Suddenly charmed by Hillary
As most of you know I tend to lean to the left politically. Although I have voted Republican on occasions in the past and I do not consider myself very ideological or insanely loyal to a party. I was supporting Kucinich early on because I agree with him on everything, I knew he had no chance but so what. I then switched to Barck Obama. Well not really switch because I have been a fan of his since reading his book after he won the senate seat in Illinois. He was my safety choice and I felt he was a man of integrity. He overcame obstacles. He is passionate. He restores my idealism. He seems to unite people. I like him. I also felt like Hillary was just not an option since I felt she was part of the old broken system. Plus, so many in America have already made up their mind about her. Her biggest asset (Her husband Bill) with with Democrats was her biggest liability with Republicans and the next president must unite. Obama seemsed perfect. Something about a tall skinny awkward guy from Illinois uniting a divided nation…:-) But I must admit I have fallen in love with Hillary.
I felt she kicked serious ass at the NH debate. When she spoke about working for change and was passionate about her work to help 7,000 kids get health care and 1, 200 national guard troops get benefits..She Was On Fire! She was strong and intelligent and passionate. But the truth is she also charmed my socks off with her finally showing a feminine side. Lets face it, we bring our gender to who we are. Male candidates inspire woman voters by appealing to feminine desires. Example, the last election saw soccer moms drawn to the candidate that would keep them safe, The protector. The provider. The Daddy. The Strong man. Criticize it all you want women…but it was real. So there is an element to gender with a candidate. My criticism against Hillary was that she had spent so much time living in an all male club that she had taught herself to strip herself of all things that would seem feminine. I’m not saying she was “butch”…but she was just not “motherly” and sensitive. Is that wrong for me to think that. If women vote for their “fathers” why can’t a man for his “mother.” In addition, I feel that if I vote for a woman to lead us I am voting for a WOMAN. The kind of leadership and sensitivities that a woman can bring to a job are totally different than a man’s skills at times. Would a woman think differently about sending a young boy to war. Would a woman think differently about schools. Would a woman think differently about the rights of those who are not in the white male majority. I hope so. The problem was Hillary didn’t show me this…Until this weekend.
At the debate there was this moment
BOOM! In that one second Hillary was human. She was real. She was FEMININE! She connected with me. I loved her. Page Dr. Freud!
There was also a moment I have no video documentation for though. (UPDATE: VIDEO BELOW) She did a press conference for reporters yesterday that I saw on C-Span. All the reporters were gathered around and Chris Matthews was asking something of her and trying to get her attention as she walked away after the conference. She walked over to him as he stood on the other side of the fence. She grabbed him by the shoulder. Pulled him closer. Put her hand on his cheek and said something. I’m told she said “Why are all you guys obsessed with me?” Awesome. Perfect. Game. Set. Match. Loved it!
I see a different side of her now. I am glad that I kept an open mind even though I was committed totally to another candidate. I now connect with her in a way I didn’t before which is so important. Damn, its everything in politics! One pundit, I believe it was Mark Shields on PBS told a story to illustrate this point. He told the story of a reporter who was covering the funeral of FDR. He was in the crowd about twenty rows back of where the funeral procession was going by. Throngs of people paying respect and he could barely see anything as the funeral went by so he looked beside him and there was man sobbing heavily out loud. In tears. After the funeral the reporter asked him “You seem very moved…Did you know the president personally?” The man replied “No, but he knew me.”
So I felt emotion toward Hillary. Maybe it was the exchanges above. Maybe it was the fact she was the underdog now when for so long it felt like her nomination was a media ordained inevitability. I felt like we connected.
By the way…I still support Barack Obama and will vote for him in the primary and election day:-)
UPDATE: 3:22 PM 01.07.08
Ok now I am really connecting. You got to see this.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4097366
Matt says:
I want to like Hilary too, and although my opinion has been alteered in recent weeks I cannot get past the fact that she has voted too pften in step with the current administration. Ok you want to say you were fooled by Iraq, maybe, fooled by Iran too, bullshit! She wanted to come off as strong and instead came off as establishment. Bill Clinton was one of the greatest presidents this ocuntry has had in a LONG time, no matter what some Velveeta eating followers may say, and any hint of what he accomplished would be incredible welcome. Nontheless can she unite and can she truly be believed? And can anyone stop the juggernaught that Obama is becoming?
January 8th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
John says:
yeah.
as much as I was charmed its tough to ignore the past stuff and also in recent days falsifying Obama’s “pro-life” record and just the whole fear tactic stuff that was right out of the GOP playbook. “If you vote for the other guy…We could get hit again” That was said by Hillary and CHENEY..four years apart. So uhm yeah. It justs get slimey…and then Edwards yesterday when asked about Hillary crying said that ” we need a leader who was tough”…This coming from a guy whose whole campaign is run on emotion of dying kids in hospitals and whose campaign events look like Dr. Phil episodes. It does seem Obama has snowballed and I suspect he will kind of keep his mouth shut on any specifics and stay above the fray…the luxury of being the frontrunner.
January 8th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Matt says:
Well after tonight Obama will not have the luxery of snowballing. As for Edwards, although he may be highlighting some of the heart-shattering events in this country, his tone has remained angry and determined. I fear he will become lost amongst the two possible “history-makers” and I still worry that this country cannot elect a black man or even a woman, so for me an Edwards-Obama ticket would be the juggernaught to take those dipshit Repubthugs down once and for all.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm