The Clinton Campaign: Running on Ambien

Just a year ago the hot question was: Is America ready for a black or female president? As the campaigns wear on, the question has shifted to: Can America survive the tedium of its black and female candidates?

Obama, for example, hasn't turned out to be any more challenging to white America than re-runs of the Cosby Show. He was slow to pick up on the Jena 6 case and never showed up at the rally - although, to be fair, neither did Clinton or Edwards. Like the others, he has refrained from noting that Giuliani, in addition to being a cell phone exhibitionist and a 9/11-abuser, presided over a New York City police department famed for its torture and killing of young black males.

But it's Hillary who's causing the citzenry's heads to pitch forward and collapse on their chests. Every time she opens her mouth, her flat, monotonic voice lays out yards of opaque white gauze, muffling any possibility of "discourse." Where does she stand? Over here, and a little to the side, and maybe a few steps to the right. Hers is known as the "flawless" campaign, but no one in it seems to be able to turn off the endlessly triangulating tape in her head.

Lately she's taken to emitting to sudden, inexplicable, bursts of deep laughter - known in the media as "the cackle." Whether this is a deliberate "humanizing" touch or a glitch in the computer program no one knows. According to the New York Times, the "weirdest moment" came in response to a question from Bob Schieffer about Republican charges that her health plan would lead to "socialized medicine." As the Times reports, "She giggled, giggled some more, could not seem to stop giggling -'Sorry, Bob,' she said - and finally unleashed the full Cackle."

Maybe she has a better sense of humor than I'd imagined, because the thought that her plan to turn health care over to the private insurance companies might be "socialist" has me rolling on the floor too.

I just wish I could work up the same degree of enthusiasm for Hillary as my friend Katha Pollitt, who recently told the Times: "If people don't stop saying incredibly sexist things about Hillary Clinton, I may just have to vote for her." But what are these incredibly sexist things? True, there was the whole faux "cleavage" issue, and the occasional whack-job who writes to enlighten me about Clinton's bisexuality or Chelsea's true daddy.

Then, in of all places - feminist Maureen Dowd's column on Sunday - I found a genuinely sexist comment about Hillary. Dowd apparently approvingly quotes Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, saying that Clinton is "like some hellish housewife who has seen something that she really, really wants and won't stop nagging you until finally you say, fine, take it, be the damn president, just leave me alone."

Now I'm all for having literary editors, poetry editors, and the like commenting on our political process, but the "nagging housewife" image is not only a sexist stereotype - it's about 50 years out of date, stemming from an era when most married women were financially dependent on their mates. Besides, male politicians are never likened to stereotypical husbands, even though some of them can be equally hard to dislodge from the recliner in front of the TV or, as the case may be, the Oval Office.

But the "hellish housewife" comment does not make Hillary a feminist martyr, nor does it make me any more willing to listen to her, either now or for the next five years. Trying to say nothing to offend, she ends up saying nothing to inspire or even inform, and Obama, though still far more engaged and human-like, risks ending up with another Ambien candidacy.

Part of the problem is structural. We make our presidential candidates campaign for at least a year at a stretch. Take a normal person and subject him or her to month after month of trail mix and chicken Caesars, sleep deprivation, and the need to be "on," smiling and handshaking, 16 hours a day. No solitary moments of reflection, no walks in the park, no escape into thrillers. What do you get after a few months of this? A golem, the artificial, man-like creature of Kabalistic lore, a personoid incapable of normal responses.

So yes, America is ready for a black or a female president. Just be sure to wake us up when it happens.

Comments

[LiberalBeliever]

I really don't care how or when Hillary laughs. I like her policies (especially those related to economic reform and government reform). I like that Hillary will eliminate 500,000 federal contractors and use the money to fund pre-Kindergarten for any 4 year old whose parents opt for it.
The combination of Hillary and Bill Clinton in the whitehouse in 2009 to clean up and fix the disruptions and destructions of Bush is exactly what our country needs.
I support and will vote for Hillary Clinton, as will most of the people in my very large family. I say "most" because there is one uncle who can't wrap his mind around having a female for President. He is 84.
Hillary is the best candidate running today, in either party and the Democrats are lucky to have her.

