Hillary Unpoofed

Unlike people in DC, people in NY do not take their umbrellas seriously. This means that when it starts to rain in NY, people are not able to whip out an ever present, probably tidy umbrella. People In DC are used to an afternoon thunderstorm, but in NY nothing is that predictable. Well, maybe that's only somewhat true. What is predictable is that people in NY are often caught without protection from a downpour. But, it is NY, where you never have to walk more than one block to buy anything you need-food, clothing, medication or a two dollar (three if you are feeling rich), umbrella. Oh, and the other thing that is predictable is that, whether you spend $2 or $3, the umbrella will break - probably within two uses. Additionally, if you stop a New Yorker, who is attempting not to drown, and inquire how many of these inadequate umbrellas they own, the number is usually above four. And they have no shame about making it five.

When I am walking along in the drizzle and I lift my head to see what's coming at me, one of my favorite rain sights, is what looks like a scene from Mary Poppins on drugs. I am surrounded by a sea of black material hanging askew from metal curved sticks. Yes, they are what were umbrellas, but they are tattered, almost unrecognizable, and there is hardly enough material to cover a small head, yet alone enough to keep an entire body dry. So as you can imagine, people who are actually carrying these things, look a bit washed out. Which reminds me of the last time I saw Hillary on TV. It was an event she did with Barack, and she was totally unpoofed.

You remember that during the campaign she was all about terrific painfully colorful pantsuits with the high collars, and her hair and make-up done to perfection. Well, I guess now that she is only going to be a Senator, she has decided to relax the look along with the hair. I can't help but wonder if it's really resignation to her loss, or if she is so devastated by the humiliating rejection, that she simply doesn't want to deal with any ‘look'.

I remember when I suffered my first real Presidential loss. Although I had worked for McGovern and he lost - he didn't do it in Massachusetts. For whatever reason, and it might have been denial or the fact that I was having a baby, I was upset but not rocked to the core. My first heartbreaking loss was when Mo Udall lost to Jimmy Carter. I traveled with the campaign as Candidate staff (I was Mrs. Udall aka Tiger's) staff person, so it was a most personal loss. We were all in shock. Mo kept saying things like, " that little son of a bitch beat me?" "Yes, Mo, apparently he did", was all we could say. But it wasn't easy because rejection of that magnitude (national) just can't be comprehended - and, unlike Hillary, Udall never expected to win.

It's interesting, because if you look at the other men who ran (Republican or Democrat) it is obvious that they recover from these things much easier than a woman. "Oh well" they say, "I spent millions of someone else's money, and it's clear that I can't go all the way, so I might as well pack it in and get lunch." It's not unlike when a man has a business that fails. Chances are good that he will pick himself up, say the same "oh well", and start another business. It's just business. He won't hesitate to ask for loans or additional support from financial institutions. But when a woman has a business that fails, she thinks, "where did I go wrong?” "What did I do to screw it up?” It becomes all about her failure and the embarrassment of the failure.

So you can only imagine how Hillary, having made numerous bad campaign decisions and having blown what was an expected national victory, feels about her own inadequacies and Obama's victory. And worse than anything, in New Hampshire, when she had a chance to reorganize and do something about the excess of her campaign spending, the stupidity and shortsightedness of her campaign staff, she did nothing. She said she found her voice, but she never found enough of a voice or the courage to say to the overpaid bloviators, "You are not serving me well and in the words of Donald Trump (who always picks himself up,) You're Fired."

When I watched her speaking to the crowd, having just been close to dissed by Obama's forgetting to mention her debt, my heart did go out to her. After many years of working with her and admiring so many of her wonderful qualities I did just want to give her a hug. I can no longer get that close to her, but I sure wish one of the people who can, would. We're just sayin'... Iris