No, Hillary, You're Creed, Not Rocky. That's Your Problem.

As soon as I heard Senator Clinton likening herself to Rocky, I was incredulous. Is this campaign and/or candidate so feckless that they can't see the inevitable Maureen Dowd gore-fest that will follow, by comparing herself to the Italian Stallion?

But my slack-jawed wonderment had more to do with the real problem (besides the glaringly obvious one -- that Rocky actually loses the fight. There's that, of course.) Hillary Clinton is so obviously Apollo Creed, not Rocky Balboa. It was Creed who had it all, let himself grow deluded with entitlement, surrounded himself with an entourage of yes-men who never thought for even a second that their fighter might actually have to fight. Except for Creed's trainer, of course. He watches Rocky beat the bejesus out of a slab of meat on the local news, and tries to get Creed's attention by saying 'Hey, champ, you oughta come and look at this boy you're gonna fight on TV. It looks like he means business." His entreaties fail. The Champ figures it out too late, in the ring.

Now of course Senator Clinton is fighting like a mad dog, and today, I thought to myself, as I have on many days over the past few weeks, "she does know that she and Obama are in the same party, right? Could someone tell her they are BOTH DEMOCRATS?" But even as Senator Clinton struggles now against the real Rocky in this campaign, it is hard to shake that early, toxic period of inevitability that makes it nearly impossible, for this voter at least, to ever consider her the underdog. Senator Clinton, you went to Wellesley, one of your first stops on a gilded path to power. I live in Wellesley. There are no Rocky's in Wellesley.

Do I see any likeness between her and my beloved movie hero? I will allow the possibility that the Senator can perhaps break thumbs. And it does seem clear this fight will end up like the one in Rocky does: with both contenders covered in blood.

Comments

[muslimarabdude]

thanks - very inspiring to see the students be hopeful

[Tags]

Also, did she really think that Rocky was about climbing stairs?

How could she miss the home run swing of going the distance in the FIGHT?

[Tags]

Speaking of obvious, did anyone notice Hillary said "Could you imagine if Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum stairs and said, 'Well, I guess that's about far enough?' "

And that her photo op, after saying that, was a picture of her standing behind a lot of unclimbed stairs rising behind her?

Of course, you should blame her handlers for that. I just hope she picks more competent people for her cabinet if given the chance.

[Whinger]

I'm puzzled as to why Hillary didn't liken herself to a real life boxer like Muhammad Ali.

[nickthegreek27]

WOW ! Linda ,great input.Do they pay you for this worthless garbage you just posted or will Huff print anything anti Clinton.You want someone to tell Sen Clinton we are all Democrats while you accuse her of breaking peoples fingers.Obama and his supporters make me ill.

[winkwink]

no one on her team considered the obvious???

[kira181]

"no one on her team considered the obvious???"

The author of this blog post didn't seem to consider it obvious that -- by bringing up the Hard-Knock Life of Wellesley -- the door is left open for mention of the Killing Fields of a private school in Hawaii. Not to mention the Mean Streets of Harvard. Even (Yo)Adrian (sp?) would have seen that one coming.

I, for one, had no idea that Hillary's "Rocky" reference was blatantly racist until a commenter here revealed that truth to me. So many hidden meanings, so little time. It's exhausting, this obviousness.

This over-analysis of everything uttered by a Clinton is getting old and, frankly, sounded better in the original Republicanian(ese). If only this much attention had been paid to Bush and Cheney 8 years ago.

[deminohio]

I'm still confused. What has Hillary fought for besides her own ambitions. She has a long career but when has she fought and won for the American people. Universal Healthcare? NAFTA? War in Iraq? I'm being serious, if there is something out there that she can say I fought for you and won on, I would love to not feel this way. She seems very much like Rocky in that she has proven she can take a punch. The idea in boxing is not to get hit.

[Lisette]

deminohio,
Well,she had to fight off all Bill's sexual conquests, no small feat.

[kira181]

At the time Hillary attended, there were no gilded paths to Yale Law School for any woman -- from Wellesley or anywhere else. She, quite possibly, would have had an easier time tryng to break into the WBA.

I think maybe Hillary was simply saying that she can relate to the Rocky character because she is tough and persistent. I don't think she had any idea that Rocky was your "beloved movie hero" or that you lived in Wellesley.

If what she said ends up destroying the Democratic Party -- well, you did your best to warn her. So maybe there is a Rocky in Wellesley, after all.

[stevey]

this is linda the writer, im logged in as my husband. thank you for making an argument with civility! i don't always get that! i just want to say that i did not go into this race hating hillary clinton. i was happily prepared to vote for her. i do think there is an element of people saying she should drop out that would not happen if she were a man. but i have been greatly disturbed by her recent behavior. i was appalled that she did not unequivocally declare obama's religion in that 60 minutes. i dont think she should have touched the wright controversy because lord knows this will be a very bad thing for obama to contend with in the general election. and i literally through my paper across the wall when she was quoted praising mccain. then there's the red phone. not to mention the subtle race baiting right here with the rocky analogy which i didnt even go into but other commenters have rightly mentioned.
as for the gilded path, im sorry, my own mother attended both boston college and siena college while working the whole way through 20 years before hillary. while of course i give her credit for 'making it in a man's world' before becoming the first lady i know plenty of women who did the same, including some amazing women you can find blogging on the huff post. not to mention obama's own mother.

