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Tess Nelligan
Dr. Erin McLaughlin
Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric
November 24, 2015
Our Culture and Clinton
Clinton is a last name that has often been heard when talking about American politics,
and many often associate the surname with the 42nd President of the United States; however, the
Clinton who currently garners all the attention is no longer former president Bill Clinton, but his
wife Hillary. Right now, Hillary Clinton is running for president of the United States, and is one
of the top democratic candidates. Hillary is no stranger to the arduous race to the top office. In
2008, Hillary was in almost the same exact situation. At the time, she was running for the
democratic nomination for president and was up against staunch competition, now current U.S.
president Barack Obama. Today, Hillarys biggest opponent seems to be the senator from
Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Despite a change in both campaign and strategy, Hillary still faces
harsh criticism from the American people, the media, and her fellow candidates. Evidence for
this can be found in the way she was treated both during a democratic debate in 2008 and one
that took place just a couple of weeks ago. What makes the treatment of Hillary especially
unique is that Hillary, unlike her male opponents, often gets criticized for more than just her
politics. In both of her campaigns it can be seen that people, especially the media, choose to
focus on Hillarys appearance and personal life instead of her actual political beliefs.
Unfortunately, this unfair treatment extends beyond Hillary to other female politicians as well.
Female politicians are perpetually degraded in the media regardless of their political prowess,
and forced to endure slanderous criticism simply because they are female.
As I said before, in 2008 Hillary Clinton was one of the frontrunners for the democratic
nomination for presidency. Since the Republicans had been in office for eight years, Hillary was

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on the offensive trying to promote her party. One of her slogans was, You know, after six years
of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America"(Siegel). Her stance on foreign
policy was to peacefully end the war in Iraq, and she was very active when it came to voter
outreach. She wanted to have a conversation with the voters and in order to accomplish this she
started doing live online video chats. Domestically, Clinton wanted to end any deficits that were
harming social programs, as well as provide both quality and affordable healthcare to all of
America. Overall, Clinton had a well-rounded campaign strategy going into the primaries in
2008; unfortunately, Clinton ended up losing in the primaries. After her loss, she supported the
winner of the democratic nomination, Barack Obama, who ended up winning the 2008
presidential election.
In one of the many democratic debates that occurred before the 2008 presidential
primaries, Clinton faced off against her fellow Democratic presidential nominees: Barack Obama
and John Edwards. This debate took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and was one of the
most vicious democratic debates fraught with vitriol. The pressure was mounting as the
candidate for the democratic ticket was going to be decided in the next six weeks.
Unsurprisingly, all of the candidates used this debate as a way to undermine the respect and
authority of each other, sometimes using tactics that were less than admirable. Hillary
highlighted the fact that Barack Obama had ties to a businessman, Antoin Rezko, who was
indicted for the connections he held to the Rob Blagojevich scandal. Instead of countering this
attack with a direct insult to Hillary, Barack decided to bring Hillarys husband Bill to the
forefront of the dialogue. Obama said that sometimes, I cant tell who Im running against...
Hillary or Bill (Healy). This comment, unlike the comment Hillary made about Barack, crossed
the line. It seemed that Obama attributed not only all of Hillarys political success, but also all of

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her political ideas and strategy to her husband. This particular insult likely would never be said to
man about his wife. Unfortunately, the media continued to perpetuate this idea of Bill running his
wifes campaign by depicting the Clintons as a, two-headed monster, a political juggernaut,
and a campaign machine(Sheckels 82). Unfortunately, this is not the first time the media has
defined a womens campaign through her husband. In 2000, Elizabeth Dole decided to run for
president and was diligently campaigning for the Republican primaries. Bob Dole, Elizabeths
husband, was a prominent politician and happened to serve in the US House and Senate, as well
as run for president in 1996 (biography.com). According to Erica Falk, Elizabeth was frequently
defined by her relationship to her husband(Falk 60). For some reason, both Hillarys and
Elizabeths campaigns oftentimes ended up being defined by their husbands respective political
agendas in the media. Even though both women perfected their political prowess independently
of their husbands, their partners seemingly still received the credit.
Fast-forward seven years and Hillary is at it again, but this time the game has changed.
Now Hillary is hoping to replace a two-term Democratic president, instead of a two-term
Republican president. Because of this, her strategy has become less offensive and more
defensive. Today, one of her slogans is, Americans have fought their way back from tough
economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top (Siegel). This goes
along with her one of her main domestic policies in which she hopes to raise taxes on the rich in
order to help those at the bottom, specifically college students with debt. In comparison to her
last campaign, Clintons current one has not said much about foreign policy; but, for the most
part, she, favors a muscular role for the U.S. overseas (Nicholas). Additionally, Clinton has
worked even harder to reach her voters, going on the road and meeting with voters all around the
country. In some ways, Clintons campaign has stayed the same, however, her stances on

