lame duck tales
by Sandra Kinne
Published: April 15, 2008
Hillary Clinton’s going for the gold in her efforts against Barack Obama to win the race for the Democratic nomination.
This weekend, in both an attempt to show Obama as an out-of-touch elitist and her ability to connect with the Democratic conservatives of Pennsylvania and Indiana, Hillary shared a tale of going duck hunting as a child with her father just outside of his native Scranton.
It’s rather amusing hearing all these stories about Hillary that we never heard before as she shows how much she can relate to voters. “Politicians, they’re just like US.” It’s also amusing, though I know it shouldn’t be, to see how much pandering Hillary’s willing to do, the drastic depths she’s willing to go to in her efforts to get on the top of the Democratic ticket.
This isn’t to say Obama’s not pandering; he is. Even if he hadn’t told us via the media that he’d not been bowling since he was 16, we could have figured that out based on his score of 37. When he fed the month-old calf, he was as awkward as a 15-year-old boy trying to unhitch his date’s bra. Obama’s a politician; of course he’s pandering. However, it seems Hillary’s not only trying to beat Obama for the nomination, she’s trying to perfect the art of pandering and beat him at that, too.
Before the week’s over, I expect her to tell us how she’s actually a single mother, only to clarify her comments 24 hours later. “Well, you know, I misspoke. In so far as I know, I am married. But you know, with Bill gone so often devoting his life to the public as a governor and president, and with me left alone in the house to raise Chelsea, I often felt like a single parent. And I can relate to that single mom who works four jobs to feed her children. I, too, often worked four jobs as the governor’s wife – or as the first lady, as a lawyer in the Rose Law Firm, as a public servant for 35 years and as a mom. So, while I may have misspoke or not chosen my words carefully, I, too, can relate to that mom whose children’s father was absent from their lives due to work, divorce or being in public service.”
(Of course, if speaking to a room full black single moms, she’ll show her ability to connect by substituting “children’s father” with “babies’ daddy.”)
She’ll quickly move beyond that controversy by discussing her military experience, and how she can identify with the troops who have faced battle for 15-month-long tours of duty. “Well, you know, I, too, have been in an epic battle for 15 months. And, like the fine servicemen and women of our country, I’ve not had one enemy, but as many as eight including Joe Biden, Mike Gravel and, of course, Barack Obama. And I’m still in the fight; I’m still going strong just like our troops. Though, like those brave men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan who want their battle to be over, I, too, want my battle to be won. I, like them, want to go home and spend time with my family and loved ones instead of being dozens and dozens of miles away from the comforts of my two homes. I didn’t face sniper fire, per se in Bosnia, but I could have used body armor on that visit. When I went to visit troops in Iraq, I had to wear a flak jacket. I ate the MREs and wrote letters home to my loved ones telling them how much I missed them and how forward I looked to seeing them when my 10-hour tour of duty was up. I can relate to the trials and tribulations our military servicemen and women face daily and their fight for victory compels me to fight for my victory.”
Nevermind that I don’t even know if she’s visited the troops in Iraq. At this point in the race, does the truth even matter? The sound bites and the image of Hillary in fatigues and eating MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) will be enough for the 24-hour news cycle until she meets with her next profiled audience with whom she’ll be able to relate: gay, Native American grandmothers who live in electricity-free trailers in South Dakota with their interracial grandchildren 20 miles from the nearest school. I know; it’s starting to sound like a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. The pandering is getting that absurd.
This weekend’s comments on duck-hunting and being a gun lover takes pandering to a new level. Hillary’s speeches are becoming medal-worthy. If they keep up, we’ll see a new sport. Pandering, coming to the 2012 Olympics and your election booth in November.
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April 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
My 6-yr-old daughter says of Hilary: “I don’t like her. If you told her your favorite color was pink, she’d say ‘Me too!’ until she talked to my brother. Then she’d swear her favorite color was blue like him.”
Out of the mouths of babes……