August 17, 2015

"Celebrity Hampers Clinton’s Effort to Connect With Iowans."

Front-page teaser in The New York Times for an article titled "Hillary Clinton Seeks to Connect With Iowans, but Celebrity Gets in Way."

I read the teaser out loud and Meade said "Celebrity and criminality...."

The article, by Amy Chozick, quotes former Senator Tom Harkin saying "She just needs to come out and meet Iowans, and the rest will fall into place" and then tries to show why that's so hard for Hillary to do. She's surrounded by "a dozen Secret Service agents, state troopers and staff members, as well as a horde of reporters, photographers and videographers." So "Iowans could hardly get close enough to take photographs of the former secretary of state, much less talk to her."
As Mrs. Clinton went along the route that had been mapped out for her at the fair, she posed for 42 pictures. She raved about being a grandmother (“It’s the best!”), examined a Monopoly-themed sculpture made of butter (“I love it!”), asked if Iowa had any zoning programs to help out small farms (it does) and gave an evasive “Sounds good!” to a fairgoer who asked if she would attend a tailgate party sponsored by the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

All the while, Mrs. Clinton’s celebrity had a way of encroaching on her efforts to show she can be just like everybody else. Only the reality TV star-turned-Republican candidate Donald J. Trump attracted more attention.
Well, does Trump's celebrity keep him from connecting to Iowans?

If Hillary wanted to get close to the common people, she would. I'm just not buying those headlines and that spin, and I don't think the NYT readers are buying it either. Here's the top-rated comment there now:
Celebrity gets in the way? I don't think that's the issue. Connection between people involves some level of trust. Mrs. Clinton trusts nobody, and a dwindling minority of voters trusts Mrs. Clinton. That mutual distrust prevents any hope of "connection," not her celebrity.
ADDED: Celebrity hampers are a good place to hide your dirty laundry, and Hillary has a lot of it.

91 comments:

David said...

"If Hillary wanted to get close to the common people, she would. "

H.C. in a nutshell. Well said.

David said...

She lives in an actual nutshell, by the way. Has for decades.

exhelodrvr1 said...

I thought that headline meant that more people were interested in Madonna, or Tom Hanks, or whichever Hollywood type is currently pimping for her.

Brando said...

Comment was spot on. Celebrity never posed this problem for even sitting presidents.

Hillary fans--accept the reality. She just isn't a people person, and this is another way she's like Nixon.

David Begley said...

I was at the Wing Ding in Clear Lake. She made no effort to meet us commoners. They just worshiped her anyway. The Queen of the World.

Hillary Clinton must be defeated.
Carthage must be destroyed.

tim in vermont said...

Hillary's wooden personality, checkered history much of which she does not wish to discuss, and her fear that every Iowan she meets might be a plant by Republicans who might ask her an uncomfortable question is what is interfering with her ability to connect to Iowans.

Not to mention the trauma she must suffer when every time she does make a public appearance, her numbers drop further.

Michael K said...

Bill, meanwhile, was playing golf with Barack where they discussed a pardon.

Bill is good at pardons.

tim in vermont said...

Her husband would have shaken the entourage and "pressed the flesh."

tim in vermont said...

I guess her vagina makes her a better fit for president that Mit Romney, who was probably the most qualified chief executive candidate since G H W Bush.

Brando said...

A pardon will kill her political career, but then if it's pretty clear charges are coming, her candidacy is dead anyway. Her best hope is that charges don't get filed and she can fire up the obfuscation machine.

Known Unknown said...

It was actually just a Chevrolet Celebrity. It passed, and she was able to connect with her loving fans.

tim in vermont said...

Dukakis too would only appear before invited crowds. Look how that worked out for him!

The Bergall said...

This is journalism?

Bobber Fleck said...

Unscripted moments expose a person's real essence.

We are told she treats the Secret Service team like dirt and was abusive of the White House staff. Her managers will keep her away from spontaneous encounters with the plebs and will employ the New York Times and Washington Post to provide excuses.

gspencer said...

TITANIA: Ew! You said if I slept with you, I wouldn't have to touch the drunk [or be anywhere these disgusting farmers and all their smelly ways].

DUFF MAN: Duff Man says a lot of things.

YoungHegelian said...

It's amazing that the press covers for her, when she treats them like shit. I guess the press thinks that it's their cross to bear if it'll keep the evil Republicans out of office.

