About this Blog

During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of the presidency, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.

The course syllabus is at
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/gov102-14.html

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Clinton Applying Halpern and Harris

In an attempt to reverse Obama's surge in Iowa, Hillary Clinton has lifted a "trade secret" straight from Halpern and Harris: run toward your weakness. Her enemies during the battles of the 1990s portrayed Hillary as a ruthless, ultra-feminist liberal. Obama has not-so-subtly alluded to these memories with his electibility argument: do Democrats really want to nominate someone, he asks, that stirs the passions of every grassroots GOP voter?

To combat this argument, Clinton has begun to highlight her softer side -- she has become more "emotional" at recent speeches in Iowa and is airing ads featuring her mother and daughter gushing about how warm and caring she is. She has also launched a website, CNN reports, showing Hillary as a strong Senator who works hard for everyday people like you and me.

These efforts represent an attempt to drive down her infamous high "unfavorable" ratings the media has worried about and to steal (or at least mitigate) the "nice guy" image that Obama enjoys.

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