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From the Department of Unintentionally Insightful Observations, Part Two

By Ned | January 9, 2008

Maureen Dowd, writing on Hillary Clinton’s hysterical attack of estrogen (emphasis mine):

At Hillary’s victory party in Manchester, Carolyn Marwick, 65, said Hillary showed she was human at the cafe. “I think she’s really tired. She’s been under a lot more scrutiny than the other candidates — how she dresses, how she laughs.”

Her son, David, 35, an actor, said he also “got choked up” when he saw Hillary get choked up. He echoed Hillary’s talking points on the likability issue. “It’s not ‘American Idol.’ You have to vote smart.”

I’ve been trying to find a Clinton quote that uses that phrase or a similar phrase, but I’m coming up empty. Here’s what she said about likability in the most recent Democratic debate:

Yes, she talked about her record, but I didn’t hear the phrases “vote smart” or “American Idol.” So it’s kind of telling that Dowd would suggest that a guy who says we should vote for a candidate based on their record and platform rather than shallow, media-defined likability is just mindlessly parroting talking points. Of course Dowd would dismiss such an idea as coming from a press release; she has no interest whatsoever in things like record or issues, so why would anyone else?

So to recap, the lesson here isn’t about Clinton’s talking points on the so-called likability issue; it’s that if you would rather vote based on things that actually matter, not only would Dowd prefer to write about bullshit, but she thinks you’re a moron.

Topics: The Media |

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