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Hillary Clinton’s Hostage Ordeal: Lemon To Lemonade?
Did New York Senator and aspiring 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton turn the ugly hostage crisis at her campaign headquarters to her advantage — a classic case of getting a lemon and making lemonade?
The Friday incident at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, N.H. campaign office ended happily. And some pundits think that had placed Clinton into a new framework where she could have looked powerless or Presidential. The verdict: she came out of it with a stronger image. The Politico:
And as soon as it ended, Clinton took full advantage of the opportunity she had unexpectedly been handed.
In her New Hampshire press conference, she stood before a column of police in green and tan uniforms. She talked of meeting with hostages. She mentioned that she spoke to the state’s governor about eight minutes after the incident began.
The scene was one of a woman in charge.
“It looked and sounded presidential,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “This was an instance of the White House experience of this campaign. They knew how to handle this.”
That the crisis was outside Clinton’s control gave it a rare quality in this era of hyper-controlled politicking, Sabato added.
“What’s most important about it is that it’s not contrived,” he said. “It’s a real event and that distinguishes it from 99 percent of what happens in the campaign season.”
….“Voters look for opportunities to see how candidates react in crisis,” Sabato said. “And this was a mini crisis.
Larry Sabato is one of The Moderate Voice’s favorite analysts and as close to an authentic political psychic as America has in terms of accuracy. When Sabato speaks, if you want to understand what is likely to happen next, you need to listen. His track record on political matters is excellent.
And he is correct: part of a candidates task — and difficulty — is to find ways that convince voters in other ways besides the utterings coming out of their mouths. Being seen in a new context is VITAL.
The Hillary haters (in both parties) are sure to pooh-pooh the whole thing and dismiss her comments as strategic, dissect the event and say it was trivial in the end, but in fact the vast majority of voters don’t accept impressions based on the personal hatreds of partisans, people within in a candidates’ own party, or bloggers on all sides (including this site’s and yours truly) who seemingly drink Monster each day before they sit down and write.
Why is Rudy Giuliani such a big political hit? YES…He cleaned up NYC. But before 911 his political career seemed to be on the downswing. The moment, the context and how he responded to it at that moment and the video images thereof is why he is running this year.
President George W. Bush early on seemed to be a tepid President with poll numbers that sorely needed a boost of political Viagra. Then 911 happened, and he was placed in a series of televised contexts responding to it.
So it WILL have some impact on the Hillary Clinton imagery which means some voters — and perhaps even some in the news media — even unintentionally the news media will treat her with new respect. The Politico again:
Clinton’s campaign has long been dogged by key questions: Is she authentic, does she genuinely have the experience to be president and is the country ready for a woman as commander-in-chief — especially during wartime?
“She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be president as an internship just doesn’t make any sense,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, said in one campaign ad.
That statement is now harder to sell, due to the media narrative. The AP:
When the hostages had been released and their alleged captor arrested, a regal-looking Hillary Rodham Clinton strolled out of her Washington home, the picture of calm in the face of crisis.
The image, broadcast just as the network news began, conveyed the message a thousand town hall meetings and campaign commercials strive for — namely, that the Democratic presidential contender can face disorder in a most orderly manner.
“I am very grateful that this difficult day has ended so well,” she declared as she stood alone at the microphone.
Little more than three hours later, just in time for the 11 p.m. local news, Clinton reaffirmed that perspective. In New Hampshire, she embraced her staffers and their families, and lauded the law enforcement officials who brought a siege at her local campaign headquarters to a peaceful conclusion.
It was a vintage example of a candidate taking a negative and turning it into a positive. And coming just six weeks before the presidential voting begins, the timing could hardly have been more beneficial to someone hoping to stave off a loss in the Iowa caucuses and secure a win in the New Hampshire primary.
Indeed: next to being seen within an image context, timing is primary in American politics.
So, today, Hillary Clinton resumes her campaign, and although media images are fleeting, public impressions of political context do linger. So she resumes a campaign, but it is not quite the same campaign.
WEBLOG OPINION: There is lots of it HERE.
Most notable MUST READS from varying viewpoints (many of which do NOT agree with this post but make their arguments quite well):
–The New York Times’ excellent The Caucus Blog.
15 Responses to “Hillary Clinton’s Hostage Ordeal: Lemon To Lemonade?”
[...] Original post by Joe Gandelman [...]
