There's Something About Hillary Why Are Voters So Passionately
for or Against Her?
IT SEEMS EVERYBODY has an opinion about Hillary Rodham
Clinton, the Democratic candidate for Senate. Strong opinions.
Some good and a lot bad.
"I just can't stand her," Jerri Walsh of Huntington told
Newsday columnist Paul Vitello last week as she walked out of
the Smith Haven Mall.
"I think she is running just to get away from Bill," said Nina
Kerner of Hicksville.
"...I wouldn't vote for her if she was the last person on the
face of the Earth," said Audrey Bradley of Manorville.
The Vitello interviews don't constitute a scientific poll, but
professional surveys show the same phenomenon. The CBS-New
York Times poll last week had Clinton's unfavorable rating at
31 percent, an unusually high number for a candidate running
for office for the first time. And Rep. Rick Lazio of
Brightwaters, her Republican opponent, unknown beyond Long
Island until a few weeks ago, is running almost even-although
64 percent of those polled said they didn't know enough about
Lazio to have an opinion about him. A virtual nobody is almost
even with the first lady.
Polls, as we all should know by now, don't predict the outcome
of an election, especially one that is four and a half months
away. Polls are just a snapshot of where things stand at a
given moment in time. And opinions can change. Clinton was
ahead of Lazio 44 percent to 39 percent in the CBS-Times poll.
What is not clear is whether the 44 percent represents the
floor or the ceiling for her.But this much is certain: There's
something about Hillary. She knows it and acknowledges it and
seems almost bemused by it. One of her more appealing traits,
in fact, is her willingness to look at herself from a distance
and even laugh at herself. In person, there is a vulnerability
and a softness that doesn't come across on the TV screen.
And it's clear, too, that the "something" about Hillary also
can work in her favor. There are people who admire her
greatly. Just as Vitello found many women with a negative view
of Clinton, there are many people such as Vivian Fisher, a
Democratic Suffolk legislator, who hold the opposite view.
Fisher is organizing women for Hillary because, she says,
there are so many who want to support her and are appalled by
her negative press. Anybody who has watched Clinton campaign
has seen the excitement her presence creates, especially among
women. Indeed, the encouraging note for Hillary in last week's
poll was that her favorable rating had risen from 39 percent
to 45 percent.
Still the story about Hillary is Hillary. She wants to run on
issues-it is the issues that have always fascinated her-but,
for the people of New York, it's Hillary the person that is
both fascinating and polarizing.
The "something" certainly isn't a lack of intelligence or
knowledge of issues. Most of her enemies will readily admit
that intellectually she is at the top of the class. Indeed,
that might be part of the problem. You only have to listen to
her on an issue, whether it be health care or education or the
economy, to appreciate her detailed, nuanced grasp of the
topic.
So what is the "something"? Why the strong feeling against
Hillary? Here are a few thoughts: The Carpetbagger Charge:
This is certainly one factor. She is a midwesterner, born and
raised in Illinois, who spent much of her adult life in
Arkansas. She isn't, as some say, "one of us." In addition,
she has conveyed a sense of entitlement that rubs people the
wrong way. As in: "Who is she to come here and run for one of
the highest and most prestigious jobs in the state? She didn't
work her way up and the nomination was handed to her on a
silver platter." Clinton understands this and has been working
hard for over a year to overcome what was a predictable
negative reaction. But the carpetbagger issue has a deeper
resonance that goes beyond not being a long-time resident of
the state. Voters wonder whether she could possibly have the
intuitive understanding of New Yorkers' concerns that comes
from years of working the state and being familiar with the
state's political history. And there is also a cultural
dimension, a feeling that Clinton's midwestern reserve doesn't
quite mesh with the let-it-all-hang-out style of New York
politics.
The Smarty-Pants Issue: At times, Clinton comes across as an
elitist policy wonk. That's fine if her goal is to be the top
advisor to the president, but it's not the persona of an
electoral politician. This image is probably rooted in
Clinton's spectacularly unsuccessful effort to pass national
health care legislation. She gathered all the smart people
together and then came down from the mountain and delivered
her plan-or, at least, that is the image that lingers. And, of
course, the plan itself was so complicated that most mortals
could not understand it. Now Clinton says that she believes in
a step-by-step approach to health care, although her
explanation of what went wrong tends to blame others more than
herself.
