Prior to the endorsement, we saw NYT attacks on Hillary in the course of the campaign aside from MoDo's predictable volleys. Not since the endorsement has there been anything as personal, unmerited, and outrageous as Timothy Egan's assault on Hillary's personality here.
It is fair enough to quote her own self-assessment as not a natural politician. But to feed a false portrayal of Hillary Clinton, and that is clearly the intent, as removed, insulated, and awkward is editorial malpractice.
Anyone who has had the privilege to encounter Hillary Clinton can attest to her undivided attention and sincere interest in their words. People say that Bill Clinton makes you feel like the only person in the room. Hillary has that effect as well. Hand to hand, face to face, eyeball to eyeball she locks onto you and stays with you for as long as it takes. She listens. She remembers. She takes action.
People with big issues who have spoken with her know this. Their problems have generated policies in the Senate and policy plans in this campaign. Hillary Clinton, far from being distant and defensive as she is often portrayed, is one of the most open, engaging, and attentive people you can ever hope to meet.
Timothy Egan makes some good points in his piece, but to end it with an indictment of Hillary's personality goes way beyond the pale. What does he really know about her personality? How does he know? Hillary Clinton is a sincere, hardworking, and very warm person who deserves better treatment than this from a paper that endorsed her.
To conclude on a positive note, here is some feedback from people who were in the room printed in a journal that also endorsed Hillary.
Freddie Graves walked with her daughter a few blocks from her house to the Wilson-Gray YMCA on Albany Avenue Thursday and entered the Hillary Clinton town hall undecided between the former secretary of state and Sen. Bernie Sanders.She agrees with what Sanders says and likes the tone of his rhetoric, but doesn't think he has the political chops to turn it into results. As for Hillary, she has long viewed the Clintons as a unit, and held against her the 1994 omnibus crime act, "the law to incarcerate African Americans at a higher rate," as Graves calls it.
Graves lingered in the YMCA gym long after the crowd was gone, and thought about her new resolve.
"I'm convinced now. I just like her message and I like her sincerity," Graves said. I'm looking at Hillary as her own person and I'm glad that I came. ... I was putting her in her husband's shoes until today."
This is the Hillary we know. The Grey Lady has something to learn from the Hartford Courant about ladylike behavior.
