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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

By the way, the sexism isn't just coming from men
Posted by Jill | 7:44 AM
You know, I've seriously thought that if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, I'll do a write-in vote or sit this one out. I'm only saying this to show that I am no Hillary partisan.

But Maureen Dowd, who out-Hillary-hates even Chris Matthews, outdoes herself today:

Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?

Bill Clinton was known for biting his lip, but here was Hillary doing the Muskie. Certainly it was impressive that she could choke up and stay on message.

She won her Senate seat after being embarrassed by a man. She pulled out New Hampshire and saved her presidential campaign after being embarrassed by another man. She was seen as so controlling when she ran for the Senate that she had to be seen as losing control, as she did during the Monica scandal, before she seemed soft enough to attract many New York voters.

Getting brushed back by Barack Obama in Iowa, her emotional moment here in a cafe and her chagrin at a debate question suggesting she was not likable served the same purpose, making her more appealing, especially to women, particularly to women over 45.

The Obama campaign calculated that they had the women’s vote over the weekend but watched it slip away in the track of her tears.

At the Portsmouth cafe on Monday, talking to a group of mostly women, she blinked back her misty dread of where Obama’s “false hopes” will lead us — “I just don’t want to see us fall backwards,” she said tremulously — in time to smack her rival: “But some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us are ready and some of us are not.”

There was a poignancy about the moment, seeing Hillary crack with exhaustion from decades of yearning to be the principal rather than the plus-one. But there was a whiff of Nixonian self-pity about her choking up. What was moving her so deeply was her recognition that the country was failing to grasp how much it needs her. In a weirdly narcissistic way, she was crying for us. But it was grimly typical of her that what finally made her break down was the prospect of losing.

As Spencer Tracy said to Katharine Hepburn in “Adam’s Rib,” “Here we go again, the old juice. Guaranteed heart melter. A few female tears, stronger than any acid.”

The Clintons once more wriggled out of a tight spot at the last minute. Bill churlishly dismissed the Obama phenom as “the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen,” but for the last few days, it was Hillary who seemed in danger of being Cinderella. She became emotional because she feared that she had reached her political midnight, when she would suddenly revert to the school girl with geeky glasses and frizzy hair, smart but not the favorite. All those years in the shadow of one Natural, only to face the prospect of being eclipsed by another Natural?

How humiliating to have a moderator of the New Hampshire debate ask her to explain why she was not as popular as the handsome young prince from Chicago. How demeaning to have Obama rather ungraciously chime in: “You’re likable enough.” And how exasperating to be pushed into an angry rebuttal when John Edwards played wingman, attacking her on Obama’s behalf.

“I actually have emotions,” she told CNN’s John Roberts on a damage-control tour. “I know that there are some people who doubt that.” She went on “Access Hollywood” to talk about, as the show put it, “the double standards that a woman running for president faces.” “If you get too emotional, that undercuts you,” Hillary said. “A man can cry; we know that. Lots of our leaders have cried. But a woman, it’s a different kind of dynamic.”


Here's the thing: Like Dowd, I too saw the Infamous Diner Incident™ as showing more narcissism than humanity. But this column made the back of my head explode. It's rare that you see even MoDo show her "Let's Re-live High School" card so completely. Let's look at the most cranium-combusting passage again:

...it was Hillary who seemed in danger of being Cinderella. She became emotional because she feared that she had reached her political midnight, when she would suddenly revert to the school girl with geeky glasses and frizzy hair, smart but not the favorite.


Because after all, we all know that "the favorite" was MoDo, right? The pretty, smart Irish girl who got all the boys? This passage tells you a lot more about MoDo than it does about Hillary. You want to talk about reaching your political midnight, Maureen? Take a look in the fucking mirror.

See what she makes me do? She makes me defend Hillary.

And that, my friends, is what happened in New Hampshire yesterday.

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9 Comments:
Blogger K said...
What exactly is it about Clinton that pushes so many buttons? I have never hated her nor have I loved her. I can see when she's doing a good job and when she's making mistakes. What the heck is Dowd's problem?
1/9/08, 9:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Except this isn't high school, it's a Presidential election. You really shouldn't be voting for a candidate because someone pushed her around.
1/9/08, 9:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Seriously! I love how she and other media imply that Hillary won the women voters in NH b/c she cried. Like women are incapable of making an informed decision about who they want to vote for. Give me a break!!! Did you ever think the media and polls could be wrong in the first place? Hmm, what a novel concept.
1/9/08, 9:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
There is no solidarity among women, and Dowd looks mean ever for me, a foreigner reading about your elections.

Excelent the point you make, that Dowd is poisoned by a high-school type jealousy -- is Dowd a retard?, I wonder.
1/9/08, 10:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I haven't figured out why anyone cares what Dowd thinks. She's a gossip, plain and simple. Any critical addition she made to the public discourse years ago has long since been poisoned by her current attitude.

It's time to do what she fears most: ignore her.
1/9/08, 11:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
first off...I love that the labels for this post are "hack journalism, Hillary Clinton, Maureen Dowd".
MoDo and hack journalism should for now and forever be considered one and the same.
I am no Hillary supporter, but the way the voltures were picking at her supposed dead carcass made me want to support her as well. The list of irresponsible media stars mis-covering this election is astounding.
1/9/08, 12:46 PM  
Blogger J said...
I'm with k. I don't love Clinton, and I don't hate her. Dowd is an idiot, though, clearly.
1/9/08, 2:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Post feminism- attack a woman on her past frizzy hair and glasses.

I'm barely paying attention to this race. I want to support Hillary, but I don't. But what makes me want to cry is when one woman goes off on another about her looks, or lack thereof.

Don't support a candidate solely because she's a woman, and I'll say that is solid feminism, because I'd rather have a candidate who is going to do some good for this country- and women in particular. But for God's sake, why do women have to rush in with their little "slam books" and tear Hillary apart because of her looks?
1/9/08, 2:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
So you don't think this will help her draw sympathy? I'm confused. I know most of the voting public goes for the guy or gal with the best emotional appeal but I never thought of myself that way. Like at fittobepres.com I didn't rate them that way either.
1/9/08, 5:38 PM  
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