Listening to the Senate confirmation hearings today, I was struck – once again – by Hillary Clinton’s impressive intellect and knowledge of world affairs. This was the Hillary I knew and admired before her campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. And I found myself wondering why she made herself so unlikeable during the primaries.
Her strident, phony posturing during her campaign set my teeth on edge, and her often-unfair attacks on Barack Obama made me cringe. You will probably attribute my reaction to the fact that I wanted Obama to win the nomination and become the President. And I’m sure that had something to do with it. But the Hillary who ran for President was nothing like the First Lady and senator who served with dignity and devotion. And nothing like the classy woman nominated for the position of Secretary of State.
Watching her listen graciously to the senators’ often-pointed questions and listening to her respond with intelligence and tact, I wondered how this eminently reasonable woman could have put on that beer-sipping show in that Pennsylvania pub, or presented that self portrait of a gun-toting deer hunter, or affected that exaggerated drawl in one of her Southern campaign stops. The Hillary I saw today would have laughed at such phoniness, and the Hillary I saw today would have been a far more acceptable candidate.
All I can think of is that she had the worst advisers in the history of politics. And to think she paid millions for their advice!
