Posted on 03/02/2007 5:46:31 AM PST by Clive
WASHINGTON - In the beginning she was Hillary Rodham of Arkansas.
In the White House, she became Hillary Rodham Clinton. Then it was Hillary Clinton and, lately, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
But just when it seemed her political identity crisis was finally over, Hillary Clinton has turned the tables on U.S. voters once again.
As she seeks to become the country's first female president, she wants to be known to supporters simply as "Hillary" -- no married name or maiden name necessary.
Any reference to Clinton, or Rodham, is absent from the New York Senator's official campaign biography except in direct reference to her husband, Bill, or her father, Hugh.
"Hillary was raised in a middle- class family in the middle of America," begins the biography, followed by more than three dozen first-name-only references to the Democratic candidate.
There are separate appeals to join "Hillary's Team" and a news release on a visit to New Hampshire that begins, "What Granite Staters are Saying about Hillary's Trip."
The first-name-only strategy is being viewed as an attempt by Mrs. Clinton to develop a national political persona independent of her husband, the former president, while also elevating her to equal status alongside such entertainment icons as Oprah, Madonna and Bono.
"There are very few people in our popular culture universe who are defined by one name -- Cher, Oprah, Madonna. If you are up in that stratosphere, like Hillary Clinton is, why not play to your strength and exploit that for all it's worth," says Gil Troy, a McGill University history professor and author of a biography on the former first lady.
"I think it emphasizes the fact that -- let's not kid ourselves -- hers has been a celebrity candidacy from the start. She is very much cashing in her celebrity chips and running."
Presidential candidates have long had their own unique political brands --from "Honest Abe" Lincoln to Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower to FDR, JFK, LBJ and even George (Dubya) Bush.
Mrs. Clinton's main Democratic presidential rival, Barack Obama, has his own name-related problems, with commentators sometimes calling him "Osama." The Illinois Senator's middle name is Hussein, as in Saddam.
But no contemporary American politician -- let alone one seeking to break the White House gender barrier -- has ever struggled with a name like Hillary Clinton.
When Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, Hillary was a prominent lawyer known only by her maiden name. She used his surname during the 1992 White House campaign before adding Rodham after the election, both as a feminist statement and an attempt to change attitudes about the role of U.S. first ladies.
But Mrs. Clinton has never completely opted for, nor abandoned, one name or another. On her Senate Web site and in congressional correspondence she remains Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her presidential campaign Web site, however, is Hillary Clinton.com.
When weighty issues demand more formal statements of policy, she supplements "Hillary" with Clinton.
"It speaks to a post-feminism dilemma that a lot of women have: What is the nature of your identity?" says Trevor Parry- Giles, a communications professor at the University of Maryland and author of several books on U.S. presidential politics.
"It gets magnified with Hillary Clinton -- she has always been this icon of post-feminist angst in American life."
The decision to de-emphasize Rodham in her presidential campaign may be aimed at distancing herself from "feminist baggage" that might alienate her from some voters in middle America, Prof. Troy says.
Mrs. Clinton faces a tougher dilemma dealing with her married name.
"It's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you would be hard pressed to find a more popular ex-president these days than Bill Clinton," says Prof. Parry-Giles. "On the other hand, there are lingering questions and concerns that many people have about him. This name thing with Hillary is a symbolic wrestling with that."
But is the United States ready to accept the Oprah-fication of a major presidential candidate?
Linda Fowler, a political science professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, isn't sure.
"Going by 'Hillary' is a way of distancing herself from the connection to the former president -- that she is a person in her own right," Prof. Fowler says.
"But at the same time, I personally think 'Hillary' works better for someone running for Congress than someone running for president. I think it doesn't have enough gravitas."
"I understand 'Hillary' is a wonderful brand, and I think it would be a wonderful brand for almost anything except the office she is running for," Prof. Fowler says.
"Ronald Reagan was never 'Ronald.' Dwight Eisenhower was a man and a general. 'Ike' worked for him because that's what his soldiers called him. We had JFK and LBJ, but they were men and the use of initials has an authoritative ring to it. That's different for 'Hillary.' "
From "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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This is exactly why I do my damnedest to refer to her always as Mrs. Clinton. This accomplishes two things: it rubs it in her face, and it reminds the voting public of exactly who she is.
I got a name for her...
As she seeks to become the country's first female president, she wants to be known to supporters simply as "Hillary" -- no married name or maiden name necessary.
The feminazis would be proud.
I wonder if for some it calls attention to the fact that on some issues she must distance herself from he who is still her husband. The baggage is still there, but she is trying to hide it.
-they left out a few names in this article......
-like PIAPS, hildebeast, thunderthighs....
what did I miss? mmmm
Once they achieve single name status, there's no stopping them.
LoL!
It's supposed to be "Hillary!", right?
Wouldn't Osama make a good 3rd party candidate??
| Hillary gives Obama the Bill - Show-stealing husband Bill Clinton is riding to her aid |
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| Posted by Cincinatus' Wife On News/Activism 03/02/2007 4:50:20 AM CST · 38 replies · 492+ views Sydney Morning Herald ^ | March 2, 2007 | MCT Hillary Clinton won't go alone to this weekend's Alabama showdown with Barack Obama for black votes: Show-stealing husband Bill Clinton is riding to her aid. The popular former US president's first campaign appearance with his wife couldn't come at a more strategic moment: Obama is keynoting Sunday's civil rights commemoration in Selma, Alabama. At churches just moments away from each other, Clinton and Obama will give nearly simultaneous speeches. The Clintons and Obama will then join a symbolic march over the Edmund Pettus bridge, where state troopers beat civil rights activists in 1965. At the end of the march, the... |
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Satan
Weave a circle round her thrice
And close your eyes in holy dread
For she on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of paradise.
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