Hillary Clinton made a major policy speech yesterday. She’s running for president of the United States. Every time she opens her mouth – and she has a pretty mouth that says smart things that some people sometimes dislike – somebody has something to say about how she sounds. Seems it is never “just right.”
This popped up in my newsfeed which pretty concisely packages the issue.
Fox News: Hillary Clinton Was ‘A Little Too Calm’ While Giving Speech On Foreign Policy
She’s been criticized for shouting before.
I don’t know. What does Hillary Clinton have to do to get it “just right?” To get anything just right? Personally, I was worried about how her poor voice would hold up, it had suffered such abuse these past weeks on the campaign trail. It held up fine, and for my money her tenor was fine. When Hillary gives policy speeches, she generally is calm and deliberate. I have watched many over the past eight years since I began keeping track of her secretary of state tenure. That is her policy speech style. I don’t even want to go into that. Paige Lavender did the topic justice. But what does Hillary have to do to get things “just right?” More to the point, why does she have to?
Everybody has something to say about what she wears, how she sounds, how she looks. Wear that yellow for the speech. No! Oh! Not that awful yellow! Be forceful! Oh no! Don’t yell. Smile more!
Why can’t Hillary just be Hillary? Why can’t the most qualified person ever to run in my life (Harry Truman began as a haberdasher – youngsters, just go google it – I’m too tired – he was the first to run in my life) have a fair chance to spell out her plans without everybody talking about her tone, facial expression, and whatever other third element hits the windshield of the armchair quarterbacks.
When Hillary and I were in college, Marshall McLuhan (go look him up – I am tired of spoonfeeding voting age people) said the “medium is the message.” He meant medium as print v. video. So video is the message today, even though I still like to get my hands on transcripts and lift the passages I think are important. Video – and audio – are the whole show.
I know I am biased. But WTF??????? What is so offensive about Hillary that Bernie’s foghorn and gesticulating, Ted’s cartoon voice, John’s bedtime story voice, and Trump’s bellowing (“Get ‘im out!”) fail to surpass in offensiveness, condescension, plain old annoyance?
Why is her wardrobe an issue? They all look like a suit rack at the cleaners. Why, when she puts forward the only sane. thought-out, and comprehensive plan to combat terrorism is anything other than her words and her plan an issue?
It really never entered my mind that we would have a woman president. I loved Shirley Chisholm. She sat them all down like she was the detention teacher in the halls of Congress. Pat Schroeder gave it her best, and Gerri Ferraro made me proud coming within a margin of being a heartbeat away. But this was never a goal.
It’s just that right now we have the best candidate I have ever seen. She happens to be a woman with a message, a set of plans, and a way of explaining things. She’s not hard to look at, not hard to listen to, and, when you bother to listen, not hard to understand – she explains well.
Why can’t Hillary get it just right? Or is it that the chairs keep getting moved around while the music blares?
Why don’t the guys have to be pitch perfect? Why don’t they even have to pitch it over home base, actually, as long as they throw?
Thank you Hillary Clinton for running for president when you didn’t have to. Thank you for your plans, your brilliance, and for always being right on target while looking pretty and being your spunky and empathetic self. Your Homegirls love you!
The panelists after the debate. Dan Rosenblum
