(no subject)
The controversy over MSNBC's David Shuster and his comments about how the Clinton campaign seemed to be "pimping" Chelsea Clinton to target demographics to get votes isn't as surprising as people might think.
It's also completely accurate.
Hillary Clinton loves to play the role of wounded, shocked, disapproving, aggrieved womanhood. The role of "I'm a victim! I'm a victim!" has been characterized throughout her entire political life, definitively as First Lady, where her husband's sex life activities were publicly acknowledged and were used as political capital against her Republican opponents in the New York Senate race. Now that victimization is rolling to her daughter, who by virtue of being an adult public figure, is not only responsible for her own actions and motivations, but perfectly capable of standing up for herself as an adult woman.
Hillary Clinton is acting once more as a suffering martyr in order to generate a sympathy vote. Had Chelsea Clinton been the gawky, innocent thirteen-year old from fourteen years ago, this accusation might have treaded water. But as it is, it's the Hillary Clinton strategem of old that played out in the New Hampshire primary AND on Super Tuesday - cry some tears, complain about how unfair it is, accuse people of being big fat meanies, and lo and behold: sympathy votes!
A tear in New Hampshire made her vulnerable; a shaky voice on Super Tuesday picked up a few more votes. And the Role of Momma Bear on the eve of the Washington primaries is sure to pick up a few more of that crucial voting block that has been her stalwart throughout this campaign - the woman of a certain age.
Surprisingly enough, the Obamas don't trot their kids out on stage with them. And McCain's daughter is definitely getting pimped out to generate votes with her own MySpace page and Facebook.
Clinton is a master of framing and a product of a political machine. Not a week ago she was screaming for Obama to face her in public debates immediately after he outstripped her in fundraising. Obama's ability to place advertising on the Super Bowl ads in every market was immediately framed by the Clinton campaign as "establishment politics" - hilariously hypocritical from a political family that's operated inside the Beltway for over twenty years.
In other words, any news is good news. So when one guy says what a huge number of Americans are thinking about the oddity of Chelsea Clinton using her face, name, persona and identity to campaign for her mother when for YEARS she was completely off-limits to the press speaks volumes to the methodology of the Clinton campaign.
In Washington on Thursday night, Clinton spoke to 5,000 people. On Friday morning, Obama spoke to 20,000 people packing a sports arena that doesn't fill to overflow even for the NBA team that plays there. It's utterly and completely clear that there's an Obama surge, and the Clinton campaign is doing anything - ANYTHING to hold back the tide.
By the way, one can also see the difference in numbers between the supporters of the Democrats in Washington State by simply looking at the photos of the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters in the primary today, located on the local paper The Stranger's Slog.
In one, several older voters cluster around a small table, one glaring at the camera, a Hillary Clinton button pinned to his chest. He stands apart, a gulf of space between him and the other Clinton supporters.
In the other, swarms of people fill the field of vision. There are hundreds of them, and they pack the space of the gym like restless ants. To say the Clinton supporters were outnumbered by the Obama supporters by fifty to one is not an unreasonable estimate.
That is the fear of the Clinton campaign - that irrelevancy and story headlines mention the Obama name more often than the Clinton name. That publicity for her name has dwindled. That her base of financial support is drying up. That no member of an incredibly popular music group has taken her speech and converted it to a free song he won't sell because the message was so inspiring (a hint: details of a health care system truly don't flow in lyrical form). That many Americans are tiring of the Clinton franchise, and like her strongest supporters in Hollywood, are increasingly relevant only to women of a certain age, and those for whom nostalgia is more important than substance. Like, for instance, Barbara Streisand and her fanbase that isn't gay, male, and fabulous.
The Clinton campaign will indeed pimp out Chelsea Clinton's aggrieved status as victim and poor, innocent child of a charismatic leader, slandered in the press by the thoughtless remarks of a cable news channel pundit. To say MSNBC's talking head Shuster fucked up is irrelevant - it simply would not have mattered whether he mentioned that she had interesting choice in clothing or whether she seemed out-of-place on the campaign trail. The Clinton political machine LOVES to find new and interesting ways to protest too much, and exploit them into airtime for the candidate.
It certainly works; the Baby Boomer Woman is the primary demographic base of support for the Clinton campaign. That demographic reacts well to tugs at the heartstrings, calls for nostalgic, better times and that special bond between mother and daughter. To speak to them is to relate to them, and a calculatingly precise political machine can easily take advantage of such a predictable fanbase.
To note that most of that demographic base would have stared in utter disbelief at the codependency of a friend who watched her husband dance the horizontal mambo and remain married for the sake not of the child, but for the sake of her career and future, may go without saying, but it may also go without saying that it's far more convienient for politicians and their constituency alike to point to a long-standing marriage of any quality as a success than a failure, especially in American politics.
The truly abhorrent behavior is coming directly now from the Clinton campaign, where politicos and advisors rub their hands with glee whenever someone from the world of the press makes a faux pas against the Clintons, and thrust it full-faced into the spotlight of national attention.
So no, it's not at all odd that Chelsea Clinton is being pimped out by her mother's campaign to win votes. In fact, it's par for the political course. And Chelsea's willing consent and active participation negates any self-righteous zealotry Hillary Clinton might have towards those who ping a public figure that's related to her.
Yes, oddly enough, I do agree with David Shuster. It's kind of weird how Chelsea Clinton is being pimped out by her mother's campaign for president. But the true prostitution of the adult daughter of one of the United States' most political families didn't happen until AFTER Shuster stuck his foot in his mouth.