[OETKB]

The problem here is that everyone is right.

She is clearly politically calculating instead of exhibiting leadership qualities that shows she is capable of taking a reasoned stand. On the other hand, she does receive criticism that is uncalled for and this should not be tolerated. The most major question about her judgment and how she will approach solutions to our national problems.

Someone who supports war with Iraq without personally looking into intelligence detail is not a thinking posture. Someone who endorses a resolution making a portion of Iraq's military guard a terrorist group without any credible evidence is the same modus operandi that got us into Iraq in the first place.

Her health plan is a cost shift to the American taxpayer without any cost reduction overall and with same access and availability issues. She has accepted funds for her campaign from a number of overly influential groups that do not promote the general welfare.

She has no major legislation with her name on it and is just into her second term as senator. Her international experience is very limited. She does not, even though she says so, have the background to redress the damage of this present administration coming out of the box.

We do not need to denigrate her mannerisms, her dress, or her personal life to figure out there are real reasons to look at other candidates for president. It might even be more productive to spend our energy reassessing other candidates based on who we really want to run this country.

[JAMIE46]

Dear Barbara,
Right(left) on! Given all the restrictions of the current political scenario, and given (for me) that a Dem would be better than another elephant at least for the supreme court, Is there anyone you would like to see elected whom you think COULD be elected?
Thanks
Jamie Fine
Washington DC

[at8ax]

"Feminist Maureen Dowd"? More like "egoist."

[Inaru]

Give Obama some respect. As far back as Edwards' been in the polls, co-sponsored the Iraq War Resolution, defended it for 18 months, and now dares say Obama copied his sorry piecemeal poverty plan (exports the poor to suburbs without transportation/jobs), who's telling Edwards forget it, get out of the race, he's boring, he's not pro-black enough, not anti-war enough? Give me a break!

Last Wed. Hillary voted for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be designated as terrorists/open to military actions, along with DLC-Joe Lieberman, DLC-Sen. Feinstein, in opposition to non-DLC Sen. Barbara Boxer, and non-DLC Sen. Obama (see Barack Obama on Iran on YouTube, Clinton, Iowa September, opposes escalation of threats to Iran!). Now Tue. Hillary voted for Webb amendment that's now in limbo, limiting a war declaration to congressional approval. Bush/Cheney aren't planning a war, they're planning an attack, directly or by proxy!

Obama is "scripted", not "daring" enough, not "worthy" of the progressive vote? Whose progressive vote? The white majority will finish him if he's the only candidate to march for a black man who tried to beat the daylights out of a young white man. Is our sequel to the Rev. Martin Luther King's movement supposed to condone violence, however provoked? Look at the whuppins, bombings, murders, lynchings we took to get civil rights - peacefully, on our end! That's what made it work.

Obama is not on equal footing with Hillary. If he acts tough, he's not admired by white women, he's perceived as macho and threatening. If he is intellectual and compassionate, he's painted as a wimp and out of touch, not "black" enough.

Has Edwards been as vocal as or dedicated his career as Obama has to the issues of racism and injustice? Give Edwards hell for not marching in Jena, if you think he'll be the Second Black President after Bill Clinton (black incarceration of non-violent offenders went through the roof with the Clintons).

Check yourselves, we stand together or get annihilated one by one.

[MaxGowan]

My goodness, dear moderator. I see Hillary can be called a "bitch,'" but where are the posts that people are obviously responding to, on the issue of Ralph Nader and Ms. Ehrenreich's support of him? Did we miss some phantom post? What kind of standards do we have here? Or are Naderites allowed to censor here?

[phathalo]

It sounds like we shouldn't support either the black man Obama or the woman Hillary because they are not entertaining enough. The gist of this essay is soft predjudice. Why does she expect the black and the woman to be entertaining?

