Humanizing Hillary: Why it's such a challenge for her
| Washington
It was the most engaging moment in Hillary Clinton鈥檚 economic speech: a description of a man printing fabric for draperies.
He would lay out the fabric, she said, then put down a silk screen, pour in paint, squeegee it across, and repeat the process over and over, down the table, until everything was printed.
鈥淗e worked hard,鈥� the Democratic presidential nominee said Thursday, speaking at a manufacturing company near Detroit.
That man was Hugh Rodham, Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 dad 鈥� the son of a factory worker, she noted. The point of her story was to paint a contrast with GOP nominee Donald Trump, who has an alleged history of on his properties. 聽Clinton said that, given her dad鈥檚 work as a small-business owner, she took this aspect of Mr. Trump personally.
But in telling her dad鈥檚 story, Clinton was also revealing something of herself, and not just her middle-class upbringing. She relaxed, she smiled, she seemed more, well, human and relatable in her presentation - more, certainly, than when she鈥檚 talking tax rates or college debt.
And that goes to a core challenge Clinton faces in her cage match against Trump: getting voters beyond the caricature of her - and to actually like her. In focus groups earlier this week of 鈥淲al-Mart moms,鈥� the descriptions of Clinton were devastating, even among women who may vote for her.聽Words like 鈥渆motionless,鈥� 鈥渃old,鈥� and 鈥渦ntrustworthy鈥� flowed freely.
Why is Clinton so challenged on the likability front? Women voters blame sexism, echoing the findings of political scientists who say women candidates are more constrained in their behavioral options than men, because of gender norms.聽Female politicians, for example, have to be careful not to get too "huggy" with voters.
鈥淎 lot of women in power, you have to give up something,鈥� said Ivania L., a radiation safety officer in Columbus, Ohio, in a Wal-Mart moms鈥� focus group. 鈥淚f she was a man, we wouldn鈥檛 be saying she鈥檚 cold-hearted.鈥�
But 鈥�running while female鈥澛燿oesn鈥檛 fully explain Clinton鈥檚 challenge. For example, liberal heartthrob Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, has no problem displaying what voters perceive as authentic emotion in a political speech.
Clinton鈥檚 old friends are frustrated that most Americans don鈥檛 see the same woman they know and love. Washington lawyer Lanny Davis got to know Clinton right after she arrived at Yale Law School in 1969, and they鈥檝e been friends ever since.
At Yale, 鈥淚 got to know her as a friend, someone with a winning and compelling personality: friendly, genuine, funny, down-to-earth, fun to be with, smart, a great laugh, and always concerned about you and others more than herself,鈥� Mr. Davis in The Hill newspaper.
The papers of Clinton鈥檚 close friend Diane Blair, who passed away in 2000, shed some light on why Clinton has built up a protective shell over the years.
In 30 years of friendship, Ms. Blair observed Clinton as a lawyer, an advocate for children, then a first lady, first of Arkansas and then of the United States, breaking the boundaries of a traditional political spouse鈥檚 role. She also saw up close how the Clintons鈥� opponents sought to derail them. As an adviser to Bill Clinton鈥檚 first presidential campaign, she was assigned to counter attacks on both Clintons.
鈥淚 know how necessary it was to keep them from ever scoring a fatal hit on BC or Hillary, and I guess I was uniquely qualified to do it,鈥� Blair wrote in a letter, as reported in a in the Washington Post.
She also saw how Hillary Clinton鈥檚 spearheading of health-care reform, early in her husband鈥檚 first term, ignited a fierce backlash 鈥� a reaction for which Mrs. Clinton was unprepared.
鈥淐linton asked Blair to reconstruct her 鈥榝irst hellacious year鈥� in the White House,鈥� the Post reports. 鈥淏lair鈥檚 account, which she called 鈥楬illyear,鈥� is a dizzying report on a woman pushed close to the brink, juggling family responsibilities with high-level political battles.鈥�
Blair鈥檚 papers, which include personal correspondence with Hillary Clinton,聽also portray a hostile press and the first lady's聽view that the White House wasn鈥檛 fighting back hard enough against both Clintons鈥� detractors.
If Mrs. Clinton seems guarded to those who don鈥檛 know her, then a review of her eight years in the White House 鈥� a period marked by scandal and ultimately her husband鈥檚 impeachment 鈥� certainly provides clues as to why.
But those who have worked for Clinton, a world dubbed 鈥淗illaryland,鈥� remain intensely loyal to her. And when she won a seat in the Senate in 2000, the first presidential wife to win election to public office, she earned the respect of her colleagues, including Republicans.聽
In a Monitor profile of Clinton in 2008, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina called Clinton "a smart, prepared, serious senator" with an ability to "build unusual political alliances on a variety of issues."
Still, the Clintons have always seemed to attract controversy, partly of their own doing. Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 use of a private email server while secretary of State 鈥� raising questions about her handling of classified information 鈥� hangs over her presidential campaign, despite the Justice Department鈥檚 decision not to pursue legal charges. Ditto the allegations of 鈥減ay to play鈥� over donations to the Clinton Foundation, in which critics say large donors were given preferential access to the State Department.聽
By now, Clinton鈥檚 negative image seems so baked into public consciousness, it may be impossible to fix.
Still, efforts persist to improve perceptions of her. President Obama, who derisively called her 鈥渓ikable enough鈥� in a 2008 primary debate against her, now speaks of her with genuine warmth.
At the Democratic National Convention last month, daughter Chelsea Clinton introduced her mother with a deeply personal portrait. Also at the convention, Mrs. Clinton appeared in a video sitting at a kitchen table, talking about her life and her goals 鈥� a more relaxed presentation than her formal speeches.
Clinton also talks more freely about her family than she did in her last campaign 鈥� her mother鈥檚 tough childhood, daughter Chelsea, now two grandchildren. And she鈥檚 less shy about the historic nature of her candidacy.
Whether Clinton can pass the 鈥渓iving room test鈥� 鈥� that is, reach the point where enough voters are comfortable seeing her on the news each night 鈥� is an open question. But with an image-challenged Trump on the ballot against her, it may not matter.
