Ah, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. Unlike Nancy Pelosi, Hillary knows how to get a good profile. In this case, Dan Balz did the honors. There’s no mention of Hillary’s sagging chin, her wardrobe, her shrill voice. Balz doesn’t mention how much Hillary is worth. He doesn’t mention how Hillary acted or gestured or stuttered during their interview, and there is no mention of curly fries. He doesn’t compare her to Jesse Jackson or call her a New York liberal fifteen times. Pelosi got worked over by Liebovich. Hillary got treated like a serious politician by Balz.
The difference between the two profiles couldn’t be more stark. I’m not sure how to explain why Pelosi was mocked and Hillary respected. Is it because Pelosi is an unapologetic liberal and Hillary is a pro-war member of the DLC? Is it because of the idiosyncracies of the writers, or the editors? Is it because former First Ladies get a little deference? Is is because Hillary has earned more respect? I don’t know. But I do know that how a reporter chooses to present the facts makes a big difference in how a politican comes off in a profile. Pelosi is portrayed as competent, but hypocritical, out of the mainstream, and weak with the press. Hillary is portrayed as a force of nature, but one with an ill-defined ideology. Pelosi gets the usual treatment that women must endure: talk about her looks and dress. Hillary doesn’t get any of that.
Also of note, Markos gets a quote in Balz’s column:
Markos Moulitsas, whose Daily Kos Web site often attacks the Democratic establishment, ridicules her as a leader who is “afraid to offend.”
I’d put it differently. She’s not afraid. She’s wants to be attacked by the left because her biggest obstacle to getting elected is her legacy as a big government liberal that tried to give us national health care. It’s not that Americans don’t want health care, but the image of Hillary as a big-spending liberal is one that is hard to change. Her job as Senator is to change it. It’d be more accurate to say she is not afraid to piss off the left. And she is doing that quite nicely.
