A friendly strategic memo to Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton:
First of all, congratulations. The nay-sayers said you couldn’t just move into New York be elected to the Senate. You would be called a carpetbagger, they said.
You’ve never run for office on your own before, they reminded us. Your people skills, as demonstrated by the failure of your massive health-care proposal, are about as warm and fuzzy as Marie Antoinette’s.
The nay-sayers were certain that you would be clobbered by the Hillary-haters, who have become a feverish cult.
Indeed, when Rep. Rick Lazio entered the race late last spring, replacing the ailing New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Lazio immediately picked up all of Giuliani’s 43 percent support in the polls. It didn’t matter that hardly anyone outside Long Island knew who Lazio was. He was not you and that was all that mattered, at least to that 43 percent.
Well, Hillary, the nay-sayers were right, until the votes came in. You didn’t just beat Lazio, you clobbered him. You won 55 percent of the vote and he lost with–guess what?–that good, old dependable 43 percent.
Lazio stoked a lot of fury with his attack ads but failed to extend his reach beyond the Hillary-haters. Now they’re left to spew their residual venom on Hillary-hating Web sites and conservative call-in radio shows.
And that, madam first lady and senator-elect, is what I expect will happen to your political rivals in the future, if you play your cards right.
They’re already underestimating you.
“She’ll be one of 100 co-equals,” Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said in dry tones on the day after you were elected. “She’ll have to get used to that.” Well, as George Orwell wrote, “some are more equal than others.” When you arrived with the rest of the incoming freshman class you faced about as much commotion as a Britney Spears concert. Roving bands of reporters, photographers and television crews had to be corralled behind red velvet ropes by Secret Service security, layered on top of the usual Capitol Hill police detail, as the newly elected senators trickled through the hallways.
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All because of–guess who? You!
Nevertheless, you wisely played it humbly, telling reporters that you just want to blend in and learn the ropes. “There’s a lot I have to learn here,” you said.
Of course there is. You are in the Senate now, where power comes from seniority, not being a celebrity. Still you have more access than most Senate newcomers do. Here’s what I recommend.
First, lose the Secret Service detail as soon as possible. Or, at least, pare it down. They make you look like Miss Bossy parading down the hall and your fellow senators will only resent it. Each of them thinks they ought to be president and they don’t like being reminded that they are not. Second, embrace an issue from your liberal agenda but make sure it has broad support across party lines. Education, health care, child care and assistance for the elderly all score high. Get people on your side first and then iron out the details later, not the other way around, as you tried with your health-care scheme.
Third, use that bully pulpit that your fame grants you to bring attention to that issue.
Remember the ruckus you caused when you mentioned shortly after your election victory that you wanted to do away with the Electoral College? It was as if no one seemed to notice that a week earlier Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Rep. Ray LaHood, both of Illinois, had introduced amendments that called for the same thing. It was only after you said it that it became big news. It doesn’t matter that your critics among television’s talking heads ridiculed the idea because it came from you. Most important is that you changed the conversation, which is the first step toward changing the direction of the country.
Fourth, build alliances. Your most natural allies are women, who will comprise an unprecedented 13 members in the Senate next year. Many of them, from both parties, share concern for the same sort of school, children and family issues that you care about.
Finally, to make up for your lack of political experience you have one of the nation’s best political strategists: your husband. Sure, he has shown the moral impulses of an alley cat in his personal life, but his political instincts are excellent. He knows how to play the political jiujitsu that harnesses the power of your attackers and turns it against them. Who else could get caught in a love affair in the Oval Office, yet shake off impeachment while his biggest Capitol Hill foe, Speaker Newt Gingrich, resigns?
So, go ahead. Let your critics underestimate you. Let them raise massive amounts of money off the fear that you strike in the heart of the conservative establishment. Every movement needs somebody to serve up as raw meat for the party’s base.
But that’s OK. You have faced low expectations before. Your political jiujitsu isn’t bad, either.
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Outside politics, which have raised more questions than usual this season, nothing is more certain than the approaching holiday season–and the 2000 baiduhai Holiday Fund.
Once again, we’re asking you to help. Together we can make this a happier holiday season for children, the disabled, the homeless and hungry, the elderly and lonely. This year’s goal is $5 million. The baiduhai and the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation cover all fundraising and administrative costs, so you contribution can go directly to help those who need help.
Also enhancing your contribution, the McCormick Tribune Foundation will match all donations on a basis of 50 cents for every $1 contributed.
So please fill out the attached coupon carefully and send it, along with your generous check, to the 2000 Holiday Fund.
And Happy Holidays to you!
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