Hillary should address the "bitch thing."

[gulliver]

I'll probably get flamed for this...maybe it is stupid. But I think that Hillary needs to address the "bitch thing" with humor, even embrace it. She is not going to escape it. There is not enough political money in the world to erase it. She has to own it and make it work for her.

[question everything]

1. Huh?

Can you please elaborate, for those of us who are not on DU "24/7?"

[gulliver]

3. I'm talking about her reputation, not a particular incident.

Similar to the way Al Gore embraced the "he's wooden" thing and turned it into an asset...

[niyad]

4. from a couple of weeks ago, when somebody asked about "defeating the bitch"

to mccain, who laughed.

[niyad]

2. I have several responses when called bitch--first is, "AKC registered, thank you."

second is, "you say this as if it's a bad thing"
third is, " I am not A bitch, I am THE bitch, and, to you, I am MS. BITCH"

[rufus dog]

5. and how would she address it?

Dick Cheney "addressed" the DICK label by being himself, a DICK!

What could HRC do to embrace bitchiness?

[gulliver]

7. Lots and lots of ways.

niyad has one above that I think is really good. Its really up to Hillary. She can make light of it. She can make it a sign of toughness. She can do both plus more.

[Evergreen Emerald]

6. the problem with "addressing things"

is that it gets twisted on her and she is accused of negative campaigning. Any time she has attempted to address the "thing" whether it is what her husband did, or her sinister plot to control the world, or any "thing" she is pounced upon by the media, the right, and the left.

And frankly the "bitch" thing speaks for itself: misogyny.

[rufus dog]

9. Simply calling it misogyny speaks for itself

A lot of people just don't like HRC it has absolutely nothing to do with her being a woman.

[gulliver]

10. She has to address it to keep it from being twisted.

Anything about her, fair or not, that she doesn't directly control will be used by others. Hillary should accept the fact that she is a tough thinker and fighter. She should accept that others interpret it as bitchy. Then she should make it work for her. Not to address those interpretations is similar to Kerry not addressing the Swift Boaters.

[spooky3]

11. agree--and if a similar, racist epithet were tossed at Obama

would anyone be suggesting that he address it with humor or in any other way?

The right wing would just love for that to happen, and H. Clinton isn't going to fall for it, either.

[gulliver]

18. Two different things

Racism is obviously a lot tougher to deal with. Obama's race is not a reputation subject to change. And the bias against Obama's race is not a fleeting, instinctive raction to Obama himself, IMO. It is an engrained instinctive reaction to Obama's race. It's ugly as hell and not his fault or subject to much control by him. I wish he could defeat it. I hope he can if he is the nominee.

Obama has one advantage over Hillary in that he is a fresh face and can "create himself." Will he do it by positioning himself to heal the racial divides in this country? I doubt it, and I don't see how it can be done. It's almost intractable, IMO. It would take a pure genius the like of which I don't think we have in politics. Even then, it would take years.

The "Obama's a Muslim with Hussein for a middle name" thing he might be able to deal with and make work for him. He seems to cast that as childishness and ignorance. That is both the truth and effective. Still it sits out there in the zeitgeist like Gore's inventing the Internet.

[Benhurst]

8. "I am not a crook" sure worked for Nixon when his integrity was questioned.

:rofl:

[gulliver]

12. That was ham-handed.

And Nixon was a crook. Still, he was politician enough to know he had to address it. He just blew it.

[MilesColtrane]

13. I think there are ways to make fun of the label,

but I don't think bringing it up is to her advantage.

[rufus dog]

14. Maybe a certain Elton John song as a theme song?

[gulliver]

16. It's the label and more.

I don't think I'm hallucinating when I say Hillary has an image issue with a segment of voters, including some Dem and independent voters. Those voters are judging her instinctively, rightly or wrongly, as having a flavor of cold, phony harridan. I personally do not see Hillary that way.

To turn something like that around, you have to listen to it, like it or not. Then understand it, and change it. Ignoring it won't work, IMO. It undermines authenticity.

Of course, I could be completely out of it. I know full well that political victory does not depend on an authentic image. It just depends on just enough image to get the votes. If Hillary can make it to the presidency with people continuing to harbor these instinct-level negative impressions of her, then that would be OK with me. I don't think that is ideal, because that creates a division problem in the country potentially...

