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Hillary Clinton - Perception or Deception
The below quote is from an article in the NY Times dated January 10, 1995 entitled "Hillary Clinton Asks Help In Finding a Softer Image".
"I am surprised at the way people seem to perceive me," she said, "and sometimes I read stories and hear things about me and I go 'ugh.' I wouldn't like her either. It's so unlike what I think I am or what my friends think I am." Mrs. Clinton added: "So I can only guess that people are getting perceptions about me from things I am saying or doing in ways that don't correspond with things I am trying to get across. I didn't get this whole image creation thing. I see what it can do but I'm not sure I get it. I have let other people define me."I don't think there has been enough discussion about the challenges of a woman running for President.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1D6103BF933A25752C0A963958260
Maybe they were crocodile tears earlier in the campaign, but that's a difficult judgement to make. Politics don't leave much room for empathy. And, more than any other candidate Hillary must maintain her tough "guy" image with the general public. Many see it as a contradiction and perceive her to be cold and calculated. Even calling into question her decision to stay with Bill. I don't think this is fair.
But, since when is politics fair. The only things we have to determine what a candidate is trying to get across are their words and actions. At the beginning of this campaign I allowed that others may have defined her and my perceptions of her were unfair. But, what I see now is that she is the one tangling the web.
What do you think?
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Comments (6)
I don't give her the benefit of the doubt anymore, and I don't have any sympathy for the way she thinks people perceive her. She's brought all this on herself, and the only reason why she's still in this race and hasn't been forced out is because of who she is.
I think she is just about as craven a politician as I've ever seen, with an enormous sense of entitlement who truly believes that we OWE her the nomination by virtue of who she is and what's she's gone through (i.e., Monica, the attacks by the Right Wing, etc.) She is shameless in her pandering and every move, every word, every gesture is calculated for its political effect. Did you see the Daily Show last night? He showed clips of her in Indiana speaking at a NASCAR club, with a rather broad mid-western accent. Come on, now - such blatant pandering is pathetic and shows her character quite clearly. She's a political chameleon and I find her utterly untrustworthy.
May 6, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Deception: 1
Perception: 0
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May 6, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
People can rationalize anything. She is a liar, and she betrayed people who fought and defended her. Thats summened up by it just politics.....umm hell no. She crossed the line by hangin with Scaife. To move on to go to hell. Called probably most people that post here who dont agree with her elite, degraded herself with even more pandering (bowling gudder balls, drinking crown royal shots..ect.ect..) and signed on to John McCain, who has become an older version of George Bush.......
COMPLETE DECEPTION IN MY OPINION!
May 6, 2008 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, she told move on to go to hell!
May 6, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think you make a good point about her needing to maintain her "tough guy image" but I believe that this is a box that she painted herself into.
Hillary and her pollster consultants long ago decided that she needed to be a "tough guy" and a hawk on the war to get elected and that is who she as put across to the American people ever since. I'm not sure if that is who she really is or not; but she has no one to blame but herself for this perception.
May 6, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
She never understood that what she wants to say is B.S., and that people see that. The image she wants to communicate just doesn't match what is easily observable, so, naturally there would be a conflict between what she wants to convey and what we perceive in her.
May 6, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
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