Metanarratives and Hillary's Honesty Gap

Do you want to know how McCain beats Hillary in November? In short, the same way George Bush beat Al Gore (minus the Supreme Court coup). As Rolling Stone explained in 2001 :

Last year, a review conducted by two nonpartisan groups, Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Research Center, found that a stunning seventy-six percent of the Gore campaign coverage in early 2000 centered around two negative themes: that he lies and exaggerates, and that he's tarred by scandal. "We call it the metanarrative," says Tom Rosenstiel, director of Project for Excellence in Journalism. "Journalists are looking for a story line, a narrative device, that plays out over weeks and months, and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is if they let the narrative overwhelm the facts, then it becomes a distorting lens. It can lead journalists to ignore and mischaracterize facts as they try to fit them into the story."

For those whose memories of Bush are cloudy pre-9/11 or forget how much the press despised Al Gore prior to his public resurrection as a party elder and environmental evangelist, Google the words "invented the internet" to get an idea of how the zombie lies of media narratives refuse to die. All it takes is a few quotes out of context and a few dashes of hyperbole to turn someone into a "serial fibber" with a "Pinocchio problem".

It's pretty clear that this is the same sort of tactic that would be used to defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall if she were to become the Democratic nominee. Over the past week, she's been contradicted on a number of claims that she uses to bolster her "experience" over her rival. The first being her Ohio primary-motivated insistence that she opposed NAFTA, which Jake Tapper has been debunking at length :

I have now talked to three former Clinton Administration officials whom I trust who tell me that then-First Lady Hillary Clinton opposed the idea of introducing NAFTA before health care, but expressed no reservations in public or private about the substance of NAFTA.

Yet the Clinton campaign continues to propagate this myth that she fought NAFTA tooth and nail because she opposed the substance of the bill.The campaign claims over and over that she did not support NAFTA. That may be emotionally and intellectually true -- but actions speak louder than misgivings.

For the Clinton campaign, we're not supposed to pay attention to what she did (which, according to her recently released schedules, included a handful of pro-NAFTA meetings) but what she said about NAFTA (but only privately, at least, until it was politically convenient).

The even bigger, and more embarrassing, fib is Clinton's fictional account of her dangerous flight into Tuzla, Boznia which is becoming her campaign-killing YouTube moment. (via nitpicker)

Clinton's foreign policy credentials have also been questioned recently in regards to her role (or lack therof) in the Northern Ireland peace process :

Mrs Clinton's version of events has been challenged by Peter King, an Ulster Unionist Party negotiator at the Good Friday talks in 1998, who said: "Hillary Clinton was totally invisible at the actual negotiations.

"As far as I am concerned, Mrs Clinton was as relevant to peace in Northern Ireland as Tony Blair's wife or the ex-wife of Bertie Ahern [the Irish prime minister]."

Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party in 1998, told The Daily Telegraph last week that Mrs Clinton's claims were a "wee bit silly".

This month, Terry McAuliffe, Mrs Clinton's campaign chairman, told CNN: "We would not have peace today had it not for Hillary's hard work in Northern Ireland."

Both Unionist and Nationalist negotiators told this newspaper that while Mrs Clinton's work with women's groups was positive her overall role was peripheral and she played no part in the gruelling negotiations that took years.

These incidents taken individually wouldn't necessarily be enough to derail a campaign, but how they play into the "metanarrative" speaks volumes about how her campaign might fare in the fall. For Gore in 2000, mentioning "Love Canal" and "invented the internet" were all it took to remind voters of the media storyline that Gore was a serial exaggerator. In the months between now and the general election, it's hard to imagine that the same wouldn't happen to Hillary Clinton, with scattered references to "Northern Ireland", "NAFTA", and "Tuzla" making their way into unrelated campaign coverage and subtly undermining her campaign.

In fact, that narrative is already being shaped to a lesser extent as the Obama campaign capitalizes on recent polls showing that a majority of Americans don't believe that Clinton is trustworthy :

This honesty gap that separates Clinton from her two opponents will ultimately end her campaign, either in the primary or general elections. Whether or not any subsequent claims about Clinton are valid would be irrelevant (as Gore could attest) as long as they play into the preconceived notions that people have about the candidate. With a public that already distrusts her, getting frequently caught misspeaking (to use the Clinton campaign's preferred euphemism) only reinforces the media narrative that Hillary Clinton is a liar who will say anything it takes to become president.

