Press Punish Candor. Ironic, don’tcha think?
Yesterday, I had the pleasure to be on the sidelines of history. I spent the day covering Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, where she endorsed Senator Barack Obama. No matter which Presidential candidate you support, no matter which party you are affiliated with, no matter if you are a journalist, it is still a humbling experience to watch political history being made.
After covering the news of day there was one question in this journalists mind, where was this candor through out the campaign. Apparently other journalists had this same thought. This question lead me to the next less obvious one, why is it not possible for a Presidential candidate to speak honestly and openly? What is with the guard?
Obviously, Clinton did not feel as though she could talk freely about what it was like to be a female running for the highest job title in the nation. Why now? What does this mean for her career? HRC gave the most influential and groundbreaking speech of her campaign. In this reporters opinion it was quite similar to Obama’s speech on race. Did Clinton make a mistake in not revealing this side of her campaign earlier?
It seems to me that through the duration of the democratic primaries there were two elephants in the room. One elephant was race, the other was sex. (Maybe they should be called donkeys.) Whether it was the press, the candidates, or the general public who placed these elephants in the room, never the less they were there.
Senator Obama addressed the elephant, Senator Clinton did not.
Below is commentary from a republican and democratic strategist on Senator Clinton’s speech.
Tags: Hillary Clinton
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.