Hillary Clinton 2016: This Could Be Her First Campaign Video
What makes Hillary Hillary?
According to Tony Blair, it's "strength, toughness, a very strong streak in principle. What makes all of that kind of bearable for the rest of us is when you get to know her really incredible humor and humanity. That's what makes people not just like her, but love her."
The tribute video aired on CNN on November 30th, after first being shown before Secretary of State Clinton's keynote speech at the Saban Forum 2012. The video was uploaded to YouTube under the title "Hillary Clinton's First 2016 Campaign Video?" An article at the New Yorker published on Monday proclaimed, "Hillary is running for president."
David Remick writes, "The film was like an international endorsement four years in advance of the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. The tone was so reverential that it resembled the sort of film that the Central Committee of the Communist Party might have produced for Leonid Brezhnev’s retirement party if Leonid Brezhnev would only have retired and the Soviets had been in possession of advanced video technology."
It's certainly true that the choice of Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" as the soundtrack to Clinton's hypothetical campaign ad as is a dubious one. Do we really have to call her girl? No? Ryan Gosling? Plus, as Hillary herself has sarcastically noted, her hair may not fall perfectly without her trying, at least according to the media.
In case she decides to ditch the Saban video and really capitalize on her humor and humanity, here are the top three other contenders for her presidential campaign video in 2016.
1) Let's dance.
I'm picturing this being accompanied by "We Got the Funk" by the Beatnuts. Hillary will tear the roof off, tear the roof off this sucker ... er ... the White House.
2) A girl ought to have a sense of humor.
An infectious laugh and a knowledge of pop culture probably don't hurt either, particularly with younger voters. After all, this is the politician who meme-d herself. She could pull off an SNL-inspired video.
3) Sisters are doing it for themselves.
Given that women are more than half the voting electorate, and always decisive in presidential elections, this would be a great choice for Clinton. "Let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights." Boom. Roasted.