She Delivered
By Soren Matthew Godbersen
It seemed to me like resounding success in Monday’s debate was virtually unattainable for HRC.
She had to appeal to her own party’s disgruntled progressive wing, but also to the sensible, non-psychopathic contingent of the republican party, while not appearing waffly, pandering, or without conviction (charges that, right or wrong, have been leveled against her repeatedly for years).
She had to look straight-faced at a bigoted, narcissistic, sociopathic geyser of bullshit and expose his nonsense, meanness and solipsism without appearing condescending, irritable, or dismissive.
She had to actually discuss substantive policy prescriptions in a way that was digestible to viewers amid a hailstorm of petty accusations and characteristic non-sequiters that have been given credence throughout this campaign cycle’s bizarre media narrative.
And she had to do all of that while contending with the inherent sexist double-standards of debate performance evaluation.
Somehow she pulled almost all of it off, which I think reflects both a mastery of details and understanding of the moment — unlike Gore in 2000, Kerry in 2004 or even Obama in 2012, she delivered. She may not be the perfect candidate for all of us, but goddamn if she isn’t obsessively prepared, tireless, and unflappable under pressure.
She deserves our respect. At the very least, she deserves our vote.
Soren Godbersen is a scarecrow assembled out of second-hand flannel, stale coffee grounds and musings scribbled on cocktail napkins. An occasionally-self-loathing prototypical CA-Seattle transplant, Soren writes on music, political economy, getting older, and corporate inanity.