[northeast73]

Hillary Clinton DID defend Obama's religion on 60 minutes....why SHE was even being asked that question, I dont know, but she answered the question satifactoryliy 3 TIMES before adding that "as far as i know" comment when Kroft kept pushing and pushing her. Wathc the intv. again. You're being biased.

Hillary spent the entire "rev wright" week silent on the issue, and David Plouff from the Obama camp said "how dare she" remain silent. (see their press releases) The following week, when asked a question, she answered it and rather fairly I might ad. Then they blast her for that.

And the PARANOIA about race baiting absolutely disgusts me, more than if it were actually true. Did you hear J.Jackson Jr.'s comment on Hillary's tears after the NH primary? THAT was race baiting. Did you hear Rev. Wright give a sermon to a black congregation about how Hillary is an unacceptable choice because she is white, and dont be fooled thinking Bill was "good to them"? THAT was race baiting.

So now, when in Philadelphia, and fighting to win a campaign, you can't compare yourself to Rocky if your opponent happens to be black because, THAT's racist too?

[EngineerBill]

The way you can tell that Hillary ain't Rocky? During the pre-fight press conference, Rocky was asked by a reporter if he had anything derogatory to say about Apollo Creed. He replied, "Oh yeah, He's great." Does that sound like Hillary to you?

[spacealien]

wait!

i am terribly confused.

is hillz rocky in bosnia under sniper fire or rocky of the altoona bowling league?
...will she wear her boxing gloves when she has a bowl off with apollo creed?

i need answers.

[halfdemhalfgop]

" I knew Rocky I fought with Rocky and HRC your no Rocky"

[ddlrid]

Loved this post, Linda. I especially liked the part about breaking thumbs...laughed my ass off!

[booshman]

May be in her mind Rocky won in the movie. If anyone brings this to her attention, I"m sure she would say that when she watched the movie she was sleep deprived and could not remember the ending.

[EJ99]

Or she couldn't hear the ending over the sniper fire!

[entopticon]

The Rocky analogy is a bit confused. The crux of the Rocky narrative was Apollo Creed"s inevitability because of his establishment status. Rocky was the outsider whose unconventional approach and tenacity won him respect, but not the fight.

Hillary should be hoping that she is Apollo Creed in the analogy. Unless she is talking about Rocky 2, or was it 3? At some point he beat up Mr T, who played the iconic angry black man. As I recall, there were two fights and Mr T won the first.

He also beat up Dolph Lundgren, the iconic evil Russian. Maybe that"s why she taunted Putin by claiming that he has no soul, to which Putin replied, "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head."

At one point he fought Hulk Hogan. I"m not sure who represents HH. Maybe Nancy Pelosi.

I haven"t seen Rocky 37: Rocky Escapes From the Nursing Home to Fight Again, or whatever it was that the new one was called. Perhaps that is the Rocky that she is analogizing herself to.

Of course, Hillary only ran for office twice, and both times the opposition would have lost to a sock puppet if it had been on the ticket, so the analogy is stretched well beyond the elasticity of the narrative of Hillary as a seasoned pro.

Considering the enormous amounts that she earmarked for arms dealers, maybe she meant to compare herself to Rambo. Now that I can see.

[JoePalooka]

LOL!

[suscyn]

Linda, how can you be fair to anyone that is not messiah Obama? Biased -not a true journalist!

[veracity]

Well, gee! All you have to do is say, or imply, nasty things about your opponent, ("the pretend mesiah!") and then, Bingo! Presto! you disqualify them from office! Just like the poll taxes and poll tests did, no, Suscyn?
FOR the 1,000th time, would you please point out exactly what fights Ms. Rocky has fought for over the past 8 years? Not to belittle her local successes here and there... but I mean real, stand-up after you've been knocked-down, Rocky style fights, whether when she was in the minority or the majority?

[midwestvoter]

Fabulous post, Linda. It's so sad to watch her destroy not only her own reputation but Bill's as well. I don't think they realize how many ardent supporters are forever turned off by their behavior in this process. I wish someone in her inner circle could be honest with her before she does any more damage to herself. Maybe they could give her this link and make her watch it. She has to realize what is at stake. Everyone should see this video. Something truly amazing is happening and Hillary is standing in the way, determined to kill it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9IldaegAB0

[ddlrid]

Brilliant! Thank you for the link...

[halfdemhalfgop]

What do you mean "destroy not only her own reputation but Bill's as well". They had no reputation
to begin with. It's just that all you "ardent supporters " didnt want to see the truth since it was
her Gop rivals shining the light on them. Now that is one of your own holding the spotlight
you will take a peek.