"Rush to Judgment" by Maureen Dowd in the NY Times takes on Rush Limbaugh's contention that in America's youth and looks obsessed culture, women are especially vulnerable - most especially those who are powerful. Limbaugh contends that the US electorate won't want to see a woman age before their eyes on a daily basis. Men, Limbaugh notes, are considered more distinguished as they age. This, of course, is not limited to politics - and both sexes use dollops of make-up, get plastic surgery and dress to minimize perceived and/or real defects.
Dowd goes on to say that Clinton has to worry less about her face than her mask - and that this has been her quest since she treated the world to a panoply of hair-dos, redos, etc. to reintroduce herself to us again and again.
Hillary doesn’t have to worry about her face. She has to worry about her mask. Back in the ’92 race, Clinton pollsters devised strategies to humanize her and make her seem more warm and maternal. Fifteen years later, her campaign is devising strategies to humanize her and make her seem more warm and maternal.
The public still has no idea of what part of her is stage-managed and focus-grouped, and what part is legit. It’s pretty pathetic, at this stage of her career, that she has to wage a major offensive, by helicopter and Web testimonials, to make herself appear warm-blooded.
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