If You Actually Listen To The Hillary Clip

[ruggerson]

the one the rightwing trolls are posting here, there is virtually no accent at all. She doesn't sound Southern, it's all made up by the rightwing echo chamber.

Rightwing memes:

Hillary is not genuine, ergo she fakes Southern accents.

Obama is a fraud and a charlatan, hence he has hidden his Muslim roots. Christians should be very scared of him.

Edwards is effeminate, a snake oil salesman, self centered and overly ambitious. Thus, he patronizes spas and beauty salons.

Everything that comes out of the rightwing echo chamber reinforces these stupid memes by which the Republicans are attempting to define our candidates negatively and scare people away from voting for them.

DON'T PLAY INTO THEIR HANDS BY POSTING THIS SHIT HERE.

[ElizabethDC]

1. Yeah, she sounds like she's trying to be conversational more than anything else

I shouldn't even bother responding to that crap, because it just glorifies Drudge's talking points.

Ruggerson, you've got the right idea!

[Double T]

2. The vast RW conspiracy is at work to destroy our candidates,...........

even HERE!

[Mister Ed]

3. Aye. n/t

[illinoisprogressive]

4. I did not hear her speak but, I think whether she did or did not do an accent

I would have to agree with some posts saying she really needs to be herself. It just somewhat penetrated that the problem she has is that she is not the real her. Her consultants are too many and she listens to all of them.
I would like to see the real her. I might like her. But, I don't know because she is so consultant driven.
She needs to throw them all in a river and throw of the safe mantle and let her hair down.

[buff2]

8. I liked her when she was on the Today show

talking to Matt Lauer about the accusations against Bill about Monica....it was when she didn't actually know he had the affair. Like most wives,you just don't want to believe your husband was unfaithful. Anyway,she was so calm,articulate,soft spoken and a real lady. More of a First Lady than Mrs. Xanax Bush could ever hope to be.

I think sometimes she gets too loud and shrill....and that turns a lot of people off.She would win a lot more people over if she would be like she was on the Today show. She should drop being a politician and be soft spoken and calm.Talk to us like we were sitting around a kitchen table. I will never understand why people in politics can't just BE THEMSELVES.

[ElizabethDC]

9. One of her best speeches ever was at the Ann Richards memorial

she seemed very relaxed and conversational, in my opinion.

Link here: http://keyetv.com/video/?id=[e-mail]

[nodular]

13. You have a point, but I think it is overstated.

I'm a probable Hillary supporter
I am leaning toward supporting Hillary myself because I feel she is a very intelligent, tough, compassionate person with an excellent grasp of the issues and good stands on them. And yes, the fact that I think she is the one most likely to defeat the Repubs matters to me (this is not an academic exercise!)

Her Image is Shaped (Like the Rest) But She is Still Herself
I will admit that she may sometimes let consultants have a bigger role than they should. But I disagree that she is, as you imply, "not herself." Remember, all candidates heavily use consultants now---they are a complete necessity. No presidential can completely be "themselves" anymore and win.


Digression #1: An Abraham Lincoln Story
It will sound like a digression to some (and I apologize for that) but it reminds me of a great Abraham Lincoln story. The first year Lincoln was nominated, the convention was in Chicago, but Abe was in Springfield (at that time, candidates did not even enter the city where the nomination was held. Abe was a long shot, but as a result of a deadlocked convention, he had the opportunity to get the nomination.

His followers came to him in Springfield and said, "OK, Abe, we can get you the nomination, but you have to decide what deals we should make. We can do it with A,B, or C being offered Secretary of State, and D,E, or F being offered Secretary of Defense, etc. (These deals would line up the support Abe needed to secure the nomination.)

Abe replied: "No deals."

His aides looked at each other. No deals meant no nomination. So, they went back to Chicago and made the deals they chose themselves, and "locked the nomination up" (in the back rooms). Then they went back to Abe, told him the deals they had made and said, "If you endorse these deals, you have the nomination. Otherwise, you don't." He endorsed the deals. When it came time for his aides to dome up with a campaign slogan, they chose: "Honest Abe."

Digression #1: An Al Gore Story
I watched all 3 Gore/Bush debates. In the first debate, Gore, a college debater, surely felt he did not need a consultant to deal with Bush---a MORON! But he was wrong! Sure, he showed that he was 100 times smarter, knew 100 times more about the issues, and could express himself 100 times better. But he ended up looking like a "bully"---so he "lost" the debate in the eyes of many average Joes watching.

