kovariks.net

Hillary impressions

I guess it's just a political theme today.

We went a week and a half ago to see Hillary Clinton speak at Agnes Scott's commencement exercises. Kathryn blogged about it (with pictures) here.

Anyway, I've been meaning to pass on my impressions, because I know the whole internet is just dying to know what I thought and has been waiting on tenterhooks this whole time.

She was good. Really good. I was impressed. I expected her to have good presence and charisma, and that was true. But I also expected her to be a little cold in person, and that was completely wrong. She came across as a very warm and personable sort. The president of the university used to know her in DC when their daughters played softball together, and told a story about her daughter putting Hillary out at 1st base in the students-parents game. It was a hoot, and Hillary was just very friendly and laid-back the whole time.

She also spoke appropriately. This is a big deal to me. I really appreciated that she didn't dust off her stump speech and dress it up in graduation clothing. She spoke eloquently on women's rights and women's advancement in the country and around the world, and gave some specific charges to the graduates. It didn't feel political, it was perfectly apropos. That was nice. An appreciation for the occasion got her big points in my book.

I also heard later (we didn't stay the whole time) that she stayed after and shook hands with each grad as they left. Very cool.

Incidentally, I think she'll be nominated in 2008 and lose in a close race. I think there's too many folks that won't vote for a woman or just don't like her. Despite her changing image in the Senate, I'm just not seeing it unless she pulls a wildcard like reaching across the aisle and putting McCain in the ticket as veep or something. Now that would rattle some cages, eh?

Posted by Tom at May 25, 2005 12:10 PM