Tonight, perhaps for the first time ever, I felt like I saw a bit of authenticity in Hillary Clinton. As a female voter, this meant a great deal to me. There could never be any question about the significance of Hillary's campaign; whether you like it or not, the fact that she is a woman is notable. Mrs. Clinton has certainly acknowledged that and at times has tried to embrace it-- but, in my humble opinion, she has never been quite able to convey that it means anything to her personally. She seemed to do just that, finally, in the Nevada debate.
As the pundits mentioned on CNN once the debate was through, Hillary did quite well in the debate. The other candidates, Barack Obama in particular, did not fare as well by comparison. Obama perhaps just doesn't have "the fire in his belly," as James Carville and others put it. Clinton, on the other hand, does-- but it never seemed clear why. Having that sort of drive without showing any sort of underlying human emotion is kind of scary. By contrast, John Edwards has framed the passion of his campaign around the desire to unite the "two Americas" he has seen in his lifetime. That is something I can understand.
But tonight it seemed that maybe a little bit of the fire in Hillary's belly is indeed fueled by her pride in being a female candidate. "What did you mean when you referred to 'the boys' club'?" CNN's Campbell Brown asked Hillary, in reference to a speech Hillary gave at her alma mater, Wellesley. Hillary tilted her head up, her eyes scanning the ceiling. Her mouth opened wide. She seemed to be searching for one of those verbose, "nuanced" answers she is so fond of. But before the words could come tumbling out, paused and took in a breath. There was new clarity in her eyes. "Oh, Campbell," she said in a chiding tone. She then went on to speak of the many women she has met during her campaign, such as 95-year-old women who tell her they were alive when women couldn't vote and they want to be alive to see a woman president. It was perhaps the most genuine-sounding moment I've seen from Clinton.
It was interesting to note what happened afterwards, when John Edwards was given a chance to respond to whether he thought Clinton was playing the "gender card." He responded that all the candidates were well-qualified, but that voters had a right to know about the corporate ties of some of the candidates and that pointing out those ties should not be interpreted as making personal attacks. It was a fair point, but it generated a chorus of boos from the audience. For once, Edwards was the candidate coming off as cold while Clinton looked sincere and impassioned.
It was a great moment. Great enough to convince me to vote for her? No. But maybe it was for some women.
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