The press covered for Obama, too, and he was even more abusive to them. It really is like battered wife syndrome.

Michael K said...

"We are told she treats the Secret Service team like dirt "

She is not unique among Democrats in this respect. Rosalyn Carter was surprised that Nancy Reagan knew the SS agent's first name at the inauguration.

traditionalguy said...

It's Trump's fault. A spoonful of authenticity showing a good heart exposes and trashes a mean dummy's 20 years of building a cardboard replica of a competent woman under baseless attacks from imaginary Vast Right Wing Conspirators.

And Trump has done the same thing to the GOP masters of narrative taking fake positions on fake issues while looting the middle class American conservatives.

tim in vermont said...

From October 2001:


Senator Hillary Clinton's inner circle is furious at MIRAMAX king Harvey Weinstein after the former first lady suffered through a public relations nightmare during Saturday's AMERICA: A TRIBUTE TO HEROES concert in New York City.

Hillary Clinton was jeered and booed by thousands gathered at Madison Square Garden as she took to the stage -- unannounced -- to introduce a movie clip.

VH1 cameras captured firemen and police heroes wildly booing Clinton, who attempted to raise her voice above the shouting crowd.


"Get off the stage! We don't want you here!" yelled one New York City police officer just feet from the senator.


Anti-Clinton slurs spread and intensified throughout the Garden, with many standing near the stage lobbing profanities.


Event-planner and close Clinton friend Harvey Weinstein was visibly shaken as he heard the crowd erupt with boos and jeers, according to an eyewitness.


The junior senator from New York ending up giving the shortest presentation of the evening, clocking in at under 20 seconds.


"How could we not know this would be the wrong forum for Hillary?!" shouted one confidante. "These are cops and firemen who listen to right-wing talkradio. They still think she killed Vince Foster, for Christ sake!"


Other New York politicians received warmer welcomes during the 5-hour concert which featured Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Elton John and others.


Former President Bill Clinton, who took the stage minutes after his wife, worked over scattered boos with talk of the rescuers' heroism.


Following the Clintons, James Taylor soothed the heroes with an acoustic FIRE AND RAIN.



James Taylor can always be counted on to sooth the savage breast...

Anyway, notice how when they boo Hillary, they are right wing whackos poisoned against the Clintons by talk radio, yet Bill can still talk to them. This is the kind of double think that is required of the press.

tim in vermont said...

Other New York politicians received warmer welcomes during the 5-hour concert

Let me guess, Rudy?

tim maguire said...

Trump IS the celebrity who got in the way.

Jim in St Louis said...

Iowa does not deserve to have the early spot- neither does New Hampshire. The major parties collude on everything else, why can’t they rotate in a few different early states each cycle? Iowa voters and their ethanol scams have nothing in common with me, or with the people in my state.

virgil xenophon said...

Hampers to hide her dirty laundry? AA you Piker! You're thinking small-ball. Hills just recently added an addition onto her house just to be sure she'd have enough closets to hide all her skeletons in..

iowan2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
iowan2 said...

Take advice from Tom Harking (D oligarch Iowa) Like all leftist, they are full of advice for others and know for certain the way others should live. Tom never spent any time in Iowa. He lived in DC and spent free time at his Estate he owned in the Bahamas. While he owned farmland in Iowa, his address was a post office box. If forced to overnight in the state he stayed at a hotel like the rest of the tourist. Iowa almost replaced him with Bruce Braley, who was such an Iowan,he had a law office in Colorado by January, after losing to Senator Joni Ernst, who does spend a lot of time at home (Iowa).
Clinton's wife enjoys the Trump style, way more than the Iowa style.

khesanh0802 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
khesanh0802 said...

She doesn't have the talent, or personality, for retail politics. It apparently becomes more obvious every day - even to NYT reporters. Her recent political positions are ludicrously out of tune with anyone but the "left loonies" in the Dem party. Why, oh why doesn't a real Dem candidate come forward? Perhaps because there aren't any; as so many have pointed out.

Unknown said...

Poor poor Hillary.

Absolutelt nothing bad or less than perfect that happens to her is ever her fault.

Poop poor Hillary. Evil bad everyone else.

Hagar said...

And now a (former?) Platte River employee hints tha, Yeah, they probable made a back-up server to Hillary's "secret" server. It would have been prudent policy from their (technical) point of view.

tim in vermont said...