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domestic and foreign policy have changed since 2008, as well as her public image. In 2008,
Clintons campaign video featured her speaking to the camera delivering a soliloquy, but
Clintons video for her current campaign shows Hillary interacting with a diverse mix of people
followed by a brief speech. Despite all of the changes she made and didnt make, Clinton still
endures constant criticism from her running mates, the American people, and most importantly
the media, criticism that isnt directed at her male counterparts.
A couple of weeks ago, a democratic debate took place in Des Moines, Iowa. Similar to
the debate that took place in 2008, this debate was filled with contention. One main difference
between this debate and the last was that it involved different people. In this debate the
participants were Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin OMalley; however, the real
debate took place between Sanders and Clinton. Sanders railed against Clinton for the large
amounts of donations she received from Wall Street. In response, Clinton brought up the fact that
most of her donations came from high-powered women. Additionally, she talked about how she
helped to rebuild New York after the 9/11 attacks, citing this as her main reason as to why she
received so many donations from Wall Street. The response Hillary received for this comment
was not positive. Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and campaign consultant, tweeted that
HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) won debate, but 9/11 Wall-Street answer should never be
repeated. Did very poorly with Iowan undecideds. (Kofinis). This tweet, along with the
Washington Post saying that she played, the woman card AND the 9/11 card shows that both
the public and the media were not pleased with how Hillary responded to the situation (Petri).
Hillarys victory in the debate was spoiled by the fact that the media criticized her when she did
nothing wrong. She, like any other politician would do, used the tools in her arsenal to counter an

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attack by Bernie Sanders, and somehow managed to still come out looking like an apathetic
opportunist.
The medias reactions to Hillary in the debate in 2008 and the one in 2015, illustrate the
negative light that the media chooses to portray Hillary in. Despite a change in both strategy and
campaign, Hillary still receives unwarranted backlash from the media. Unfortunately, these two
debates are just the beginning of the criticism that Hillary has faced and will continue to face.
According to Thomas E. Patterson for the Harvard International Review, roughly half of what
was reported about her (Clinton) in 2007 was unfavorable. On the other hand, the coverage of
Barack Obama was more than 80 percent positive (Patterson). The fact that the treatment of
Hillary by the media continues to be negative in 2015 speaks to a larger problem in our society.
Instead of focusing on merit and what her projected plans for a future America will be, the media
critique gets lost in distracting minutiae that undermines Hillary as a potential candidate.
While many people believe that Hillary gets treated unfairly in the media, others think
that Hillary is coddled by news outlets. In fact, L. Brant Bozell and Tim Graham wrote an entire
book on the issue. This book, titled Whitewashed, focuses on how the media has not criticized
Hillary Clinton enough. The authors of this book believe that, the national media have
flagrantly abandoned their duty as supposedly independent, dispassionate press when it comes to
coverage of Hillary Clinton (Bozell 10). In their minds, the media has been cheerleaders for
Mrs. Clinton and even has intentionally left some of Hillarys scandals out of the media, in
order to portray her in more positive light (Bozell 10). This source and the argument it presents is
not convincing for two main reasons. One is the fact that both Bozell and Graham are both super
conservative white males, whose main goal in writing this book was to stop Hillary Clinton from

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becoming president in 2008. Secondly, there are numerous examples of times when Hillary has
received harsh criticism that her opponents seemingly escaped.
Many speculate that the conservative news outlets criticize Hillary because she is a
Democrat; however, even the female republican candidates face the same kind of treatment from
the media. An Atlantic article by David Graham discusses the downfall of a current republican
presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina. Graham believes that, Fiorina has always had a
structurally disadvantage in the campaign, because she is a woman. He goes on to say that
Americans, specifically Republicans just arent ready for a female president.
Besides the criticism that Hillary faces for her personal life, which was made obvious in
the 2008 debate, this woman also faces criticism for her appearance. Unfortunately, there are so
many examples of Hillary being criticized for her appearance that all of them wouldnt fit into
this paper; however, one example is particularly shocking. In 2007, the writer Robin Givhan
mentioned Hillary Clinton in a Washington Post article. The author was a writer for the fashion
section of the Washington Post and she commented on particular outfit that Clinton wore when
talking on the Senate floor. Instead of focusing on the substance of what Clinton was saying- the
high cost of higher education- the writer chose to focus on what Clinton was wearing. She
described Clintons outfit in full detail and then went so far as to say that, it was startling to see
that small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity peeking out of the conservative -aesthetically speaking -- environment of Congress (Givhan). Sadly, this isnt the first time, and
it wont be the last time, that the media chose to focus on Hillarys appearance instead of her
actual politics. Being judged by outside factors outside of merit has plagued female politicians
for decades.

