The ability to escalate female backlash in Hillary’s favor in the last two days of the New Hampshire campaign is pretty startling. The incident that kicked it off was two guys carrying a large sign saying “Iron My Shirt”(hard to sneak in to a closed campaign appearance). The New York Daily News smells another Mark Penn plant:
Clinton asked that the lights be turned on, apparently to see them better and declared. “Oh the remnants of sexism, alive and well tonight,” to applause.
She then talked about breaking glass ceilings, before joking as the pair were hustled out: “If there’s anybody in the audience who wants to learn to iron his own shirt, we can talk about that.”
We followed.to ask what the heck they were thinking.
Nick Gemelli, who is 21, and born at least a decade after “iron my shirts” was an anti-women’s rights slogan, didn’t have much of a rationale. “I just don’t think a woman should be President,” he said.
He couldn’t really say why, but he agreed that he was a health care voter, as the sticker on his carrying case implied. The “Hillary for President” sticker was a bit more of a puzzle.
If this was a brilliant Penn-Wolfson idea to raise the sexism issue, it sure worked. Gloria Steinem wrote an OP-Ed for them the next day and Google shows 72,000 references to “Hillary + Iron my shirt”. With the exception of the Daily News blogger, no one questioned the authenticity of the hecklers.
11 responses so far ↓
Fuck Fiction // January 9, 2008 at 12:26 pm |
Hadn’t even thought of them being plants, I had thought of the question Hillary cried for being a plant though. I smell some bull shit.
loopyloo350 // January 10, 2008 at 12:32 pm |
It makes me really angry when people like Chris Matthews say things like he said the other day that “the only way she became Senator was because people felt sorry for her because her husband had an affair, she didn’t win it on the merits”. That is not exact but you can find the exact quote on AlterNet blogs. It is really offensive. he wouldn’t say that the only reason a man was elected was because his wife went out on him. It is totally sexist and someone should call him on it. It is no different than the way Don Imus talked. And it is not even true.
Jon Taplin // January 11, 2008 at 8:04 pm |
Loopy- Chris Matthews plays an important role in an election like we are coming up to. It’s called “the loyal opposition”–a reasonable critique of the Democratic Establishment
loopyloo350 // January 12, 2008 at 5:20 am |
Reasonable is when it is true! Any critique that is flat out dishonest and manipulates the facts to fit their particular view is not reasonable. To twist the facts to fit your view and then to claim it is the truth, which he has, is slanderous. We need to get out of the slander politics. It’s the same with what was done to John McCain in 2000, in South Carolina, except he didn’t just infer something, he came flat out and said that the “only reason she became a Senator was because her husband cheated on her”. That is the trouble with a lot of people, they get away with this kind of statements and nobody calls them on it. I watched him last nigh and he repeated the same thing. If he believes it, fine, say it is his belief, not as a statement of fact.
Michael Canfield // January 12, 2008 at 8:40 am |
Some aspects of the incident raise questions and certainly deserve to be looked into. I thought it interesting how quickly Clinton thought to ask for the lights to be brought up so the sign could be seen, and how ready she was with a rebuff. The heckler allowed himself to lead away effortlessly. I wish there had been more of an effort by the media to see who this guy is.
But on the question of smuggling the sign into the event, crease folds can clearly be seen, and the sign appears to be made out of something like butcher paper. He could have had it under his shirt or jacket. The bumper sticker on his bag might have the heckler’s attempt to fit in at the event.
Jon Taplin // January 12, 2008 at 9:14 am |
Any reporter with a little enterprise could find the heckler and interview him. Unless the Clinton’s have sent him on a Caribbean vacation.
Swift Loris // January 13, 2008 at 8:39 am |
I’m skeptical that it was planned because her initial comment–“Oh the remnants of sexism, alive and well tonight”–was so incredibly lame. Surely they could have thought up something snappier.
“Dr. King Didn’t Just Give Speeches” « Jon Taplin’s Blog // January 13, 2008 at 6:57 pm |
[...] circulating email saying Obama is a Muslim. Bill Shaheen accusing Barack of being a drug dealer. The phony ”Iron my shirt” plant followed by tears the next day.Bill calling Obama “a kid” and saying [...]
eyeingtenure // January 13, 2008 at 8:02 pm |
The hecklers were regional shock jocks, as far as I heard.
Beyond that, were they planted? Maybe, but doubtful. I think her campaign gave it tacit approval and Hillary Clinton advance warning, but that it was at the very least imagined independently.
http://awaitingtenure.wordpress.com
Where Hillary Went Wrong « Jon Taplin’s Blog // March 8, 2008 at 5:14 am |
[...] he could use classic attack politics and for two days in New Hampshire with the tears and the “Iron my Shirt” trick it worked. But you can only cry once and Bill Clinton’s attacks in South Carolina misfired. As [...]
Doug Pederson // March 7, 2009 at 7:14 am |
Planted questions pissed me off so much that I went after the plants in this 1993 forum.