Maybe Hillary can talk about how she used to wear bread bags over her socks in her snow boots?

Remember when the Washington Post rated that "fact" as partially false because bags other than bread bags were sometimes used? Hillary needs more partisan fact checking from Iowa papers on things like her email scandal.

Imagine if all of her statements regarding her email, or her war in Libya, or her support for the rebels in Syria (ISIS, Islamic State in Syria) or her utter failure to secure any meaningful cooperation from Putin, or why there were carpet fibers found on Vince Foster's suit in Ft Marcy Park, as if his body had been rolled up in a carpet and dumped there. And why the FBI didn't investigate the death, but rather the Capitol Police with almost no experience in homicide...

Imagine if she were judged by the media as harshly as Joni Ernst was... Naah!

tim in vermont said...

Yeah, they probable made a back-up server to Hillary's "secret" server. It would have been prudent policy from their (technical) point of view.

If Hillary or her help were competent, this would have been explicit in the contract, as well as provisions to certifiably destroy the data both on the principle server and any backups that may exist.

If you are in the health care business and you keep so much as the result of a pap smear on a server somewhere, there are extensive regulations regarding all of these issues.

Hagar said...

Could the weekend's golf with Obama be a response to the Platte River employee's remark?
And it is the Clintons telling Obama they need pardons or they spill the beans?

Quaestor said...

Here's a poll I'd like to see, not an Althouse poll, but a scientific poll conducted by a major firm like Gallup or Zogby Analytics to determine the status of The New York Times among the nation's newspapers. NYT has hundreds of staff writers like Ms Chozick who think they work for he premier journal in America. I think they're dead wrong. Any news organization that would give so much as a column inch to such a transparent piece of propagandistic pablum as this "Clinton hampered by celebrity" nonsense cannot rightly claim what partisans of The New York Times routinely claim.

My mailboxes are flooded with subscription offers from NYT at least weekly, and I mark them as junk with a derisive "when Hell freezes over" snort. I'm sure I'm not alone, many millions more must also delete with extreme prejudice those pathetic pleadings. You'd think the publisher would look at his declining revenues and conclude a housecleaning was long overdue, but that's the problem with anti-captalist silver-spoon billionaires, they don't f'ing care whether their losing money hand over fist, nor do they even realize it until the AMTs reject their cash withdrawals.

Matt Sablan said...

I wanted to go see what people are actually saying about the e-mail scandal. I went to Reddit's politics site.

There are actually people who think that what she did was legal, smart, ethical and that this is all a Republican trap to turn Democrats against her and, uh, somehow also against Bernie Sanders. I never realized exactly how far left Reddit's community was until today.

So, I'm pretty sure, that a celebrity is exactly what Clinton thinks we need. After all, it is working.

Hagar said...

That does not mean Platte River didn't think about it and decided to keep one for themselves anyaway, just for insurance.

tim in vermont said...

Queastor,
One doesn't own a media outlet to make money directly, unless perhaps you are Fox News, one owns a media outlet to do favors for the powerful. There are not that many ways that a billionaire can do a real favor for a president. Campaign contributions get lost in the crowd. Being able to plant a favorable story in a widely read media outlet is of a different order.

Matt Sablan said...

I wonder whether or not copying a server with classified and secret information unknowingly is illegal. Curiously, I wonder if it is, if Platte River might be looking to cut some deals.

Hagar said...

Just the thought that a mirrored hard-drive might exist would be frightening for Clinton, Inc., I would think.

Hagar said...

Dan Brown, call your office!

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Saint Croix said...

Celebrity Hampers Clinton’s Effort to Connect With Iowans.

I read that headline and I kept wondering who the celebrity was in Iowa who was giving Hillary such a hard time. I imagined Brad Pitt out in Iowa, tipping cows over and stopping the campaign bus. Or maybe it was Angelina. Who was the celebrity? I read the article with great interest, looking for clues. I know Republican celebs are on the down-low. Anyway, I wanted to buy their book or movie or website or whatever the hell made them a celebrity.

And then I realized, with horror, that Hillary was the celebrity that we are somehow celebrating. Oh shit, I said to myself. I thought she was notorious! But apparently it's the Hillary celebration that's her problem. That's why she's always hiding under sunglasses and making those damn stupid youtube videos, trying to get the eyeballs away from her. "No eyeballs at all, I'm a celebrity!" That's her business model. I almost want to give her some money so she can make an even bigger ass of herself. Almost.