And that isn't weird at all - that's classic Hilary Clinton political strategy, from day one.
It's also completely accurate.
Hillary Clinton loves to play the role of wounded, shocked, disapproving, aggrieved womanhood. The role of "I'm a victim! I'm a victim!" has been characterized throughout her entire political life, definitively as First Lady, where her husband's sex life activities were publicly acknowledged and were used as political capital against her Republican opponents in the New York Senate race. Now that victimization is rolling to her daughter, who by virtue of being an adult public figure, is not only responsible for her own actions and motivations, but perfectly capable of standing up for herself as an adult woman.
Hillary Clinton is acting once more as a suffering martyr in order to generate a sympathy vote. Had Chelsea Clinton been the gawky, innocent thirteen-year old from fourteen years ago, this accusation might have treaded water. But as it is, it's the Hillary Clinton strategem of old that played out in the New Hampshire primary AND on Super Tuesday - cry some tears, complain about how unfair it is, accuse people of being big fat meanies, and lo and behold: sympathy votes!
A tear in New Hampshire made her vulnerable; a shaky voice on Super Tuesday picked up a few more votes. And the Role of Momma Bear on the eve of the Washington primaries is sure to pick up a few more of that crucial voting block that has been her stalwart throughout this campaign - the woman of a certain age.
Surprisingly enough, the Obamas don't trot their kids out on stage with them. And McCain's daughter is definitely getting pimped out to generate votes with her own MySpace page and Facebook.
Clinton is a master of framing and a product of a political machine. Not a week ago she was screaming for Obama to face her in public debates immediately after he outstripped her in fundraising. Obama's ability to place advertising on the Super Bowl ads in every market was immediately framed by the Clinton campaign as "establishment politics" - hilariously hypocritical from a political family that's operated inside the Beltway for over twenty years.
In other words, any news is good news. So when one guy says what a huge number of Americans are thinking about the oddity of Chelsea Clinton using her face, name, persona and identity to campaign for her mother when for YEARS she was completely off-limits to the press speaks volumes to the methodology of the Clinton campaign.
In Washington on Thursday night, Clinton spoke to 5,000 people. On Friday morning, Obama spoke to 20,000 people packing a sports arena that doesn't fill to overflow even for the NBA team that plays there. It's utterly and completely clear that there's an Obama surge, and the Clinton campaign is doing anything - ANYTHING to hold back the tide.
By the way, one can also see the difference in numbers between the supporters of the Democrats in Washington State by simply looking at the photos of the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters in the primary today, located on the local paper The Stranger's Slog.
In one, several older voters cluster around a small table, one glaring at the camera, a Hillary Clinton button pinned to his chest. He stands apart, a gulf of space between him and the other Clinton supporters.
In the other, swarms of people fill the field of vision. There are hundreds of them, and they pack the space of the gym like restless ants. To say the Clinton supporters were outnumbered by the Obama supporters by fifty to one is not an unreasonable estimate.
That is the fear of the Clinton campaign - that irrelevancy and story headlines mention the Obama name more often than the Clinton name. That publicity for her name has dwindled. That her base of financial support is drying up. That no member of an incredibly popular music group has taken her speech and converted it to a free song he won't sell because the message was so inspiring (a hint: details of a health care system truly don't flow in lyrical form). That many Americans are tiring of the Clinton franchise, and like her strongest supporters in Hollywood, are increasingly relevant only to women of a certain age, and those for whom nostalgia is more important than substance. Like, for instance, Barbara Streisand and her fanbase that isn't gay, male, and fabulous.
The Clinton campaign will indeed pimp out Chelsea Clinton's aggrieved status as victim and poor, innocent child of a charismatic leader, slandered in the press by the thoughtless remarks of a cable news channel pundit. To say MSNBC's talking head Shuster fucked up is irrelevant - it simply would not have mattered whether he mentioned that she had interesting choice in clothing or whether she seemed out-of-place on the campaign trail. The Clinton political machine LOVES to find new and interesting ways to protest too much, and exploit them into airtime for the candidate.
It certainly works; the Baby Boomer Woman is the primary demographic base of support for the Clinton campaign. That demographic reacts well to tugs at the heartstrings, calls for nostalgic, better times and that special bond between mother and daughter. To speak to them is to relate to them, and a calculatingly precise political machine can easily take advantage of such a predictable fanbase.
To note that most of that demographic base would have stared in utter disbelief at the codependency of a friend who watched her husband dance the horizontal mambo and remain married for the sake not of the child, but for the sake of her career and future, may go without saying, but it may also go without saying that it's far more convienient for politicians and their constituency alike to point to a long-standing marriage of any quality as a success than a failure, especially in American politics.
The truly abhorrent behavior is coming directly now from the Clinton campaign, where politicos and advisors rub their hands with glee whenever someone from the world of the press makes a faux pas against the Clintons, and thrust it full-faced into the spotlight of national attention.
So no, it's not at all odd that Chelsea Clinton is being pimped out by her mother's campaign to win votes. In fact, it's par for the political course. And Chelsea's willing consent and active participation negates any self-righteous zealotry Hillary Clinton might have towards those who ping a public figure that's related to her.
Yes, oddly enough, I do agree with David Shuster. It's kind of weird how Chelsea Clinton is being pimped out by her mother's campaign for president. But the true prostitution of the adult daughter of one of the United States' most political families didn't happen until AFTER Shuster stuck his foot in his mouth.
And that isn't weird at all - that's classic Hilary Clinton political strategy, from day one.