Save it for Arkansas

Though it’s nowhere near the appropriate time for me to officially announce which of the many fine potential presidential candidates I’ll endorse in 2008, there is one among the field that I continually support: Hillary Rodham Clinton. She’s cutthroat. She’s driven. She’s been my girl from day one. Hillary even outranks Nancy Pelosi and Ruth Bader Ginsburg when it comes to my personal holy political trinity. Idolatry, I know, but these three ladies are as fierce and as deserving of admiration. \nDetractors, say what you will, but the woman’s got a plan. If you ask me, she’s been campaigning since infancy. From Park Ridge to Wellesley, from Yale Law to Arkansas, and from the White House to the Senate, I wouldn’t have dared to doubt her strategy thus far. That is, however, until she cracked out the southern drawl. I can appreciate that when vying for the Democratic nomination Hillary needs to pull out all the stops, but that’s no excuse to stop enunciating.\nI’ll admit it, Hillary is losing early poll points to Barack Obama, who, even amidst allegations surrounding a political tie to a low-income housing scandal involving Antoin Rezko, can still boast an ever increasing grass roots enthusiasm and a thus far untouchable pop icon status. She’s clearly losing the previously held edge over her closest opponent, particularly when it comes to the black vote. Since this was once a stronghold for Hillary, its almost a given she would try to bridge the support gap by reaching out to leaders in that particular demographic.\nBut did you actually hear the speech she gave last week in New York before the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network? Two words: southern accent.\nIt seems that somewhere between Arkansas and Washington, Hill’s speech skills have stumbled upon a slightly Southern stress. Don’t be fooled – she was raised in Northwestern Chicago, attended a private East Coast college, an Ivy League law school, and is currently a senator representing New York. Hillary Rodham Clinton has built her reputation as a professional, first in law, then in politics. The woman knows how to speak.\nUnfortunately, people are beginning to catch on. Even mensnewsdaily.com called her out on the “singsong Southern drawl she employs before selected audiences.” Very accurately pegging her speech to Sharpton’s NAN, she slurred “When Ah walk into the Oval Office in 2009, Ah’m afraid Ah’m going to lift up the rug and Ah’m going to see so much stuff under there.” Eesh.\nSo let’s recap. Strategic speeches, restructuring your campaign to combat the threat of an opponent gaining steam or targeting a specific demographic that’s slipping in the polls: good. \nPlaying the good-ole-girl-from-Arkansas-with-a-Southern-drawl-card: bad – very, very bad. One of my favorite things about Hillary is that she supported her husband without taking a backseat to his ambitions and never abandoned her career objectives. Let us hope she doesn’t start now by taking backseat to his accent. Save the Southern stuff for Arkansas, Senator!