Rodham For President!
The big announcement has finally been made, bringing with it a return of a minor controversy from my early days in talk radio.
When President Bill Clinton's wife first entered the political arena as a candidate and, later, as a US Senator, I always referred to her as "Senator Rodham." I did so out of respect for her wishes. After all, she called herself "Hillary Rodham" during Bill's first term as governor of Arkansas--a decision that contributed to the voters denying him a second term when he first ran for re-election.
She promptly dropped the "Rodham," picked up the "Clinton" and baked enough cookies to help rescue her husband's political career. He returned to the state house, then the White House and, well, the rest is (effluvia-spattered, subpoena-hiding, perjury-filled) history.
I was stunned by the negative reaction from my listeners on the Left, who felt I was attempting to disparage or demean Sen. Rodham in some way. They repeatedly lobbied for me to drop the "Rodham." I reminded them that, when President Clinton first took office, the "Rodham" returned for awhile. After the GOP took back the Congress in 1994, the "Rodham" once again disappeared from view.
Now, Mrs. Clinton is a candidate for president, and notice what name does NOT appear on her website--at least, not large enough for us to find it. Look around (see above). Look closely. No, there's no "Rodham," you're right. But there's also no "CLINTON," either.
Just "Hillary."
Well, I'm certainly not going to call a member of the US Senate "Senator Hillary" (unless Sir Edmund rises from the dead) and she obviously does not want to be "Senator Clinton." So I am going to return to my previous position of calling her what she obviously would call herself if she were a private citizen: Senator Rodham.
And speaking as someone who hopes the Republicans retain control of the White House in 2008 (assuming Joe Lieberman isn't in the race), all I can say is "Run, Rodham, Run!"
I'll be putting my check in the mail later this week.
When President Bill Clinton's wife first entered the political arena as a candidate and, later, as a US Senator, I always referred to her as "Senator Rodham." I did so out of respect for her wishes. After all, she called herself "Hillary Rodham" during Bill's first term as governor of Arkansas--a decision that contributed to the voters denying him a second term when he first ran for re-election.
She promptly dropped the "Rodham," picked up the "Clinton" and baked enough cookies to help rescue her husband's political career. He returned to the state house, then the White House and, well, the rest is (effluvia-spattered, subpoena-hiding, perjury-filled) history.
I was stunned by the negative reaction from my listeners on the Left, who felt I was attempting to disparage or demean Sen. Rodham in some way. They repeatedly lobbied for me to drop the "Rodham." I reminded them that, when President Clinton first took office, the "Rodham" returned for awhile. After the GOP took back the Congress in 1994, the "Rodham" once again disappeared from view.
Now, Mrs. Clinton is a candidate for president, and notice what name does NOT appear on her website--at least, not large enough for us to find it. Look around (see above). Look closely. No, there's no "Rodham," you're right. But there's also no "CLINTON," either.
Just "Hillary."
Well, I'm certainly not going to call a member of the US Senate "Senator Hillary" (unless Sir Edmund rises from the dead) and she obviously does not want to be "Senator Clinton." So I am going to return to my previous position of calling her what she obviously would call herself if she were a private citizen: Senator Rodham.
And speaking as someone who hopes the Republicans retain control of the White House in 2008 (assuming Joe Lieberman isn't in the race), all I can say is "Run, Rodham, Run!"
I'll be putting my check in the mail later this week.
posted by Michael Graham at
5:56 PM
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