Guests on today’s “Meet the Press With Tim Russert” were historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jon Meacham (Newsweek), Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), Tom Brokaw (NBC) and Michele Norris (NPR) (L to R, above). Below is an excerpt from the transcript from the show:
MS. NOONAN: Can I say, on the campaign trail, one of the things I find jarring the past few weeks is that Hillary Clinton is the first major party woman running for president of the United States. She is a woman. She’s running for president. She’s running for head of the United States, chief executive officer. And she has to send her husband out to yell at the neighbors? It’s like she’s, she’s saying, “You go out there, you fight for me. My husband’s going to tell you off!” There’s something strange, jarring, unbecoming and even unfeminist about it.
MS. GOODWIN: I doubt that she’s sending him out. I think he’s going out on his own.
MS. NOONAN: You think he’s just on his own. Oh, my goodness, it’s her campaign. If she didn’t want him out there wagging his finger, turning red and arguing with reporters and bringing a level of temper and heat to the proceedings, if she did not want that, I’m sure she would stop it. And if she cannot, we should all just stop and take a breath.
The full transcript is here.
Goodwin’s comments are disingenuous and Noonan’s are sexist. President Clinton is not “going out on his own;” his participation in the campaign is planned (although not necessarily scripted to the word).
And Noonan criticizes Senator Clinton for doing what the male candidates do: having a spouse assist in campaigning. That’s hardly the same as sending one’s husband to fight one’s battles. Noonan’s real objections are that President Clinton is popular and Senator Clinton is still in the race.
I must add that I was as jarred by Professor Goodwin’s plastic surgery as I was by her comments. I long for the day when a mature woman can retain her natural face and her authority.
Hat tip to Allison Cappella.
-Bridget Crawford
I know, Michele Obama is doing the same thing. Basically, you can’t have your male spouse fight for you b/c it shows your weakness b/c of course men are stronger than women. When a women fights for her male spouse it is seen as a soft ball (fighting light). I just can’t believe that she would say such a thing and then call Hillary unfemninst. What is unfeminist is Noonan’s comments. Her suggestion that a woman can’t use her husband in the campaign because he is a man and men’s comments are seen as more effective and powerful, is what is unfeminist. What a bunch of crap. If a wife were to say the same thing, Noonan would say “wow, what a strong smart wife this candidate has.” When will we be held to the same standard? Obviously her statement shows her underlying feelings that a man’s words are stronger.
I too was disappointed by DKG’s response. However if you read more of the transcript, Russet shuts down the dialog. He wants nothing of this debate. The fact is, NO ONE DOES. SAD.
Here’s the deal on DKG–She has a plagarism problem. Goodwin paid a settlement, I believe in the mid 1990s, to make a civil suit go away (she lifted entire sections from a dissertation). But the working historian had her dead to rights. It’s why she was exilled from the cocktail weenie circuit, at least for year.
But she’s back, blathering on. She would never survive in higher ed–plagarism is grounds for dismissal, no matter how highly ranked a given prof is. I raised a stink when she was paid for speaking at my institution, pointing out her poor scholarly record (“but, but, but she won the Pulizter Prize”–yeah, for lifting material).
Anyway, when her face comes on the tube, the channel is switched.