There are several reasons Hillary Clinton has built what looks like an insurmountable lead in the race for the Democratic nomination: She's been a solid New York senator. She's got a great command of policy. She's got name recognition. And she speaks clearly and in complete sentences. (Sadly that has become a factor. Let's face it: Over the last six and a half years, the Bully Pulpit has been bullied to a pulp syntactically.)
It's also fair to say that hating Hillary is so last millennium. To still dislike her the way many did when she first burst on the scene seems irrational. Hillary is hardly a radical. Her problem with Democratic primary voters is that she's not ideological enough; that she's been too pragmatic.
Still presidential politics is often about the little things that add up to being likable ... or unlikable. And Hillary's still not quite ... likable. But there are things she can do.
First off: Fix that laugh!
Here's Hillary yesterday on Fox News Sunday, one stop during her talk show rounds, followed by an investigation into Hillary's laugh we did last June:
Mo Rocca has appeared on a bunch of shows, including 'The Daily Show,' 'I Love the 80s,'...
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Hillary's Biggest Problem: That Laugh!
Posted Sep 30th 2007 9:30AM by Mo Rocca
Filed under: Mo's Videos, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Mo Rocca, Hillary's Laugh, The Clinton Cackle, Pimp My Candidate
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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.
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Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 8)
46. I thought Hillary's greatest problem was Bill.
I'm more concerned about Hillary's stand on the illegal alien issue than I am with her laugh. What does she think of anyone who hires illegal aliens and exploits and underpays them?
As a Roman Catholic, I know that anyone who defrauds a worker of his wages calls down immediate vengeance from Heaven.
I don't think politicians are afraid of God. They're more afraid of each other. Bill's impeachment proved that.
Ronald B. Zeh at 1:10PM on Sep 25th 2007
47. thats the laugh she uses when bill tells her how much he loves her.
miles at 3:48PM on Sep 25th 2007
48. At the moment, I'd say this country needs a good laugh more than anything.
Jeffrey Smith at 12:37PM on Sep 26th 2007
49. Hillary's laughing at Democrats because she's getting away with stealing this election. Here's the truth. Democrats are angry from the last heartbreaking loss. It was the Clinton loyalists that took charge of Kerry's campaign in the last two weeks and crushed Kerry's momentum. They had to stop Kerry's last minute surge to keep the Clintons relevant. If Democrats elected new leaders, then the Clinton plan would have been setback for 8 to 16 years. Think about Florida? If Al Gore wins, then Gore would have had 8 years and his VP would have had 8. Bill wouldn't be a leader and Hillary would have been lost in the Senate. Clinton was the President during the recount. His apathy handed the WH to Bush. Now let's look at 2002? Sen. Wellstone was rising as the strong opposition to President Bush. Wellstone or Edwards should have been Al Gore's VP selection. Somebody picked Lieberman and clearly he's a Republican. Hillary is just one seat away. Yes, they are laughing because they used Sen Obama to block the opposition. Democrats are internally split. Half are "Stuck on Stupid" and half wants to "Move On". Hillary's strategy is "Divide and Conquer." Obama's rush into the race sucks all the money out of the group opposed to the Clintons. Keeping the money limited sucks the life out of the individual campaigns. Obama has the money and he refuses to fight. The rest of the candidates will dry up on the vine. Obama is playing the fool because Hillary has no intention of asking a Black to be her VP. She's laughing because Obama and Oprah don't get it. They're Black! Democrats will lose, but do you think that hurts Hillary? She's one of them. How do you beat her? Tie her to Bush and Democrats can beat Bush. The person who tells the truth will get the opposition money. Obama will become irrelevant and the true challenger could offer him the VP to re-unite the Party. In closing, Democrats could use the "Young Guns Again." If Obama isn't a Democrat, we can always Go to Gore. An Edwards and Gore team would be a great ticket. They both got cheated and that's why Hillary is laughing. Bill kept her relevant.
Cecil Jones at 8:02AM on Sep 27th 2007
50. We need a new family in the White House...laugh or no laugh...we need new people there, because the history is too prevalent, and it is a major dividing factor in our country...we need to work to be less partisan.
Giving her the presidency is not going to help that, and she admitted that in this interview, and though I support what I don't believe in now, because we are at war, and I will continue to do so...
This level of ignorance is damaging us on the world stage...and that is my issue...
How hard is it for the people of America to see that our office of the president is no longer controlled by the people...but rather the Clinton Family and the Bush Family and the special interests they support?
...and it is exactly what our Founding Fathers fought against.
We have become what they left behind in Europe, and we are now falling behind in every area of future growth...just take a look at the numbers on Education, if you can't see that.
It's time for America to wake up...because we are loosing greatly to this level of political ignorance.
PennDragon at 10:05AM on Sep 27th 2007
51. Hey Cecil, my son thinks that sometimes someone freezes us in time for awhile and then unfreezes us later, so that we never know what was done or realize we were frozen. I told him that was the most paranoid thing I'd ever heard. That was before I read the mess you just wrote.
Katy at 10:09AM on Sep 27th 2007
52. PennDragon - You've reminded me of a commentary I did about a year and a half ago for CBS Sunday about the Bush/Clinton dynasty. I'm going to post it here in a bit. It's dated now ... yet it's not.
Mo Rocca at 10:30AM on Sep 27th 2007
53. Cackling old witch Hillary. How can any one support this phony power hungry socialist hag? I could not stand to hear her voice for 4 years, let alone that laugh. Thank God the real peop[le in America would rather eat a turd than vote for her.Hillary, the Dems ticket to doom.
audrey hobbs at 11:04AM on Sep 27th 2007
54. It's phoney, sadistic, and irritating. (Hitlary's laugh) But it works for her!
M Hays at 3:22PM on Sep 27th 2007
55. HILARY FOR PRESIDENT
Mauro Rodriguez at 3:40PM on Sep 27th 2007
56. The NY Times had a similar thought:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/us/politics/28web-healy.html?ex=1348718400&en=3bee250572f23c10&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
mo-NEEK-a at 5:44PM on Sep 28th 2007
57. Mo;
Its not her laugh but all of her waffleing
on what she says.
She was for the war before she was against
it. She was for the troop surge before she
was against it.
She said the troop surge seems to be working
before she recanteed (to please the extreme left)
and said it did not seem to be.
She was for an immediate troop withdrawl
before she and all the Democrats (who also
wanted us to pull out immediately to blame
Bush for another disaster) are now saying we
need to stay the course.
Seems Democrats especially Hillary can't
make up their mind.
William Ehlert at 11:01PM on Sep 28th 2007
58. Mo;
Its not her laugh but her stealing all the
old furniture which is worth a fortune she
stold. If she gets in again she will be
a thief again and take the white house
furniture which she should be prosecuted
for her theft the last time.
Just say "No" to a thief (Hillary).
William Ehlert at 11:06PM on Sep 28th 2007
59. The "laugh" is an affect. That's all. It's as contrived as her resume. No big deal. Hillary is no big deal. She can be President because very frankly most of them have also been equally mundane people - except for one. Ron Reagan blunted the red menace. The Reds aren't gone of course. We constantly hear from American Reds, especially on the blogs. But, at least Ron kicked the Reds in the nads...good and hard...can't you still hear them whine?
Go for it.
Bill at 11:46PM on Sep 28th 2007
60. Katy should get a prize for her response to Cecil.
Funniest thing i've read in months!
mung at 12:02AM on Sep 29th 2007