Comments

[SamThornton]

Senator Clinton isn't lying. She's creating her own reality. And she's doing it so quickly that by the time one reality has been knocked down, she's created ten more. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

All Power To The Hypno-Toad! http://tinyurl.com/3926p2

[Abie56]

Hillary gave an interview in Pittsburgh

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_558930.html

Have a look at Hillary's explanation on Tuzla:

On saying last week that she landed under sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia in 1996, when she was first lady:

"I was sleep-deprived, and I misspoke."

I guess she was also sleep deprived in Waco, Texas on February 29 when she gace the same speech.

[Oregonobama]

Guess it's all those 3 am phone calls that keep her awake.

[Abie56]

Yep;)

[BuckarooBanzai]

Forget the fancy meta-narratives, they will nail her on national security. Her Iraq votes make her look weak to both sides. She has nothing to say on the subject. They will walk all over her.

[vsign]

Hillary is red, white and blue. Obama can be painted as green and yellow.

[rjcrane]

The latest Hillary gaffe about avoiding sniper fire in Bosnia is much much worse than anything Al Gore correctly stated about his role in aiding the development of the internet. The Hillary comments are obviously false. Al Gore's statements were terribly distorted and mis-stated by the media including the so-called liberal media in order to paint Gore as a serial liar believing most Americans would buy this narrative instead of fact-checking the record of what Gore actually said.

In either case the point is well made that Hillary's deliberate inflating of her record will be used against her but whether this would prove fatal against an insane and senile McCain is not certain.

RJ Crane, topplebush.com

[NORKAY]

AS USUSAL, THE MEDIA IS NIT PICKING, MANY TIMES, MEMORY PLAYS TRICK WITH PEOPLE, WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT LANDING UNDER NO FIRE AT YOU??? AS FOR NAFTA, DID YOU EVER REFER TO DAVID GERGEN , WHO IS UNBIASED AND WAS THERE , CHARLIE , AND HE CLAIMS THAT HILLARY VOICED HER PROTEST ABOUT THE NAFTA SITUATION. IT IS ONLY ONE SIDED AND WHO IS JAKE TAPER ANYWAY, JUST ANOTHER "HERRING MAVEN" .????

[CBS]

Typing in all caps is not only annoying it diminishes any point you are trying to emphasize. In the cyber world it is referred to as "shouting.­"

[Abie56]

Memory lapses??? Apparently she chronically sufers from them when it comes to that eventful day in Tuzla. She told the same Whopper on February 29 In Waco, Texas.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/25/105346/318/335/483775

David Gergen and the "Good Soldier" defense? Hehehe....­She's on the record (on many separate occasions) supporting it. Full Stop.

[fcadmus]

It doesn't matter if you find it trivial or nit picking. What matters is if it takes hold as a narrative as it did against Al Gore in 2000. You could argue that the "Love Canal" and "father of the internet" story lines were nit picking...­you can dismiss it as time playing tricks with one's memory...b­ut that is irrelevant. All that matters is what the media says and its consumers accept. The media could portray (1) McCain's senior moments as the onset of dementia, or they can (2) continue with the ridiculous patriotism questions about Obama, or that (3) Hillary is a resume padding liar who will say anything to get elected. Rather than cling to Gergen's NAFTA reflections, do your homework about Hillary taking credit for SCHIP, the Family Leave Act, peace in Northern Ireland, etc. Sleep deprived "misspoke" cannot explain away everything­...especia­lly when Terry McCauliffe is doing the "misspoke.­"

[Nancyann]

HILLARY CLINTON IS A HOPELESS CONGENITAL LIAR......

[kato1]

A memory lapse is thinking something happened on a Tuesday when it really happened on a Thursday - that's a mis-statement. Hillary remembers details of an event that never happened - she simply made it all up and that isn't mis-statement, that's lying. It's also part of an ongoing pattern of lies and distortion from the Clinton campaign, always over-inflating her involvement in anything, always over-estimating her importance. We already have a president who is a serial liar, we don't need another.

