Though I am politically an atheist at this point, I enjoy watching politics from a distance and see how the actors play their roles.
At times it's clumsy..at times it's infuriating.
And the media? Oh that media..
Hillary Clinton has announced that she will announce she is running for president. That happens tomorrow, Sunday. The strange part, in my political analyst mind, is that she is choosing to use the internet to feed a video to supporters saying she is going to run for President. No rally or big speech. Instead, a quiet video uploaded to the net. In a sense, that's creative. In another, it misses the point. It loses the excitement.
Hillary Clinton has a lot of work to do. There are Democrats that really don't want her to be president. And some of the Democrats who don't want her to actually wanted her to in 2007 and 2008--until Barack Obama started his quest for the White House. The Clinton vs Obama match up was one for the ages. Tears, fears.. "3am ads," Obama jokes at debates about her being likable. Even Bubba himself reportedly was enraged. And Bill was forced into going to Girardville PA and eating a Tony's Screamer during the St Patrick's day Parade, all for the campaign, and something his stomach may yet not be completely healed from.
I personally think there is something else that will work against Hillary Clinton. The media is going to start pushing the image of her as an aging war hawk, someone who has seen her years and now has become withered with time.
Remember this 1995 TIME magazine cover?
That is Bob Dole. The cover story came early in the campaign. The media summed it up. He was old. Too old. By the time October came when Bob Dole literally fell off of a stage during a campaign event in exhaustion, the media's prediction came true. He was indeed too old.
Now keep in mind, Bob Dole was 72 then. He's 91 now, and still alive. And from interviews I see when him from time to time, he also still has a full mind and spirit.
Hillary Clinton will face the same. She's 67, not the same as Dole's wrinkled banana was at the time he sought the presidency against Hill's Bill, but she's aged nonetheless.
In reading media reports hyping her bid for the presidency, I am confronted by one thing that the Hillary campaign is set to do: The propaganda is going to be amazing. Which is what a good campaign does, don't get me wrong. Someone needs to tell Rand Paul that, he's been floundering since he announced and is blaming the media instead of oiling his machine that needs oil internally.
But with Clinton, the posters and images, buttons and shirts being used are all featuring a much younger Hillary Clinton. They are showcasing her presidential candidacy photos from 2008.. they are living in the past. Take a look at these two AP photos of people inside the Hillary super PAC office. And check Hill's images being showcased:
Photo number two especially is promoting he younger more energetic Hillary.
Before the stroke.
Before Benghazi.
Before the baggage.
What is my point?
My point(s) follow:
- The media is going to be a bit biased at first. They won't call attention to Hillary's age at first like they did Dole, but they will. They love a good feeding frenzy. And if someone younger and more exciting comes along in the Democratic party, Clinton will suddenly be characterized as an aging beauty of the 20th century, not ready for the new times
- The Hillary Clinton campaign is going to use old images of Clinton to create a reality that existed then, but not now. The years are what years are: Unkind. Men and women wrinkle over time. Faces change.. the scars of the planetary revolving get noticed. And yes, we get old. Hillary Clinton is not a spring chicken. But eventually her campaign will have to come to grips with that. It appears they are recycling old images--images that don't look a thing like Hillary does now.
While I said before, I don't like taking sides in political fights because, in reality, I think I am much more nuanced than that. We all are, if we stop and think about it. The political parties are like manmade religions. Ironically, people go to church on Sunday and the political shows also air Sunday morning. (Not that either church or political shows matter anymore, of course.)
However the nuttiness of the political process, from a distance it's surely fun to watch.
I consider presidential campaigns like I do Super Bowls or World Series with teams I don't like: I love watching the process and not having to take a side. Of course I vote..and often for the lesser of the evils. But don't we all?
I am fascinated by how Hillary overcomes her State Department years. Her Benghazi 'what difference does it make' comments. Her angry tirade in front of Congress about the terrorist attack. Her email server oddities. And yes. The elephant--or should I say donkey?-- in the room: Her age, once it eventually becomes an issue. As we all know it will.
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| THE GOOD OLD DAYS. DOLE WAS OLD. HILL WAS 50. The future was ahead of her |
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| The Hillary we know now |