It does no good to complain about media spin---you have to prepare for it and forestall it in advance. Did I understand this beforehand? No. I thought Gore won by a mile. But I am not a media consultant. That is the kind of thing they are paid to know---Americans are extremely sensitive to a Presidential candidate looking like a "bully"---even if the bullying is to expose your opponent as an idiot! (Gore, who is much large than Bush, also stood near him at times, which made Bush visible cower. I know, you're saying so what, Gore just exposed Bush as a coward as well! Nope, that counted against Gore too.)

Back to My General Point about Hillary and Consultants
So, like all the candidates now, Hillary has consultants and "image shapers." At times it can get out of hand and it has to be watched---you have to let the genuine person come through. But when you are trying to win an election among a couple hundred million or so potential voters, you have to, to an extent, "be all things to all people."

Hillary vs. the Democrats
Another thing to keep in mind about Hillary is that she is running in the general election now---while her opponents run for the nomination. You can debate the strategy (it has risk), but I think it is sound and likely to lead to victory in 11/2008.

Because she is the front runner, she can afford to focus on 11/2008 and shape her image with that in mind. Obama and Edwards cannot afford this strategy. They must run as hard as they can for the nomination and hope to catch up with Hillary. If one of them wins the nomination, you will see a re-shaping of his image for the general campaign. This will look bad, but it is unavoidable for them. If Hillary wins the nomination, she will not suffer such a hit.

[Captain Hilts]

5. So many here fall for that RW crap, like the stuff about "Clinton fatigue."

Gee whiz, HillaryC's not even among my top three choices, but I can't believe the crap folks believe about her.

[alfredo]

7. The thing is, if you live in a region, you pick up the accent. If you

start speaking of those times, the accent comes back. I pick up accents quickly. If I am speaking of Detroit, I go right into the Detroit speech patterns. The same is true about speaking of my home town. I go right into that Shively drawl when I speak of it, or draw from that part of my life.

[Captain Hilts]

10. When in Canada, I say 'proe-gress' instead of 'prahgress'. nt

[alfredo]

15. When I heard Hillary's clip I recognized what was going on.

When I slip into an accent I don't realize it until my wife points it out. For a long time I had a Boston Accent, and when I returned from Africa people thought I was an Aussie. I was just speaking English like the locals spoke. Every now and then I would roll an "r" like the Italians who lived there.

For a while it was like American English was a second language.

[Jim Sagle]

14. And don't forget the Rose Law Firm records.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Evergreen Emerald]

6. has the right-wing media EVER done a story on Bush and his fake accent?

[Captain Hilts]

11. NO!!!! Watch his debates with Ann Richards and he speaks normally!!!!!!

[Evergreen Emerald]

12. exactly my point.

This "news" about Clinton is all over the right-wing rags, and reinforced on our very on DU.

--how much does Bush spend on a hair cut?
--how much did Bush spend on the war?
--what ever happened to the story of the receive in his jacket during speeches and debates?

why are we even buying into the right wing propaganda against Clinton?

Hypocrites all.

[BenDavid]

16. So, let me understand this if

I can. The right wing accuses HRC of using a southern accent and that she (HRC)was condescending and was pandering to the black members of the church.
If you recall this dates back to her speaking during the King holiday. Now, I for one saw and listened to her speech and also heard her use the southern accent. The reason was from whom she was quoting...The song was " I don't feel no ways tired" and was written by James Cleveland. Personally, I heard nothing insulting in the way she quoted the song. From the audience response, they too enjoyed her delivery and the manner in which she came across....There was no disrespect, nor condescension by HRC.
It always amazes me how white republicans tell us how black folks should react.It is as though, they, the white republicans believe black folk cannot tell when someone is dissing them. Hey, excuse me but black folk coined the term dissing and know full well when someone be it white, black, red, yellow, orange or green shows disrepect.
When Bill Clinton gave his acceptance speech in New York in 1992 he too spoke a little more with a southern drawl when he quoted, Fannie Lou Hamer's favorite line, " "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."
So when a white southern republican tells you that no white democrat should ever use a southern accent to make a point, just tell em, " you remind me of a redneck and not a good old boy, cause a good old boy raises livestock and a redneck gets emotionally involved."