Vulgus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
And so New Hampshire goes to the Clintons after the alleged crocodile tears shed by Senator Clinton. Or alleged "choking up". Which ever you want. For they where neither. But it was a brilliant move. And perfectly timed, and I can almost hear Obama cursing in the wind for playing into it (albeit accidentally).
So what happened? The background has to do with people viewing Hillary Clinton as a Tatcheresque Commander-in-Chief with an Iron Vagina, and thus feeling that she has no emotions, no personality, nothing to make her human. The build-up occurred during the Democratic debate directly after the Iowa caucus when two things happened in Hillarys favor (other than that the debate was a draw): Edwards sided with Obama and a stupid question was asked. A question which put Mrs. Clinton in the spotlight.
Questioner: "My question to you is simply this: What can you say to the voters of New Hampshire, on this stage tonight, who see your resume and like it, but are hesitating on the likability issue, where they seem to like Barack Obama more?"
H. Clinton: "Well that hurts my feelings..." (crowd laughs, she smiles)
Questioner: "I'm sorry, Senator... I'm sorry..."
H. Clinton: "But I'll try to go on..." (more laughs, camera pans to Chelsey Clinton) "He's very likable... I... I agree with that. (pause) I don't think I'm that bad..."
B. Obama: "You're likable enough..."
(New Hampshire, 5.1 2008)
That is the first bad play I have seen Obama do. And it gave the Clinton campaign ammunition, which it used a few days later...
The winners of the Iowa caucus, Obama and Edwards (two men), teaming up on "poor old" Clinton (a woman who says her feelings have been hurt). It need not be mentioned that Mrs. Clinton has been running a strong campaign the entire fall, even though it faltered at the end a bit. She could now put her in the place of the underdog. A repressed woman. Men taking charge and being mean.
No one, I believe, really saw it that way the during the debate or after it. But on the morning of the 8th when the media was pimping "Hillarys emotional breakdown" (like your uncle pimped your mother), Mrs Clinton was able to use the situation at the debate to her advantage. And the media played right into it. Turned it into hype... Had analysts look at the tape and confirm or denounce her tears as real. Of course the media played into it. It is news! In any case, it doesn't matter if her tears where genuine or not, not as long as the headlines read "Hillary Cries!". Now women all over New Hampshire, and indeed the entire nation, were going "aww!" and "poor thing!". And god forbid if anyone did denounce her tears as "faked onto perfection". Women had made up their mind; her tears were genuine, and any man who says otherwise is a chauvinist pig (and any woman a republican...).
And let me tell you that if you believe her tears to be genuine, then, my god I don't even want to think what you are! Just look at the video, which is easily found on the 'net. There are no tears. There is no breakdown. Her voice does choke up (I'd say pitch up, but I'm a cold bastard) during one brief word. After which she continues to market her readiness, takes a jab at Obama and then continues to appeal to her feminine voters by mentioning children, exercise and diet.
Devious rhetoric. Just the stuff presidents are made of. But Obama isn't done for yet. He only lost with 3%. And he too is a master of rhetoric. Of playing culturally anchored emotions. E.g.:
"My voice is a little hoarse, my eyes are a little bleary, my back is a little sore," he [Obama] said. "But my spirit is strong."
(Taken from Obamas speech at Jersey City, reported in the NY Times January 10th - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/us/politics/10obama.html?hp)
Isn't that just grand! He is tired. He has worked so hard. But his spirit is strong! Isn't that almost the perfect picture of African-American history in the U.S. of A.? A tired overworked black man fighting for his rights. I do not blame Mrs Clinton from avoiding to campaign in areas with a majority of African-Americans.
So where do we go from here? The 15th is Michigan, 19th Nevada, 26th South-Carolina (where Edwards hopes to fight back), 29th Florida and February 5th is "Super Tuesday" with 22 states voting. And this primary election is no longer about states. It is about delegates. Sure, the states give delegates to the candidates, but there are also independent delegates who vote as they wish (e.g. party leaders and what-have-yous). Thats why Kerry's endorsement of Obama is of importance. Not only does it take votes away from Edwards (who was Kerrys v.p. back in 2004) but it also means that independent delegates who get a hard-on from Kerry will more likely vote for Obama. And when does this all end? When will we have release? When lord, WHEN! Who will be the candidate for the parties, who? WHO!
...Well it will all be decided at the end of august (providing no major fuck-ups happen for either party), when the delegates vote. And until then we will see more tears, more devious rhetoric and more stupid questions from the press.
Peace&Love,
-zS