Time to face the facts - she doesn't seem to be much in touch with them. This is also a fact, she wouldn't be where she is if it were not for Bill. She's accomplished very little and the experience she is so proud of touting is just another Hillary fabrication.

[PrdAmerican]

Oh, god, I can see it now.... I kept my head down as SNIPERS fired away, running to my car (image HIllary kissing little Girl, recieving flowers)..­..I was shot down over Vietnam and held in the Hanoi Hilton for five years where I was tortured..­..(image of John McCain's arrival back on US Soil)....

Hillary just sniped herself.

[AxelDC]

What's stunning about the Tuzla narrative is how politically foolish she was. Here she is presented with a question that undermines the veracity of her story, as told by her companion on the trip. She dismisses the eyewitness account as he is a "comedian". She then weaves this elaborate tale that is compelling and believable, until you see that the truth was so much different. The result is that she comes across as a very imaginative liar unable to recant previous lies, and bound to dig herself deeper and deeper instead of limiting the damage. This trivial but telling incident may finally bring down her already diminished campaign.

[ballewb]

Question the news media.

The reason Gore is thought to be a liar is because the press did not research and counter the falsehoods reported by right leaning publications. Instead, large media repeated niche media misquotes until most people thought it to be fact.

Gore did not claim to invent the internet. He claimed, truthfully, that he was instrumental in advocating in Congress for the technology that later became the internet. Vinton Cerf, often called "the father of the Internet," has stated publicly that this is so. Look it up for yourself. Don't take my word for it.

Gore did not claim to have uncovered Love Canal, but to have found it for himself in his search for toxic sights similar to the one inhis home state. This occurred when Gore spoke at Concord High School in New Hampshire on November 30th, 1999, saying, "I looked around the country for other sites like that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. I had the first hearing on that issue - and Toone, Tennessee, that was the one that you didn't hear of. But that was the one that started it all."Look it up for yourself. Don't take my word for it.

Question the news media.

[Opus007]

Good post. I agree totally. And you have to question a lot of the "facts" put forth in these posts. All it takes is a few clicks. People that are outright lying on this forum to further their own agenda - should be called out on it. There are a lot of Republican trolls out there so you have to really be careful not to take the bait.

[doodlefarbe]

I think this is the quote you're looking for. It would have been much better for Vice President Gore if he HAD expressed himself in your words ("He claimed, truthfully, that he was instrumental in advocating in Congress for the technology that later became the internet"), but unfortunately, these are what he said: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet". Problem is, his actual words make him sound like a braggart. Same problem with Love Canal - - "I looked around ..." and, "I found a little place... called Love Canal" and, " I had the first hearing " and, "...was the one that started it all".

[Abie56]

Great contrast. Al Gore could have arguably claimed he "misspoke," or he was misquoted, But Hillary's snipers are a fiction. DailyKos has just put up another video from February 29 in Waco, Texas.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/25/105346/318/335/483775

Chronic problem, not a one off.

[bvb720]

Hillary Clinton makes up things to suit the atmosphere. She is no less the liar than her husband Bill Clinton on his testimony on Monica Lewinsky.

If this is part of her 35 years of experience. God Bless us all. She is not going to make it to the nomination nor the Presidency. I say great. We don't want Clintons or Bush people in the White House again.

[Gordon]

Dayton Accords were signed in Nov. 1995. In March 1996, Tuzla was not the war zone it had been previously. Hell, the war had been over for several months and hostilities had subsided. Maybe HRC meant she had played a major role in negotiating the Dayton Accords when she misspoke. This whole "35 years of experience" is based on lies and exaggeration.

[IRIE]

I do not know if the Clinton's are able to differentiate the truth from fiction. I guess it depends on what Is ...is

[Opus007]

I guess it depends on what Is ...is

That just about says it all. Lies, exaggerations and doublespeak.

[babar77]

To the Author: I believe the word that will phrase the meta-narrative is "snipers."

