Finally, Hillary is 'Likeable Enough'
Remember how it oddly worked to her advantage in 2008? During a debate days before the New Hampshire primary, then-Sen. Barack Obama muttered, "You're likeable enough, Hillary," in a dismissive way that some women compared to bad memories of their first husbands.
Is the obsession with "likeability" a form of sexism? I won't try to deny it, just as I won't deny that Obama as an African-American needs to avoid appearing too angry more than his white counterparts might.
But, fair or not, the worst thing that a candidate can do with such negative perceptions is to feed them. In her potty-break moment, Clinton sounded funny, spontaneous and, most important, human instead of the robo-candidate she too often displays when she isn't hiding out from reporters' questions.
But her debate performance was not perfect. She might have received a pass on the emails, a mostly Republican issue in this campaign. But she produced a word salad worthy of Sarah Palin when questioned about the future of Syria, among other trouble spots.
She also should hope everybody forgets her view of Wall Street's 2008 meltdown. "I represented Wall Street" as New York's senator, she said, and "I went to Wall Street in December of 2007, before the big crash ... and I basically said, 'Cut it out.' " Sanders' supporters groaned. The Democratic base wants to hear more than "Cut it out" as a message to Wall Street, especially when Sanders's crusade against "casino capitalism" is drawing surprisingly big crowds -- even in red states.
But Sanders also stumbled in explaining his votes against gun safety legislation. Sanders' defense that he comes from a mostly rural state where gun control is unpopular seemed to collapse as Clinton noted how upstate New York is rural, too. She did not mention how much downstate New York is not rural but she got away with the omission.
Overall, Democrats could be proud that their first debate avoided the rancor that the Republican stage has offered, especially in Donald Trump's big moments. We probably won't see Chafee, Webb or former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on stage for long unless they find some momentum somewhere.
But Clinton also should be cautious about over-confidence. If she wins the nomination and faces the Republican nominee, one thing is certain: The love fest will be over.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