[...] Clark Hillary Clinton’s Hostage Ordeal: Lemon To Lemonade? » This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news [...]
You say:
He’s a well-known political scientist, but he’s nothing to write home to mom about.
I think Althouse nails it:
The link to Althouse is above.
[...] Mine Hillary Clinton’s Hostage Ordeal: Lemon To Lemonade? » This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news [...]
Why didn’t Annie Althouse get catty about Hillary’s boobies. At least she didn’t pose on an aircraft carrier with banners flying.
The Alehouse reaction made me laugh.
Should Clinton not have made those phone calls instead of going on a vacation?
Should she have hopped a jet to view the scene from the air?
Should she have refused to appear on camera so as not to take advantage of the situation?
So, what was the right thing to do, Annie?
To be fair, there was nothing heroic about Clinton’s actions. She did what the aurhtorities recommended, and she did what was in her capacity available for her to do.
You know, like a competent person noramlly does.
“Is that what you want in a President? Someone who feels extra confusion because she’s a mother? ”
In a word, yes.
I want a president who can accept the human emotions evoked by a crisis for what they are.
Such a person is much less likely to go off half-cocked and react unreasonbly than one who stoically denies emotion. The latter is much more likey to act on the basis of emotion, because he will be unaware he is doing so.
By all accounts, Clinton reacted professionally and competently. And that’s what counts. We could have used more of that during the more memorable
crisis in recent years.
I’m not much of a Hillary fan, but she handled the situation how I would have wanted her too: she didn’t need to do anything heroic, she listened to the advice of the “experts” (the law enforcement officials handing the situation) and (form what I can tell) she took their advice, she cancelled meetings to attend to the situation (rather fly off on some plane to hide) and she talked about her emotions. She was present and accounted for. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the swaggering cowboy President types who say, “Bring ‘em on!” while hiding behind what is the largest security force on Earth guarding him, all the while sending more and more troops to be killed in a senseless war that he choose to start in the first place.
So even though I’m not a Hillary fan, kudos for her actions and showing that one can be in charge while talking about feeling vulnerable.
It would be great to have a President who connects to the public and Hillary, by talking about her conflicting emotions (some of which were similar to our own as we watched situation unfold and hoped for peaceful outcome) was able to do this. And she remained in control the whole time.
I think it’s too early to tell. While the candidate and/or the campaign can influence the initial reaction, he, she, or they don’t determine the final reaction. That’s determined by the professional press and the amateur press of the blogosphere.
There are lots ways in which the bottle could spin. It could end up as another confirmation of Sen. Clinton’s strength and determination or it could end up as a frantic attempt to grab the spotlight when it’s pointed some other way or any of a dozen other interpretations. Too early to tell.
Dave Schuler,
I agree that it’s too early to tell anything when it comes to politics.
What can be seen right away, though, is the insanity of the commentary. The Hillary bashing/praising began immediately, long before anything was known about the hostage taker or the circumstances surrounding his actions.
Wishing the hostages a safe resolution to their hellishr predicament was an afterthought, if it popped up at all.
Whatever the final word is, the odds are that it will have little to do with the actual events or what Hillry’s role in them was. Her choice of wardrobe at the press conference is due for scrutiny at any moment.
Actually, I’ve been surprised that hasn’t received more attention to date. I’ve always felt it would doom her candidacy. It may yet.
One of my commenters suggested that she’s so iconic for a segment of Baby Boomer women that she’s being given a pass on, well, practically everything.
“she’s being given a pass on, well, practically everything.”
A pass? By whom? Not much giving of passes that I see.
On the contrary, while never having been a Hillary fan, the ridiculous lengths that critics go to in order criticize her are forcing many undecideds like myself into her camp as a protest.
If she laugts, that hdes evil intent.
If she is serious, then that’s the sign of some other evil intent.
The attack for the the sake of attacking is so repellent, that if it continues, that might be the very thing that pushes her to victory.
I agree with domajot-Hillary isn’t getting any passes, let alone passes on “practically everything”.
And Althouse also made me laugh (as usual).
That’s what so many voters and citizens want, for their government and the leadership in their government to be their parent. Along with buying votes, entitlements engender dependency. Thanks, FDR and LBJ.
Aside from a general appeal to so many liberals who are governed by their feelings, and to those who want Mommy to assure them she cares, it is an appeal to women and particularly to mothers.
Sad to say for our citizenry and our country, it will likely appeal to many. She knows what she’s doing.