[kunzarina]

Obama's metanarrative has numbed the public to reality. He rails about Hillary's 2007 tax returns (available APril 15) when dozens of years Clinton returns are public. He won't release past returns.

He is ahead in the popular vote but among DEMOCRATS -- the party members this primary season is supposed to find a candidate to represent -- he lags by a million behind HIllary. Spin it as "reaching out" but he has campaigned to be a Democrat for a Day. Hardly a party faithful. The zeitgeist reverberates with protests about how Hillary "doesn't care about the party." She is ahead by a million votes among ACTUAL DEMOCRATS.

He talks about unity -- yet relies on a biased caucus process which favors young, healthy, upscale and shuts out elderly and handicapped who can't drive, night workers, people with children who can't get evening child care -- in other words, A MAJORITY WHO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT. His metanarrat­ive:"Progr­essive." Reality: he is a Chicago School centerist. Vote for vote, he and Hillary are almost identical. (Progressive punch dot org.)

Hillary exaggerated -- but ALL of the news from the time report a sniper-filled combat zone; that she was protected by sharpshooters. Has Obama fabricated his own experience? Absolutely. GOogle Spivac about his state senate years.

Deconstruct the myth: Obama is not he image perpetrated by fawning media and fans longing for a superstar. His metanarrative has eclipsed the actual man. And in this democrat's opinion, the emporer has no

[CBS]

Hillary is not even a smart liar. She must have been aware that there was video footage of the event. Her entire campaign is based on a hugely padded resume. Obama just released his tax returns. And it is Hillary's prior to 2007 tax returns that she is refusing to release.

[PrdAmerican]

She underestimated (again) the YouTue generation.

[j0e]

So the "fawning" media HAVEN'T just spent a week playing the remarks of his ex-pastor over and over and over and over again? Merely repeating the same BS over and over again doesn't make it true. This meme that Obama is somehow getting a free ride is laughable. And if he'd made up some event where he was being shot at and had to run for cover, how would that be reported? Hillary and supporters are interested in power and Rovian tactics, and have zero interest in fairness or balance. Starting to get really, really old. The risk to the party far outweighs the potential gains for Hill... please stop now, while you're behind, this can only end badly for all concerned.­..

[Opus007]

Right and if the media was interested in being fair they would have run with the Religious Nut Jobs that endorsed McCain and the Religious Right Prayer group Hillary secretly meets with. This whole Rev. Wright dustup has the "Desparate Clintons" written all over it.

[templestark]

>>And if he'd made up some event where he was being shot at and had to run for cover,

Hawaii's a nasty place. Harvard's even worse. It could happen. Sure, that's the ticket.

OK, last comment here.....

[AxelDC]

Obama released his tax forms. The difference is that no one questions Obama's wealth. The Clintons' fortune came into question because they claimed $5 million in net assets in 2000, and yet she can loan herself $12 million in 2008. How did they jump from $5 million to around $50 million in 7 years? We have a right to know where all that money came from.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/25/obama-posts-six-years-of-_n_93292.html

[templestark]

yes, but everyone expects the worst and after nothing shows up, it's dismissed as unimportant.

PS, about $20 million in advance book contracts for both of them helped quite a bit.

People can keep jumping like nervous rats or they can look into many things themselves and find the less salacious. You're choice; it doesn't make the headlines though or make anyone a rich media star - and isn't that what democracy is really about.

[templestark]

Funny, the Dean Scream was another manufactured NATIONAL media outrage. The audio was boosted, replayed endlessly. Were you personally shocked / disgusted by Dean's comment. Or was it just "those other people who must be much stupider then me", who were effected by it?

[kunzarina]

Before he released those six years, he had only released 2006. Smart move to stop stalling. However, he will NOT release any others and has said as much. THere are over 20 years of Clinton returns on public record.

As for Obama's wealth -- Obama refuses to name the UBS broker that purchased the stocks in his 'quasi-blind' trust. "Obama had about $100,000 he wanted to invest in 2005. The money was a portion of the $1.2 million he got from a book contract. He said Wednesday he decided the $100,000 could be put into something "more high risk" and asked a friend to recommend a stock broker. That friend was donor George W. Haywood, who held what the New York Times called "major" positions in the two stocks Obama ended up owning, Skyterra and AVI BioPharma…. Obama declined to name the UBS broker." [Sweet column, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/8/07]

Don't even get me started aobut the 1 million plus Obama's campaign took from the top sub-prime lenders. Google it yourself, you'll never find it on Huffpo.