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In her book Media Bias in Nine Campaigns Erica Falk discusses the media bias that
women have received over the last couple of decades. In particular, she focuses in on a variety of
female politicians, including Hillary Clinton, and makes it clear that there is a trend in the way
women are treated in the media. She says, we find that the press tends to treat women in
general, not just Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole, less seriously than similar men (2). This
trend that is not new to society. In fact, in 1872 was when the first woman, Victoria Woodhull,
ran for president (Falk) she endured a lot of negative attention from the press, most of which
revolved around her family. Interviews were conducted with her family members and the press
dug for stories about her personal life. Specifically, the press interviewed her sister who didnt
support her run for presidency. Additionally, media outlets found out details about her current
and ex-husbands, and even ran a story on a fight that occurred between one of her ex-husbands
and her mother (60 Falk). According to Erica Falk, her family was mentioned about four out of
every ten articles (60 Falk). I understand that people that attribute Victoria Woodhulls treatment
in the media to the time period and the society that she lived in; however, I also believe that the
treatment of female politicians hasnt changed much since Victoria Woodhull ran in 1872. The
media continues to focus on womens personal lives, instead of their relevant political material.
Ever since the first woman, Victoria Woodhull, ran for president in 1872, female
presidential candidates have experienced media bias. This lack of respect for female politicians
in the media speaks to a larger problem in our society. Despite all of the advances our society has
made with medicine, technology, and so many other things; it still falls short when it comes to
equality. Men and women do not compete on an equal playing field in politics, and the media
proves to be a catalyst for this. The focus the media has on female politicians appearances and
social lives leads me to believe that this is all the media cares about when it comes to women.

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Unlike men, the gender roles that women face in the media prevent them from being successful
presidential candidates. Women still face some of the same cultural expectations that Victoria
Woodhull faced in 1872; women are expected to stay at home, support their husbands, and not be
in positions of power. Looking to the future, the only way to solve this ongoing cultural problem
is to have an abrupt change in how the media and the public see women. In my mind, one of the
only ways to accomplish this is to have a female president; someone who can show that women
can handle a powerful position like the presidency. In my mind, that person is Hillary Clinton.

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Works Cited
Biography.com Editors. "Bob Dole Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web.
22 Nov. 2015.
Bozell, L. Brent, and Tim Graham. Whitewash: What the Media Won't Tell You
about Hillary Clinton, but Conservatives Will. New York: Crown Forum,
2007. Print.
Chozick, Amy, and Jonathan Martin. "Rivals at Democratic Debate Attack Hillary
Clinton." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 15
Nov. 2015.
Falk, Erika. Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns. Urbana: U of
Illinois, 2008. Print.
Givhan, Robin. "Hillary Clinton's Tentative Dip Into New Neckline Territory." Washington Post.
The Washington Post, 20 July 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
Graham, David A. "What Happened to Carly Fiorina?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company,
20 Oct. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
Healy, Patrick, and Jeff Zeleny. "Obama and Clinton Tangle at Debate." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
This
Kofinis, Chris (ChrisKofinis) HRC won debate, but 9/11 Wall-Street answer should never be
repeated. Did very poorly with Iowan undecideds. #DemDebate. 14 Nov. 2015, 8:41
PM. Tweet.
Nicholas, Peter, and Laura Meckler. "Hillary Clinton Faces Foreign-Policy Challenges." WSJ.
N.p., 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
Sheckels, Theodore F. Cracked But Not Shattered. Lanham: Lexington, 2009. Print.
Siegel, Benjamin. "Then And Now: Hillary Clinton's 2016 Campaign Announcement vs.
2008." ABC News. ABC News Network, 12 Apr. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015
Patterson, Thomas E. "Just Another Forum?" Harvard International Review 30.2
(2008): 6-7. Web
Petri, Alexandra. "Under Attack at the Democratic Debate, Hillary Clinton Plays EVERY
POSSIBLE CARD." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 22
Nov. 2015.

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