades of yearning to be the principal rather than the plus-one. But there was a whiff of Nixonian self-pity about her choking up. What was moving her so deeply was her recognition that the country was failing to grasp how much it needs her. In a weirdly narcissistic way, she was crying for us. But it was grimly typical of her that what finally made her break down was the prospect of losing.
Bill's fairy tale crack was really uncalled for - and Hillary's quip, “I just don’t want to see us fall backwards,” was so out of line - I really wanted to smack both of them. If any of the Dem candidates will make us fall backwards - Hillary's the one to do it. The negativity that poured from her campaign in NH was appalling, and yet typical of a Clinton approach at the same time. It's like they threw everything they could at Obama and hoped some of it would stick. Apparently, some of it worked with people. I'm guessing women over 45 who didn't like to see their contemporary "attacked" (insert gag emoticon here). I don't know how many of you saw the 30 Rock episode from earlier in the season that featured James Carville - but the running joke was that he taught people how to do things "Cajun Style" - a sort of "The End Justifies the Means" approach. Well, that's what the Clinton campaign is doing and I think it's a mistake.
If Hillary Clinton truly wants to help the people of the United States, she'll stop thinking of herself first and foremost - her narcissistic element - and Bill will stop thinking all of this is a personal referendum on him. Their egos are huge - and I know you have to have a pretty big ego to go for POTUS - but that type of behavior will never get my vote, and I know many many others who feel the same way. As I've told my family and friends over and over again, If H, Clinton is the Dem nominee, I will have to bring a bucket with me into the voting booth - but I don't know at this point if I can truly stomach voting for her. Oh, and if she thinks she'll get the same kind of youth and independent turnout that Obama is receiving, she is DREAMING. Yet another reason why she is NOT the person for the nomination.
Oh, and just as an aside, the running joke in our house for the past few weeks has been "Cajun Style" and every time M or I say it, O says, "No no, I don't like cajun style!" So HC wouldn't get the 3-5 year-old vote, either.
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