Both Hillary and Obama are tainted, two-faced politicians. But which one can WIN? And which one will actually keep our democratic party ideals alive? I don't trust Messianic "movements" Especially when they unravel upon cursury inspection.

[vsign]

Hillary is red, white and blue. Obama can be painted as green and yellow.

[CBS]

Only by the grievously uninformed.

[rosal]

You can paint her as tired, saggy, crancky and old. Just look at her latest answer and question video. Pathetic!

[lawyerdel]

Hooray for "majority of Democrats" How many times in recent history have we Democrats gone above 50% in the general election. As a long-suffering (60 years) southern yellowdog Democrat I can tell you tha a candidate that starts out wiith negative ratings in the high 40's ain't gonna win. The independants are the key and Hillary Clinton is not going to get their votes. Obama may not get the independantsr but at least all of America has not made up its mind about him. It is that simple

[liz]

Do Limbaugh democrats count as real democrats in these stats?

[kunzarina]

Neither Hillary nor Obama will win. Because the Democratic party has split itself in half and too many are determined to make this about their CANDIDATE and not the party. Edwards was my guy. Then I believed Hillary was the most electable one left. But I'll vote for any democrat in the general. Look around here and you'll see more and more threatening to "sit this one out" or vote for Nader. Our party is a joke. I believe in the principals of the democratic party and I'm disgusted that so many on both the Obama and Clinton sides are willing to throw this to McCain -- including all the deaths that will occur in war under his command and including the destruction of the Supreme Court and possible worldwide economic ruin -- just because they have made this into a damned pissing contest.

[alee21]

C'mon. Obama isn't that honest and Clinton isn't a pathological liar. It's a myth built up by the media and liberal whites. These individuals have a certain mindset so it is not difficult to see how every word written plays into the "Obama is a saint" and "Clinton is a liar" genre.

[CBS]

No she probably is not a "pathological liar," she is just a liar. Don't we already have a commander in chief who is a liar. So you are saying she would be an improvement. A little critical thinking would help you.

[kirafa]

And I suppose the flip-flopping of Obama, I didn't know, wait-I wasn't there, or better yet I was there, but did not agree with the Rev. Wright. Give me a break.

[Opus007]

The media had nothing to do with her sweeping claims of sniper fire in her March 17th speech. Even after the comedian Sinbad had refuted this claim a few weeks ago- she persisted in telling the story. Now when you see the actual video- it is just so dumb that she would make this exxagerated statement. You can blame the media for a lot and they deserve it- but not the Bosnia story!

[jsinclair]

The difference is--the media mocked Gore for something he never said. But they're making excuses for Hillary for outright LYING. Her Bosnia lie is so calculating, so detailed, so often repeated (even after comedian Sinbad, who was with her, said the only thing he worried about was whether he could find some good food). Hillary. Lies.--cal­culatingly and repeatedly (NAFTA, Macedonia, health insurance legislation, "35 years", on and on). That's the story the media needs to cover. Will they? No.

[vsign]

I think all the replays of her and Chelsea landing in Bosnia are a plus. It lets me know how much work she did as a First Lady. I don't discount that work.

[foreverleft]

Excellent point. At least she's appearing in videos surrounded by soldiers and not relaxing on a lounge chair in the Virgin Islands. One thing is certain. If we don't stop hating one of our own we are doomed in November.

[Opus007]

How serious could this work have been if the the tour included comedian Sinbad and Singer Sheryl Crow? (And that was before Crow was even that well known)

Come On!

[doodlefarbe]

jsinclair asserts, "media mocked Gore for something he never said". What, he never said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet"? Or was there something else you think Vice President Gore never said?

[templestark]

>> But they're making excuses for Hillary for outright LYING

They are?

Wow, then this article is even more of a waste of time. Nevermind then, the media loves Hillary, all is forgiven.

Back to competency then. ...