Alongside the campaign to elect Hillary Clinton president, there’s been a sub-campaign to convince America that Hillary Clinton feels feelings. On the whole, it seems to be working: One of the tropes of the race so far has been voters’ surprise when they discover she’s not a pant-suited ice robot.
The latest effort in the emotion primary is a new video site,
TheHillaryIKnow.com
, launched today. The site collects testimonials from friends and colleagues who have seen the real Hillary and can testify to its existence. It includes bigwigs like Wesley Clark and Tom Vilsack, alongside old friends, plus a few everyday people Hillary has helped along the way.
Personal testimonies are nothing new for campaigns. It’s only when you look at what they say over and over that you start to get the Message:
Geraldine Ferraro: “… very articulate, wonderful, warm mother …”
Patty Criner: ” … exceptional … bright … capable … makes you laugh … so engaging and enthusiastic to be with … very sentimental … very old fashioned.”
HT Moore: “Very, very active in the church … Grew up in strong faith.”
Kaki Hockersmith: “Very thoughtful … it’s not about Hillary; it’s about you … good sense of humor … loves to cut up and clown around.”
Betsy Ebeling: “She hears people. … understands the importance of friendship … we can finish each other’s sentences.”
Maria Echaveste: “funny, warm, genuinely caring person … enjoys a good joke … enjoys hanging out and just kicking back and talking about what’s going on in the world … a really fun person.”
Together, they present a compelling case for Hillary’s humanity. Still, it’s hard not to think that they all protest too much. Can you imagine a similar set of testimonials for Rudy Giuliani? For Mike Huckabee? Everyone already knows they’re real people. The fact that Hillary needs to have a few dozen friends bear witness to her normality only circles the problem in big green highlighter.