[Janelynne]

I cannot believe my eyes. My comment was censored from here. Well I will repeat it in spirit, and give everyone the benefit of the doubt: I am sick of the Hillary bashing industry. It's her voice, its her pantsuit, or it's her cackle, it's her hair, or it's her putting up with her husband. Hillary is the strongest American woman of our day. Would you rather take down Hillary than win the election? It can happen easier than you think.

[TankerRat]

If Hillary is the "strongest" woman in America today then count me OUT. She's devious, conniving, dangerous, and absolutely NO WAY in HELL would I support this woman if she was running for DOG CATCHER. She'll be the nominee. The Dem's are to DAMN STUPID to do otherwise. She'll get shellaced in the general then all you Hillary supporters will be whinning in your beer. You'll also have a BUSH CLONE for a POTUS and an on-going war in IRAQ. Not that that would change with Hillary who as already said that for all intents and purposes we'll still be there even if she was elected. Get a life Janelynne. Get a life.

[milo9]

Tanker, don't get it twisted, your boy george, through his incompetence and massive failure in governance, has created the opening by which she has become viable. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton(?). You think Dems welcome this development?
If you read below the comment line, Progressives are overwhelmingly opposed to Hillary but another 4 years of Republican misrule would likely destroy the Nation.
So ultimately Hillary is your baby too.

[GenericBlogger]

Barbara, are you Maureen Dowd in disguise?

[rmreddicks]

Glad to hear others felt the tinny, false note in Sen. Clinton's reply to Chris Wallace a while back. Shouldn't an improper affect ring some warning signs?

[author1]

Thank you for your article Barbara. I think you may have answered my question: What is it exactly about Hillary that I don't like, because I love Bill. I think it is that relentlesness in her personality. That feeling she seems to have of her political manifest destiny.

In the AFL-CIO debates something else also struck me about Hillary. When asked a question from the audience of union members, she seemed to completely ignore the questioner. In fact, she didn't even look at him or address him with a thank you as the other candidates did. And she didn't even answer the question. Rather, she was blindly focused on a previous answer she wanted to clarify.

So in addition to the previously mentioned characteristics I find off-putting about Hillary, add my feeling that she lacks empathy. Bill has that in spades. I think it's what fuels his current, very effective, humanitarian efforts and will, I believe, propel him into a Nobel Peace Prize.

Will I vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination ? Of course. One thing I think we can count on with Hillary is a presidency that doesn't bow to the religious right. To me that's crucial because their influence on politics in recent years scares the bejeezes out of me.

[connorin]

Here's a quick question...with the exception of the idea of Universal Healthcare and giving $5000 to every child born...what else does she actually intend to do if elected?

{BTW...how is she going to pay for the universal healthcare and the $5000 to every child born and keep social security afloat?}

[Zhonni]

I have said this before and I'll say it again, she is where she is because she is the wife of a former President.

She has never won a tough election/reelection but somehow, she takes "these people on all the time" and she knows how to beat them.

Biden,Richardson,Kucinnich,Dodd,Obama have more experience in elected office than Hillary. When it comes to Washington experience she beats Obama with 4yrs or so.

If Pelosi was running for President, she would be running on her own accomplishments and not that of someone else,obviously.

[duboisist]

Ms. Ehrenreich,

As is often the case, your analysis is brutally accurate, but I still support Sen. Clinton. When everything is taken into account, she offers the greatest chance of revitalizing our democracy in a way that will all us to pursue other progressive objectives.
She is just one person seeking one job. It is what the rest of us do ahd how much we participate that will decide how much overall improvement there will be.

[kingkhan]

Hillarious! And accurate. I'm an Obama fan, but I totally agree with you. Beneath the surface you can just sense Obama can be so much more, but the process has structural limitation on what a candidate can say or do. As for Hillary, I'm glad somebody pointed out the obvious: it's really hard to listen to her speak. After 8 miserable years of the broken record named W, I won't sign up for the broken record that is Hillary.

[coolkraft]

big phony...if you watch and listen to her she is shallow, boring, uninspiring, and calculating...she sure wont get our vote