Michael said...

Our royalty! A year or so ago David Cameron and his crew boarded British Air for a trip to the U.S. Took BA home. Compare and contrast the king of the world and his 747 and his legions.

Anonymous said...

Michael K said...
She is not unique among Democrats in this respect. Rosalyn Carter was surprised that Nancy Reagan knew the SS agent's first name at the inauguration.


Given a choice between treating the SS and the WH Military Aides as furniture or as Valued Family Retainers, go with the VFR mode.

After all, if you want a guy to take a bullet for you, learn his name...

worked for Reagan...

Quaestor said...

Senator Hillary Clinton's inner circle is furious at MIRAMAX king Harvey Weinstein after the former first lady suffered through a public relations nightmare during Saturday's AMERICA: A TRIBUTE TO HEROES concert in New York City.

Here's the vid. Nooyawkahs know which end of the horse eats. Faggedgabowdit.

tim in vermont said...

LOL: Notorious HRC.

Jason said...

"Let me guess. Xerxes."

YoungHegelian said...

@Hagar,

Just the thought that a mirrored hard-drive might exist would be frightening for Clinton, Inc., I would think

I would be amazed if backups of all sorts don't exists. As someone in IT & someone who has dealt with political types at length, I can tell you that you ALWAYS have redundant backups for these people because 1) they tend to make "mistakes" & delete important documents that they need back IMMEDIATELY & 2) the second & third tier staffers are always looking for someone else to blame when something bleeps up, and you, as the IT contractor, are an available & juicy target. You always want to be able to recover from any sort of "outage" short of a nuclear attack in a reasonable period of time so that you can't be hung out to dry.

In other words, even if the contract didn't specify it, I would have snapshot backups done on the Sec. of States server done at least every hour. Even if they didn't know I was doing it, just to cover my ass.

Anonymous said...

What is ultimately going to sink HRC, Humma, and the rest, is not the actual emailing. It will be the lying to the FBI about emailing. The FBI hates getting lied to. They have no sense of humor nor do they understand the political imperative of putting a woman in the WH. They also won't be muzzled by the DoJ. Lying to the FBI will result in that story getting to the press at least.

Known Unknown said...

I just bought celebrityhampers.com

I now designing and testing a series of hospital-style hampers that celebrities can use to evade notice when leaving rehab facilities.

They will feature fabric impervious to even the latest and greatest infrared camera technologies.

tim in vermont said...

In other words, even if the contract didn't specify it, I would have snapshot backups done on the Sec. of States server done at least every hour. Even if they didn't know I was doing it, just to cover my ass.

Well, for certain, dealing with Politicians is fraught with hazards. They have the power to say: "I am altering the deal, pray that I do not alter it further," unlike a standard commercial client, but this seems like a risky strategy to me, and if I were that concerned about it, I wouldn't take the business.

YoungHegelian said...

@tim,

and if I were that concerned about it, I wouldn't take the business.

If this contract had been offered to my company on a golden platen, I would run away as fast my little feets could carry me. I'd never do government work for a client in a non-Fed. compliant environment. That's just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

BUT, if by some chance, I did have that contract, I'd still back everything up all the damn time.

Tank said...

Trump connected with people this weekend by issuing an actual comprehensive immigration policy.

exhelodrvr1 said...

A couple of good South Park episodes about Hillary's vagina.

Gabriel said...

@St Croix:I read that headline and I kept wondering who the celebrity was in Iowa who was giving Hillary such a hard time. I imagined Brad Pitt out in Iowa, tipping cows over and stopping the campaign bus. Or maybe it was Angelina. Who was the celebrity?

Seconded. I was picturing Matt LeBlanc for some reason though.

tim in vermont said...

So basically nobody is talking about how Hillary facilitated the deal by which Putin got commercial control over pretty much all North American uranium production?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html

tim in vermont said...

I can't believe that the oldest political party in the oldest democracy in the world cannot field a better candidate during a time they all claim that the party is ascendant.

iowan2 said...

Jim in St Louis said.

Iowa does not deserve to have the early spot- neither does New Hampshire. The major parties collude on everything else, why can’t they rotate in a few different early states each cycle? Iowa voters and their ethanol scams have nothing in common with me, or with the people in my state.