The Sixties Cause Couple Label: There is a part of the
electorate that forever will see Bill and Hillary Clinton as
symbols of everything they hate about the 1960s counterculture
generation: the permissiveness, the protests, the lack of
discipline and the disrespect for institutions. But those are
people who would not vote for either Bill or Hillary under any
circumstances.
Another aspect of this attitude is seen in the voters who
consider Hillary Clinton the more politically liberal of the
two. It's significant that in the CBS-New York Times poll, 51
percent of respondents classified Hillary as liberal and only
26 percent considered her a moderate. Thus, a majority see her
as liberal even though she has tried to identify herself in
the campaign as a New Democrat, a Bill Clinton Democrat, a
Democrat who supports welfare reform, the death penalty and a
balanced budget. Lazio will undoubtedly try to portray her as
an unreconstructed liberal out of touch with concerns of most
New Yorkers, especially suburbanites, the voting bloc that
will determine the outcome of the election.
The Ice Queen Image: Some voters have an image of Clinton as
arrogant, cold, aloof and guarded. In person, the arrogance,
coldness and aloofness tend to melt away. That could be why
her approval rating has gone up and why she is better received
in New York now than she was a year ago. The more people see
her and have contact with her, the more they like her. But she
is too guarded, by her own admission, and needs to loosen up.
Part of her problem might be the same cultural differences
between the Midwest and New York discussed as part of the
carpetbagger issue. Clinton has more than a reserve, she has a
shield around her emotions. New Yorkers are much more prone to
share their feelings. In a recent meeting with Newsday's
editorial board, it was pointed out to Clinton that New
Yorkers will tell you everything that has ever gone wrong in
their lives in the first 15 minutes that you meet them, she
quipped: "But everybody knows my life story and the worst
things that ever happened to me!" That's the type of response
she needs to give more frequently, the kind that connects with
voters emotionally, not just intellectually. The kind that
shows she has a sense of humor.
The Victim Game: This is an immensely complex matter, but many
women voters who might normally be expected to support Clinton
say that she is using her victimization by her husband to gain
elective office. And they resent it. Poll after poll shows
Clinton running behind the lesser-known Lazio among white
women. Some women say they believe she should have left her
husband after the humiliation of the Monica Lewinsky episode.
Others believe she has used the marriage to further her
career. Some say she is running to gain personal vindication.
Whatever the specific reason, unless Clinton can improve her
showing with women she will have a hard time winning.
The Sexism Issue: Rational explanations for the hostility to
Clinton fall short because she has become a national Rorschach
test, especially in how people react to the women's
revolution. There is undeniably an aspect of sexism in the
over-reaction to Hillary Clinton. People tend to project onto
her their anger, their hopes, their despair and frustration
about issues involving women in public life. There are some,
including Clinton, who believe woman are held to a double
standard in politics, being told, for instance, to be strong,
but not too strong, aggressive but not too aggressive.
* * * None of these reasons alone fully explains the
"something" about Hillary.
They are all mixed in together, a gestalt. Sexism, for
instance, is a part of all the other reasons but not the only
reason by itself.
But, as a whole, they mean Hillary Rodham Clinton is a unique
candidate and how she handles these issues will go a long way
toward determining who will be the next senator from New York
State. ''RAYMOND A. JANSEN Publisher, President and C.E.O.
ANTHONY MARRO, Editor JAMES M. KLURFELD, Editor of the
Editorial Pages ROBERT F. BRANDT, Managing Editor CAROL R.
RICHARDS, Deputy Editor of the Editorial Pages CHARLOTTE H.
HALL, Managing Editor HOWARD SCHNEIDER, Managing
EditorEDITORIALS "Where there is no vision, the people
perish."
http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/senate/nd4804.htm
God Bless America
Fuji -- Life Member of the VRWC.
"There is still the illusion that achievements are the echo of words."
--Eric Hoffer
(T- 227 days until eviction and delousing the White House!)
