Hillary Clinton

Last Sunday I had a chance to hear Hillary Clinton speak at a small fundraiser for Obama on what was her sixty-first birthday. I was madly curious to go and hear what she had to say.
The crowd seemed like a mix of long-devoted Hillary supporters and true-blue Obama backers, but everyone was enthusiastic and excited to be there. Her speech was good, heavy on the practical logistics of the final week of campaigning and what we all needed to do, and light on soaring rhetoric but it fit the audience. The most interesting part was her answer to two questions asked by members of the audience. The first asked her what role she’d like to play in an Obama government. She strongly ruled out interest in a Supreme Court position and, maybe more surprisingly, not only insisted she would prefer to stay in the Senate to taking a cabinet post but also warned forcefully against Obama stripping the Senate to build his cabinet. That made sense to me.
She was also asked to compare the ’92 and ’08 campaigns. She made some predictable comments about the effects technological changes — the internet and cell phones — and then spoke quite movingly of how much she thought Bill and Barack had in common in their background and their values, from their shared fatherlessness, their age, their message of change, to the fact they both have daughters. “And I think they both married intelligent professional women,” she said, getting a big cheer.
I do have to add one comment about her looks. I hate to do this because it should not be relevant at all. But appearance is hugely important for women candidates and one of the things I admired about her campaign was the way she set a standard for the way women politicians could both look womanly and professional at the same time. Anyway: I have to say that at this event, up close, she looked absolutely fabulous. Stunning. She is a tiny person, and shame on those who have mentioned her hips — so untrue. And those rumours about Botox? Completely false. She was a couple of feet from me with a huge smile on her face and I’ll eat my hat if she isn’t as nature made her.