So Kansas City and St Louis are better early polling spots? The population of Iowa is a much better representative of the electorate than the metro areas of KC and StL. And, that is the measure. While Romney was wrongly excoriated for stating the facts, 47% of the electorate is voting to get more free stuff from Uncle Money bags. Selecting those running for president by a huge percentage of a dependent population KC &StL is stupid. Besides the fact that Advertising would become the major campaign tool. Not retail politics. Making money, not analyzing the candidates the overriding factor in generating early votes.

Matt Sablan said...

Honestly, I'd be perfectly fine with a rotating primary system.

damikesc said...

I thought it was the gears and diodes that prevented Hillary from connecting to humans --- I'm sorry, her "fellow Americans" *wink*

I miss Betamax 2000 at times like these.

Trump connected with people this weekend by issuing an actual comprehensive immigration policy.

And one that actually makes some sense.

Putting him a solid step above anybody in the Dem field.

Democrats, welcome to the 1996 Republican Party field. Have fun.

So basically nobody is talking about how Hillary facilitated the deal by which Putin got commercial control over pretty much all North American uranium production?

It's difficult to keep on top of the rampant sleaze --- and her supporters will claim it's all politics and that there is no proof.

Hagar said...

There was no need for Hillary! to fly to Massachussetts just to watch Billy Jeff play golf with Obama, like there was no need for Teddy Kennedy to be at Jack and Bobby's meeting with Sam Giancana and staff at Sinatra's place in Hollywood other than that all of Joe kennedy's sons needed to be there.

Peter said...

Hillary is as naturally gregarious as a misanthropic hermit.

The rule of her life has been, "If you want to talk to Hillary it'll cost you. A lot."

And now she's supposed to let commoners talk to her ... for nothing?

Anonymous said...

ah yes Quaestor, the ol' not-a-true-Scotsman logical fallacy.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Pres Obama's initial campaign was notable for his "rock star"/celebrity treatment, and I don't remember any handwringing over an inability to connect with the common folk in his case. Is this just a roundabout way to point out that Hillary has less (much less) personal charisma than Barack?

Maybe she'll bust out one of those sweet accents she's been known to adopt, that'll connect w/the plebs, for sure! She ain't no ways taaard, ya'll.

How do you think Hillary can make a genuine connection with the grass roots? Tweet your answer in 3 emojis.

Jim in St Louis said...

Iowan2 sez…..

“The population of Iowa is a much better representative of the electorate than the metro areas of KC and StL.”

Iowa corn farmers benefit from huge subsidy checks from Dept of Ag. The price for their product is artifically plumped up by the scam of ethenol.
Top it off with the attitude of the average Iowa voter (see above) They demand that every candidate kiss their ass when they kiss their babies. If a candidate comes to Iowa, the Iowa voters have their hands out with their palms up.

Fuck you and everyone in your rancid rent seeking corn subsidy whore state. You clueless ricebowls dare to talk about the urban electorate getting free stuff?
Food Stamps IS an Agriculture program- Not a welfare program. Iowa has shit for any economy other than corn – and corn is propted up by my tax dollars. And the welfare queens driving the combines know how important the early lead can be for presidential candidates. And that is what needs to change. Cause your phony retail politics is causing wholesale damage to democracy and wholesale damage to small gvt conservativism.

tim in vermont said...

ah yes Quaestor, the ol' not-a-true-Scotsman logical fallacy

This is why these logical fallacies are problematic. They still require some minimal amount of critical thinking in their application. In the case of liberals and their hair trigger "Reject first, ask rhetorical questions later" strategy for dealing with uncomfortable facts, one cannot expect them to be properly applied.

tim in vermont said...

What Jim in St Louis said.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Saint Croix said...And then I realized, with horror, that Hillary was the celebrity that we are somehow celebrating. Oh shit, I said to myself. I thought she was notorious!

Don Henley, The Garden of Allah (1995):

This year notoriety got all confused with fame
And the devil is downhearted babe, cause
There's nothing left for him to claim

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Young Hegelian said...It's amazing that the press covers for her, when she treats them like shit. I guess the press thinks that it's their cross to bear if it'll keep the evil Republicans out of office.

The press covered for Obama, too, and he was even more abusive to them. It really is like battered wife syndrome.


I'm not sure that's right, YH, I think the Obama campaign treated reporters well...it's just once he got into office that "the most transparent admin in history" has refused to give press conferences, or access, or treat the press with any semblance of the respect they're normally granted. And they LOVE him! I agree that part is close to inexplicable, but I don't think it started until after he was elected.

