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My colleague Mary Katharine Ham hit the nail on the head when she dubbed Saturday night’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire as a competition to be the “changiest.” No doubt, change is it. Some bloggers I know have a drinking game where they down a shot whenever Giuliani mentions “9-11.” Perhaps I should start one where each mention of the c-word merits a shot.
Saturday night’s debate hall was an electric environment no doubt. The highlight of my evening came while Elizabeth Edwards was “spinning” for Edwards after the debate. She was mobbed by reporters, but as she was on her way out, I stepped up and asked her for a photo, "for BlogHer", and Elizabeth stopped and broke into a smile - "Anything for BlogHer!" she said. So cool. Mrs. Edwards, if you ever decide to run…
Back to reality. On Sunday after the debate, Edwards’ campaign sent out this press release entitled “CHANGE WON AND THE STATUS QUO LOST IT,” quoting ABC’s the Note:
“‘Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of status quo attack,’ [Edwards] said. Suddenly Clinton was alone, angry, and lecturing. The words themselves don’t do the moment justice, but here they are: ‘I want to make change, but I've already made change. I will continue to make change. I'm not just running on a promise of change. I’m running on 35 years of change.’
Of Hillary’s quote, Ana Marie Cox wrote “This may be the moment we will look back on and say "that's when she lost."
Not only do I disagree- but I’m sorry, media, hold on a minute. Yes, Obama won Iowa. Edwards came in second, and Clinton, who is basically an incumbent, lost.
TAPPED’s Tom Schaller wrote “R.I.P., The Clinton Era, 9:34 P.M. Est.” “Wow. Get your kids out and put them in front of the TV: The Clinton Era officially ended at 9:34 p.m. EST when Edwards paired with Obama to bury Hillary as a non-agent of change. Wow, again.”
And George Stephanopoulos said, “Barack Obama, his job tonight is to ride the wave. You know, he grew up part of his life in Hawaii. He was a surfer. And what he's got to do tonight is just ride this wave of change. “
Riding waves of change? If anyone is riding the wave of change, it’s Edwards, but that’s not the point.
Obama is part of a wonderful narrative, and Lord knows we need a change in this country. But after eight years of GW Bush, the media owes us more truthiness than bowing to a candidate just because he is changiest. But maybe not. Lois Romano, a Washington Post staff writer who has reported on presidential narratives for many years noted that each successful candidate has a narrative voters can’t resist. Bush’s narrative—one of redemption after a life wasted by alcohol, a reform in his 40’s—proved popular with voters. But, as Clinton said on Saturday night, the narrative gave us “a president who people said they wanted to have a beer with; who said he wanted to be a uniter, not a divider; who said that he had his intuition and he was going to, you know, really come into the White House and transform the country. And, you know, at least I think there are the majority of Americans who think that was not the right choice.”
Obama’s narrative and his rhetoric are more appealing than Clinton’s, for sure. His might be the best ever: a young, brilliant black man come to life our country up. Obama is like Atticus Finch for the contemporary era. But I’m not writing Hillary Clinton off yet. And there are two big reasons for this. One: She did author legislation like SCHIP children’s health insurance, a great example of public policy at work; I believe she could be a crusader for good government. Two: she would be the first woman president. We need more women in office, generally, and I do not believe this will happen without someone big to lead the way. And I was glad that on Saturday night Hillary said “But I think I am an agent of change. I embody change. I think having the first woman president is a huge change...”
Was this the first time she aligned change with being the first woman? I think so. One reporter I spoke with said Hillary’s message to women wasn’t her problem, it
