It's not much of an endorsement to say that someone is normal, and even less of one to say that they are a normal politician, unless that someone is Hillary Clinton. Then it is apparently the most important thing to convey of all. Witness:
New York Magazine, Headline: "Hillary Clinton Is a Flawed But Normal Politician. Why Can't America See That?"
The Atlantic, opening sentence of another article: "Except for her gender, Hillary Clinton is a highly conventional presidential candidate."
You know, I've sat through a lot of presidential campaigns at this point. Let me point out a few more headlines, just from today only, that undercut this thesis.
The Daily Mail: "‘Read the reports’: Hillary Clinton refuses to explain what she told the FBI about how a concussion impaired her memory"
PR Newswire: "Hillary's Health Concerns Serious, Say Most Doctors Polled by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)"
The Hill: "Clinton campaign warns media to tread carefully"
Hot Air: "When lies collide: New Hillary email spin directly contradicted by own previous claim"
National Review, one of two: "What Did Clinton’s Lawyers Say to Her Tech Guy a Few Days Before He Destroyed Her E-Mails?"
National Review, two of two: "Obstruction of Justice Haunts Hillary’s Future"
This is normal and conventional? A secretive candidate who can get away with threatening the media not to report on her potentially serious health issues, while dodging criminal prosecution on clear national security violations and obstruction of justice charges?
Maybe it's not the American people whose eyes are a bit foggy here, ladies and gentlemen of the press.
1 comment:
Yes, I think much of the acceptance of Hillary, even by those that don't like her policies and her personality, is because she is perceived as 'normal', as the sort of being that we are used to seeing on the political stage.
In the movie The Big Short, which tells the story of some people who predicted the mortgage market collapse and profited from it, the main character muses that people accepted what they were being told about 'everything is alright' because the people saying it had been around, had authority, wore nice suits, were on tv a lot. (Not an exact citation, but the general sense of it)
If you had chosen what companies to be in on the computer industry circa 1980 by whether the executives looked & acted like what was 'normal' for a computer industry executive, you would have made some very bad bets.
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