Quaestor said...

Speaking as a true Scotsman, awa' ain bile yer haid, dobber!

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Notorious HRC T-shirt

Whatever happened to that "R," anyway? Probably sexist to ask.

damikesc said...

Pres Obama's initial campaign was notable for his "rock star"/celebrity treatment, and I don't remember any handwringing over an inability to connect with the common folk in his case. Is this just a roundabout way to point out that Hillary has less (much less) personal charisma than Barack?

Their problem, though, is that their ace in the hole, Biden --- ISN'T CHARISMATIC EITHER. Sanders? Also, horribly uncharismatic. Do they really want a man who looks like death warmed over as their standard bearer? Progressives went nuts for Keith Olbermann --- they don't exactly have high standards.

Nobody turns to Biden and says "Now THAT dude has his stuff together"

The Dems have no good options. Biden is likely less of a criminal, but his family is more embarrassing (if the bush daughters were fair game, his coke addled son sure as shit is one). What does HE bring to the table?

He's a God awful speaker. Just drones on and on. He's a horrid debater. Palin waxed him and he seemed like a meth tweeker with Ryan. He has no policies and is so neck deep in the last 8 years of crap that he has a massive albatross around his neck and a "boss" who has never shown any inclination at any point in his life to really help anybody besides himself.


I'm not sure that's right, YH, I think the Obama campaign treated reporters well...it's just once he got into office that "the most transparent admin in history" has refused to give press conferences, or access, or treat the press with any semblance of the respect they're normally granted. And they LOVE him! I agree that part is close to inexplicable, but I don't think it started until after he was elected.


And should be an example to Republicans. "Look at how Obama treated em --- AND THEY LIKED HIM. A LOT!"

tim in vermont said...

This funny Hillary Clinton shirt features the former First Lady, Senator, and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wearing a crown and the words "notorious H.R.C" and is perfect for fans of Hillary Clinton, people who want her for president in 2016, Democrats, political nerds, progressives, feminists, political science majors, and is perfect for campaign rallies, college, university, class, working out, or showing your love for Hillary Clinton anywhere you go!

tim in vermont said...

BTW, the above quoted text was applied to both the Notorious HRC tee shirt and the "Get in loser, we are going campaigning."

Michael K said...

"it's just once he got into office that "the most transparent admin in history" has refused to give press conferences, or access, or treat the press with any semblance of the respect they're normally granted. And they LOVE him! "

Theses another example of Virtue Signaling.

What they are doing (I risk losing a friend or two) is “virtue-signalling”: competing to seem compassionate. Few are notably open-handed:

If Obama was white, he would never have gotten even to the Illinois state Senate.

Gusty Winds said...

...but celebrity gets in the way.

Celebrity must now be a synonym for phony.

It's not surprising the Secret Service considers assignment to her a punishment.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Hillary Clinton jokes about loving SnapChat - messages disappear automatically!

Hee hee hee, national security is such a laugh, haw haw haw, stick it to those fuddy duddy Republicans, Hilldozer. How do you shame someone who's beyond shame?

Insty's line reminding everyone that Obama joked about having the IRS audit political opponents seems apt, here.

MadisonMan said...

I thought she was notorious!

That would be a better (more accurate) headline: Notoriety Hampers Clinton's....

Gabriel said...

Know which celebrity would be an effective Hillary hamperer? Kanye West. Beyonce would, in fact, make a better president than Hillary Clinton, for that matter.

Curious George said...

I bet a day doesn't go by that an agent on her detail doesn't dream about putting a round in her dome.

CWJ said...

Why are celebrity and the wiped server conspiring to bring HRC down?

"Celebrity and the Wiped Server" Either a great band name or a Traveling Wilburys title.

Brando said...

I enjoy articles like this because they are far more revealing than anti-Hillary "hit pieces" or even generally balanced yet critical reporting of this candidate. By trying to spin Hillary's uncharismatic, cold and depressing style as a downside to her "celebrity" and "importance" it shows just how desperate her defenders are. All major candidates have SS details, and many have run who were at least as famous as Hillary (I think Obama in 2012 qualified as being as famous as Hillary).

