April 14, 2007

"She is definitely savvier, more cautious, and probably more cynical, than she was then..."

The NYT has a big front-page article on Hillary Clinton and the women who were her Class of 1969 at Wellesley College. Excerpt:
Eleanor Dean Acheson, the general counsel who was in the Clinton administration’s Justice Department, said Mrs. Clinton was only now emerging from her husband’s shadow.

“What people now perceive as Hillary’s distance, the criticism that she’s cold and calculating, and does nothing without a focus group, finds its root in that she has had to be, for 25 years, in the spotlight, and in the shadow of Bill,” Ms. Acheson said. “I think she’s going to get more relaxed as this campaign goes, and show more of the personal qualities her friends have always seen.”

Some of the classmates believe Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign seared his wife, especially the attacks on her statements about not being “some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette” or not having “stayed home and baked cookies.”

“When she saw that something as seemingly innocuous as that cookie statement set off such a firestorm, it took me by surprise and it must have taken her by surprise, too,” said Cheryl L. Walker, a literature professor at Scripps College. “I think her strong commitments are the same, but she is definitely savvier, more cautious, and probably more cynical, than she was then...”
There are 5 audio clips of interviews with Hillary's classmates here.

23 comments:

vet66 said...

Hillary may be savvier, more cautious, and more cynical than before but that is not a recipe for political success. It is, however, the recipe for a calculating, angry reactionary who believes she knows what is best for the rest of us unannointed plebeians whose main claim to fame is our ability to further global warming by our mere existence.

Laura Reynolds said...

We should have a conversation about this. BTW who isn't "savvier, more cautious, and more cynical than before"?

Dave said...

I'm so over her. Next.

vet66 said...

Steve R;

Pelosi and her entourage going to Iran?!

Randy said...

"She is definitely savvier, more cautious, and probably more cynical, than she was then..."

As the 44th President of the United States of America, she ought to be.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

Ugh.

zzRon said...

I have always found it amusing that she was surprised people reacted so negatively about the "stand by your man" and "baking cookie" comments. HELLO??????...anybody home? I think not :-).

Revenant said...

I have always found it amusing that she was surprised people reacted so negatively about the "stand by your man" and "baking cookie" comments.

Yeah, that didn't speak well for her people skills.

Of course, ultimately it turned out she WAS a "stand by your man" type, so that might weigh in her favor with some people.

John Stodder said...

A "more cynical" Hillary seems about as unappealling as a politician can get.

She is such a curveball in this election. In many ways, Hillary is the centrist, sane Democrat many of us are looking for. And yet, as of now, I'd rather have the more liberal Obama, or the more conservative Guiliani or McCain (with all the social-right-wing baggage that comes with any Republican president) than her.

Meade said...

(cue slippery slide guitar and slick sax)

Sometimes its hard to be H Clinton
Cautiously loving that bad man
O, he'll have good times
And then more good times
Savvy you, alone, can understand

But since you have goals... you'll dissemble
Is it really worth the ugly scenes?
Big cy-ni-cal goals
Po-li-ti-cal goals
Just tell yourself... he's but a means

Stand on that man
His slippery shoulders cling to,
For that brass ring you'll need to.
Feminism goes only just so far

Stand on that man
But tell the world it's all you
The title's yours because you can

Stand... on... that... man

zzRon said...

Revenant said....."Of course, ultimately it turned out she WAS a "stand by your man" type, so that might weigh in her favor with some people."




Yeah, ultimately it might very well weigh in her favor with some folks. But it won't with me. The thought of a woman who stands by her man through thick and thin is all very nice and romantic. Trouble is though, she stood by a man who was (and still is) a worthless piece of doo doo :-(. Of course, that's just my opinion.....and I could be wrong.

Bob said...

Please! She's the Left's version of Nixon, with all the misanthropy, coldness, and insecurities, along with the propensity for paranoia and persecution complex (vast right-wing conspiracy, indeed). Also the dishonesty, examples being the Rose Law Firm records and the cattle futures.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Meade: The Tammy Wynette in me approves of the George Jones in you.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

I love the Hilary-as-Nixon idea- very apt, especially given her presence at the Watergate hearings. If she loses in '08 will we get a "you won't have Hilary to kick around anymore" speech? Regretfully one thinks not.

TMink said...

With so many people having visceral, negative reactions toward her, I do not think she has a chance.

Trey

MadisonMan said...

....I do not think she has a chance.

Well, that depends who the Republicans dredge up. HRC's big shortcoming, IMO, is her status as a Senator.

Invisible Man said...

Please! She's the Left's version of Nixon, Lord Voldmort and Hannibal Lecter, with all the misanthropy, coldness, and insecurities, along with the propensity for paranoia and persecution complex (vast right-wing conspiracy, indeed). Also the dishonesty, examples being the Rose Law Firm records and the cattle futures.

There I fixed it.

Chip Ahoy said...

Hillary Clinton's chocolate chip cookies. 171,000 Google hits, apparently quite good.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

350˚F oven, 8-10 minutes.

Meade said...

Dang, Ruth Anne, if only the George Jones in me hadn't given in to the temptations of cheatin', drinkin', and ridin' lawn mowers... the Tammy Wynette in you might not have had to D-I-V-O-R-C-E the pure H-E- DOUBLE L outta my sad sorry self.

(Just so you know, darlin', it was pure bliss while it lasted.)

TMink said...

Hey Madisonman, do you think it matters with her negatives? I mean, so man people hate her! Kerry was only a lugubrious oaf, and look who beat him!

I do NOT hate Senator Clinton, nor do I support her. But those people that do hate her with a passion and would vote for about anyone but Rosie O'Donnel before Ms. Clinton I think.

Trey

michael farris said...

I hope she wins. She wouldn't be worse than any of the (current) alternatives and the impotent fury and bile of the Hillary-haters would be the funniest thing ever.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Meade:
No, we're not the jet set
We're the old Chevrolet set
The Jones and Wynette set
Ain't the flamin' suzette set


We'll always have Rome [GA], Athens [TX] and Paris [TN].

michael farris said...

As a big Wynette and Jones fan, I can't let this occasion pass without mention of their greatest accomplishment:

"We're just a pair of old sneakers
Stringin' each other along
Sometimes I feel just like a heel
'Cause I know in my soul, that it's wrong

We're just a pair of old sneakers
Kickin' each other around
Eight times a week, we play 'hide an' cheat'
'Til we've run that game in the ground

We're just a pair of old sneakers
We know that cheatin' is wrong
We're just a pair of old sneakers
And we've been in the closet too long"