[MilesColtrane]

26. For this type of thing to be successful, the candidate has got to have some...

...natural comedic acting talent.

Gore has it.

I've never seen it in Sen. Clinton.

The precise way a candidate tries to counter impressions of themselves is crucial, and the outcome can be fraught with unintended consequences.

Think Dukakis in a tank.

[gulliver]

30. Good points.

I do agree it's got to be well done to work. And I also have not seen Clinton do anything like it. I have seen good poise, charm, stage presence. But Gore is a lot funnier. The cameo he did on 30 Rock was hilarious for example.

Hillary would have her work cut out for her. It wouldn't necessarily have to be comedic. She might be able to get other women on her side in anger, for example. But I completely agree with your points.

[jillan]

15. She should say - yeah - I'm a bitch and I'm damn proud of it.

I might even consider voting for her if she said that.

Stop trying to please everyone Hillary, and just be yourself - and be proud of it.

[BeyondGeography]

17. This has nothing to do with her problems, IMO

Being tied to the contentious past and the present status quo in Washington is what's dragging her down.

[Benhurst]

20. Things are contentious in Washington because there are conflicting interests.

It's not a matter of school children not getting along. We don't need to be "brought together." We need to address problems facing our country and resolve them -- but in the peoples' favor, not that of the plutocrats who are currently in the saddle.

The Republicans and corporations aren't going to play nice. And as long as we do, they are going to win.

Nixon campaigned to "bring us together." Dubya was "a uniter, not a divider." Yeah. Sure. It's a power struggle for enormous stakes, and so far the American people are losing. We don't even have decent health care, something most peoples of the civilized world take for granted.

I supported Obama in his run for the Senate. His record in the Senate has so far been mixed; but he has time to grow into one of our better Senators.

Obama has potential and some good ideas. But all the talk about "enduring contentiousness in Washington" and the implication that Obama or anyone else will end it through force of a pleasant personality is naif at best, disingenuous at worst. The only way it will end is for Bush to declare marshal law (a distinct possibility) or the Democrats to sweep into control like FDR.

The fascists running this country no more want to come together with the rest of us than they want to ride around with me in my twenty-year-old Buick.

[MethuenProgressive]

19. It's not nice to call Sen. Edwards the "bitch thing".

And why should she address him at all?

[Evergreen Emerald]

21. hehehe

that was funny

[MonkeyFunk]

32. LOL!!

Good 'un.

And no, Clinton doesn't need to address the "bitch thing" at all.

[Bitwit1234]

22. Just goes to show the constant slur slam and bash campaign

against her. Damn if Obama got half the stuff thrown at him he would probably end up quacking in his boots.

[MilesColtrane]

27. "he would probably end up quacking in his boots"

AFFLACK!!

[sandnsea]

23. Being wrong is her problem n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

24. Bill Moyers spoke about this last night at great length on his

show "Bill Moyers Journal" with Kathleen Hall Jamieson. If you missed it, you can watch it here or read the transcript.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12072007/watch.html

The "bitch thing" is pretty mild compared to some of the attacks that are being made about her. I think that women in general, whether they support Hillary or not, should call people on this. They aren't just degrading to Hillary, but to all women, especially those who seek political office.

I'm not an ardent Hillary supporter nor am I a very vocal feminist, but this has the same flavor as racist attacks. If you disagree with Hillary on the issues, all well and good, but these types of attack need to stop.

[gulliver]

29. That is really good video.

I watched the whole thing. I may have to buy Jamieson's book (Unspun). I also think that Moyers was good on Kennedy/Romney and Jamieson was on the nose about Huckabee and his ability to connect.

[shenmue]

25. What the hell are you talking about?

Who is calling her that word, except idiots? Would *you* "address the issue" if some moron walking down the street called you an obscenity?

:dunce:

Please remove your foot from your mouth. I'm sure it can't taste too good.

[MethuenProgressive]

28. If a Hill backer posts: What is Edwards doing about the lip, hair, house, IRW, Hedge fund thing?

and then went on: "Isn't awful people still talk about these things? How can we stop them from talking about these things!?!?" How many DUers would fall for it?
:rofl:

[troubleinwinter]

31. Are there no VITALLY important issues to address at this time?

Right... "somebody called me a name!!!" is worth spending time on rather than the serious matters at hand??!

"address it", "embrace it", bullshit. Rise above the stupid shit and talk about important matters.