She, like Nixon, just never had it in her to press the flesh and revel in the day to day campaigning. Her scripted, robotic and "safe" remarks are a function of this--clearly this is someone who is campaigning because she has to, not because she wants to. Why someone would put themselves through it is beyond me--it's likely her and her husband's need for continued power that makes all this happen.

Her candidacy is a mess. Only the GOP can save her now.

Jim in St Louis said...



The psychology of HRC is fascinating- This is a strong woman, this is a woman who revels in being strong. She seeks out situations where she will be humiliated - NOT cause she digs being humiliated in some s/m way---but because she digs that feeling of being strong enough to stand up in the face of humiliation.

Put yourself in her shoes....
Would YOU have dared to have gone to the Ark Governors Ball in the late eighties? Knowing that every single person in the governor's mansion was laughing about YOU.
Imagine standing tall and that feeling.

The whole of her career has been to seek out greater humiliations in order to get greater ego rush of 'they can't break me'. And like all of us she is clueless enough about herself that she will sabotage her own victories.

Nixon to the core.

damikesc said...

She, like Nixon, just never had it in her to press the flesh and revel in the day to day campaigning. Her scripted, robotic and "safe" remarks are a function of this--clearly this is someone who is campaigning because she has to, not because she wants to. Why someone would put themselves through it is beyond me--it's likely her and her husband's need for continued power that makes all this happen.

Nixon was worlds better at it than Hillary.

If Nixon had Hillary's press behind him, he'd have won easily in 1960.

If Hillary had Nixon's press, she'd be in the single digits.

I also think Nixon was a legitimately very intelligent person, albeit with some dumb ideas. Hillary comes across as not-that-bright (the email server thing, really, was an idiot move) with the occasional good idea.

I also don't think that Nixon's assorted sleaze and graft issues approach Hillary.

Michael K said...

I also think Nixon was a legitimately very intelligent person, albeit with some dumb ideas.

Nixon's worst fault was his loyalty to some pretty dumb underlings which he should have immediately cut off from any contact. It is very unlikely that he knew anything about Watergate before they did it. It was a hare-brained scheme of some second raters.

There is no danger that Hillary or Obama would ever get themselves in trouble caring about underlings.

YoungHegelian said...

@HoodlumDoodlum,

I'm not sure that's right, YH, I think the Obama campaign treated reporters well..

Nope, Obama was a shit to the press even back then. I googled for examples, only could not find any. But, if memory serves me right, while the McCain campaign scrupulously printed & followed its schedule for events so the press would know who, what, when, the Obama campaign kept the press in the dark until last minute, and made them scramble to keep up.

ken in tx said...

If you want to know how far left the reddit community is, try posting or commenting something there that is not far left, even just a little bit. They will jump down your throat.

tim in vermont said...

Obama campaign kept the press in the dark until last minute, and made them scramble to keep up.

PUA techniques that clearly worked.

Leigh said...

Hmph. I thought we weren't getting our ten-article limit "docked" by the NYT when we clicked on an article you'd linked through your blog. Oh well. I've only hit my limit once since it was imposed a few years ago.

I'm starting to feel sorry for Huma.

grackle said...

I do not believe Hillary will ever be bought up on charges. It’s Obama’s FBI and Obama’s Attorney General that would have to press charges and I do not see it happening.

Moreover I do not believe it would necessarily be a good thing for America to see one of our nation’s highest officeholders on trial or in jail. Her exit will be a whimper not a bang. I think Obama’s deal with her will be: “I will not put you in jail if you will voluntarily pull out of the race and endorse my chosen candidate.”

Fen said...

"Mrs. Clinton, will you still run for office if President Obama doesn't pardon you?"

That's the kind of question we would hear if we had an independent media, instead of these whores.

mikee said...

Nixon did indeed press the flesh to get elected, and I can testify to his relative skill in doing so.

He was working a rope line in sweltering hot Charlotte, NC, at a September 1968 political rally. Nine-year-old me had been waiting in a prime front row spot for three hours just to shake his hand, but it was not meant to be.

Nixon reached over my head to shake the hand of an eligible voter, instead of taking my outstretched digits. My head ended up under his suit jacket, jammed into his sweaty armpit. By such behavior a man, a candidate, a president, can be judged, and harshly. I never forgave him this slight.

I laughed the day he was forced to resign.

I look forward to laughing as Hillary quits her campaign, or resigns the presidency, or is hauled off to jail, and all she did was insult me and half the country over her husband's affairs.