Cross-posted at MyDD and HillarysBloggers.com
I’ve seen a lot of things written and heard way too much said about Hillary by people who couldn’t possibly know her personally, but write or speak as if they hang out with her on a daily basis. I don’t know her either, but I’ve kept an open mind, read what she’s written and have listened to those who actually DO know her – worked with her here in DC. When I compare that to the person in the posts here or described in commentary on the Sunday talk shows... well dammit - they just don’t sound like they could possibly be the same woman.
The New York Times published an article yesterday that sheds a little light on Hillary in a way the others rarely do.
Make the jump with me to read more...
The article begins by telling us about Diane Blair,– a very dear friend of Hillary’s who had died, and she was giving the eulogy. Something that clearly wasn’t easy for her to do – say goodbye to a friend who was more like a sister to her...
Her eyes stayed dry, another triumph of her self-possession. Still, her face was puffy and her jaw slightly clenched, as if any breach of emotion could start a deluge.
That was a glimpse of a "softer" Hillary Clinton, billed as the "real Hillary" by legions of loyalists, the person so often encased in armor.
Mrs. Clinton’s surrogates lament that the engaging, generous and vulnerable woman on the stage would seem alien to many Americans.
Snip
Indeed, Mrs. Clinton is guarded by nature, friends say, a fundamentally "private person" despite her hyper-public profile.
snip.
People who have known her well acknowledge her protective shell. "Hillary is a person who feels herself very vulnerable, and her response is to make herself bulletproof," said Nancy Pietrafesa, a classmate of Mrs. Clinton’s at Wellesley College.
The article goes on to list all of the various "-gates" that have been aimed at Hillary over the years.
"She’s been attacked every day for the last 15 years," said Jim Blair, Diane Blair’s husband. "What else are they going to say or find about her?"
Like I’ve said for a long time now... Hillary’s probably the most vetted public figures in recent history.
Another friend tells of a time Hillary was in a tough fight to overhaul the education system in Arkansas. She’s no stranger to tough fights...
"At the end of every day, Hillary said she liked to give Chelsea a bath and wash off all of that day’s dirt and let it flow down the drain," Mrs. Henry said. "That’s essentially her approach. Get dirty, then wash it all off and move on."
I can relate – I feel like I need to get the grime off after a particularly snarky evening on dKos ;o) (kidding!)
Mrs. Clinton said it is a constant challenge to protect herself emotionally and still connect with the people she yearns to serve. "It’s not easy, and I don’t think it’s ever been easy," she said. "You go out into public, and no one, whether you’re running for office, or going to work for a newspaper, or running a subway car, you never are open with every nerve ending."
The Rev. Ed Matthews, a Methodist pastor in Little Rock, who ministered to Mrs. Clinton in Arkansas and in the White House and attended Mrs. Blair’s memorial service, has seen Mrs. Clinton at vulnerable moments. But Mr. Matthews acknowledges that her public bearing can at times "cause people to wonder how open she would be to my needs and feelings."
"I think there has been a natural steeling process that has gone on," he said. "I don’t think she has intended to be a harder person. ‘Cautious’ might be a better word."
The article goes on to talk about Hillary’s childhood in a Chicago suburb – and it briefly touches on her mother’s harsh childhood, and I was reminded of something a friend & I were talking about last week. This friend was very involved in setting up the Infants & Toddlers program that my own son benefited from a few years back, and she reminded me that Hillary comes by her passion for helping children in a very personal way. She’d grown up knowing of her own mother’s troubles as a child, and that led her to study early childhood development while she was in school. Something no other presidential candidate has ever done before.
After describing some of the more rocky times in the White House, the article goes on to talk about how she used what she’d been through in her run for the Senate – something that helped her put things behind her...
"My policy for the last eight years has largely been to absorb whatever insult, whatever charge, whatever accusation anybody said and not respond because they are so outrageous and so unfair," she said in a news conference. "I’ve been accused of everything from complicity in murder to, you know, you name it."
I’ve met quite a few people here in the DC area who know Hillary personally – folks who’ve worked for her in the White House and some who even go back to Bill’s first run for the White House. It bugs them to no end to hear others attack her as controlling and cold, and say "if only they knew her the way I know do"
I just hope that in the coming months, the people of this good community will at least keep an open mind, and consider that maybe there’s more to Hillary than the awful things that have been said about her by the MSM, the extremists, and (sadly) some of the people here for far too long now.
I just received an email from Ann Lewis of Hillary's campaign. They've set up a new website called Moms For Hillary. Watch for a write-up on this in the coming days.