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Analysis: Clinton faces likability worry
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Dec 18, 2007 09:59pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Wednesday, December 19, 2007 03:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | It was a blunt question for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the end of a long campaign day. A young man said he knew a lot of people who just didn't like her, and he wanted to know what she could do about it.
She agreed there are people who will never vote for her. "It breaks my heart, but that is true," she said, suggesting it's just part of the game when you stick to your principles. But with two weeks to go to the Iowa caucuses, her campaign is making a bigger effort to confront the nagging matter of her likability and electability.
In recent days, Clinton has begun showing off a softer side — inviting friends, New York constituents and family members to Iowa to speak for her and attest to her warmth, compassion and hearty laugh.
It's a noticeable change for the New York senator, who has spent most of the campaign emphasizing her toughness — from her muscular views on national security to her stated willingness to "deck" political opponents.
The campaign has launched a new Web site, thehillaryiknow.com, featuring video tributes from people who have known her over the course of her life. Clinton has also retooled her stump speech to be more personally revealing, and appears to have modulated her voice a bit to make it sound smoother and softer.
The effort began last week, when Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and daughter Chelsea campaigned for the former first lady in Iowa and appeared in new commercials being broadcast in the state.
The issue of personality has bedeviled Clinton throughout her career in public life and carries particular resonance now that she's locked in a three-way battle in Iowa and trying to close the sale with undecided caucus goers.
"It goes straight to the perception that she is cold, calculating and devoid of human warmth," said Dennis Goldford, professor of political science at Drake University in Des Moines. "Many Democrats either believe those things are true or they know people who believe them to be true, and th |
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