February 20, 2008--Briefly Noted
Under time and obligation pressure, a few quick things:
• We now have our two nominees. The race will feature not just the first African-American candidate and a tortured POW but also the widest age and generational gap in electoral history. Obama is a youthful 46 and McCain a whatever 71. That's a difference of 25 years. What this will mean through the summer and into the fall was on vivid display last night in the contrast between their two speeches and who was in the audience at both venues.
• This also suggested the themes of the inevitable campaign--young and naive versus old and world-weary. Obama used the word "old" at least 26 times.
• Spouses and gender again made their sad appearance. Bill got caught on camera screaming at a heckler; and Michelle got captured on YouTube saying, "This is the first time I feel proud about being an American." The pundits deconstructed both missteps--if Hillary can't rein in Bill how will she be able to rein in Ahmadinejad? And if Barack can't control his wife how is he going to stand up to the bullies in Congress? I'm beginning to more and more like the way they handle husbands, wives, and mistresses in France.
• If you are pretending to care about men and women who have to work three jobs just to get by, don't claim that you too "work the night shift" when all that means is that you put in long hours in the Senate. Do not even imply that you've been working as a waitress in the local diner. It only shows, after you give your own campaign $5.0 million, that you must have been stealing from the tip jar. And it reveals your contempt for the intelligence of voters when you to try to pass yourself off as one of "them." We see from the results in Wisconsin where that gets you--17 points behind your rival.
• And, at the risk of getting myself into very deep trouble, there are lessons for women who aspire to break through the presidential, and other glass ceilings--Don't do it as Mrs. Fill-in-the-Blank. It doesn't work to try to have it both ways. You can't ride along and up as your husband's wife and then claim to be authentic and ready to be in charge.
• We now have our two nominees. The race will feature not just the first African-American candidate and a tortured POW but also the widest age and generational gap in electoral history. Obama is a youthful 46 and McCain a whatever 71. That's a difference of 25 years. What this will mean through the summer and into the fall was on vivid display last night in the contrast between their two speeches and who was in the audience at both venues.
• This also suggested the themes of the inevitable campaign--young and naive versus old and world-weary. Obama used the word "old" at least 26 times.
• Spouses and gender again made their sad appearance. Bill got caught on camera screaming at a heckler; and Michelle got captured on YouTube saying, "This is the first time I feel proud about being an American." The pundits deconstructed both missteps--if Hillary can't rein in Bill how will she be able to rein in Ahmadinejad? And if Barack can't control his wife how is he going to stand up to the bullies in Congress? I'm beginning to more and more like the way they handle husbands, wives, and mistresses in France.
• If you are pretending to care about men and women who have to work three jobs just to get by, don't claim that you too "work the night shift" when all that means is that you put in long hours in the Senate. Do not even imply that you've been working as a waitress in the local diner. It only shows, after you give your own campaign $5.0 million, that you must have been stealing from the tip jar. And it reveals your contempt for the intelligence of voters when you to try to pass yourself off as one of "them." We see from the results in Wisconsin where that gets you--17 points behind your rival.
• And, at the risk of getting myself into very deep trouble, there are lessons for women who aspire to break through the presidential, and other glass ceilings--Don't do it as Mrs. Fill-in-the-Blank. It doesn't work to try to have it both ways. You can't ride along and up as your husband's wife and then claim to be authentic and ready to be in charge.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
10:41 AM
2 Comments:
I'm still giggling over her confession that she "had no idea" about the byzantine delegate allotment process in Texas - the state on which she's pinned what little remains of her candidacy. This is the "Ready on Day 1" gal?
Maybe she'll be ready on Day two.
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