Will Hillary face “prop” charge, like Palin did?
Chelsea Clinton has announced she’s pregnant.Congratulations. Best wishes for mother and child.It would be perfectly natural for Hillary to show off the grandbaby, particularly if, as expected, she runs for President. I can envision the family, including grandbaby, on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 as Hillary accepts the nomination — maybe with Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow playing in the backgroundHillary more than anyone needs humanizing, in what already is a multi-year rebranding project.And Hillary isn’t waiting for the arrival to publicly express her joy:
Then there were the attacks on Palin for bringing Trig on stage at the Republican National Convention, and with her on the campaign trail. HuffPo blogger Suzy Shuster wrote after Palin brought Trig to the V.P. debate in early October 2008:
It actually came after the debate, when for seemingly the millionth time, Sarah Palin trotted out her piece de resistance, her favorite prop of this campaign season: her five and a half month old son Trig. Why is this child up so late every time there is a camera op? … My point is, if Palin is going to keep shoving the motherhood card down our collective throats, maybe she can start being a mom again and stop using her own kid for political gain. Trig deserves a good night sleep.”
And this post from a self-proclaimed feminist:
In addition to keeping Trig up all hours of the night so that she can parade him around a stage after a pitiful debate performance or speech, she’s decided to use baby Trig to get some lusty applause out of the audience, because, let’s face it, there’s nothing evangelical Christians love more than a developmentally disabled baby they can use to their own end.
The accusation that Trig is used as a “prop” has continued to this day. Megan Elaine at Political Inaction,
whoaccuses Palin of “pimping” Trig in the most recent issue of Runner’s World:it’s amazing that Palin is, once again, using Trig as a prop. I mean–is it really necessary to have the baby in a picture with her for Runner’s World?? Again, we see her willing to pimp out her children, until one of them gets knocked up. Amazing.
If showing off your own child leads to being accused of using the child as a prop, how about showing off the grandchild?
Applying that standard to the Hillary grandbaby apparently is off limits (jump ahead to 3:20)(added — text from TPM):
The gang on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is usually game to analyze (if not set) the latest political narrative, but as Andrew Ross Sorkin proved on Friday, even that show has limits.Following a discussion about Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers, the New York Times financial columnist eagerly turned the panel’s attention to the real story.”Can we talk about the human drama that is Grandma Clinton?” Sorkin asked, referring to Chelsea Clinton’s announcement that she’s pregnant. “I don’t want to be cynical and I’m not suggesting anyone’s having a baby for election purposes, but —” Sorkin added before being drowned out by the panel’s collective groans. And with that, Sorkin had lost the room, despite his best efforts to salvage his argument. He insisted that the pregnancy was a game changer for Hillary Clinton.”It’s gonna change the dynamic of the campaign,” he said.How exactly?”It’s a softening, there’s a compassion thing,” Sorkin explained. “You don’t think that over the next two years on the campaign trail this is gonna be part of the narrative? Come on. That’s interesting.”The other panelists did not find his observation interesting.
Palin should not have been criticized for using the child as a “prop” and neither should Hillary. But don’t expect consistency there form the media. Hillary will be vigorously defended.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY