Over four decades, Mike Royko published about 7,500 columns in his hometown of Chicago in three newspapers: the Daily News, the Sun-Times and the Tribune. A year before he died, he reflected on the more-than-probable reelection of Bill Clinton to the White House. Royko did this based on two surveys that moved away from traditional questions and asked citizens two very peculiar questions in order to define their electoral preferences. The first one asked voters which of the two candidates they would choose to take care of their children if they went out to dinner. The second, even more odd, asked which candidate people considered more trustworthy to choose the ingredients for a pizza.
The fundamental part of the issue is that Bill Clinton was chosen, with a large margin, over the other candidate, Bob Dole. It was impossible not to remember this anecdote when the tireless Hillary Clinton decided to run for president. With elements of tragedy, in some extreme cases reaching the grotesque, Hillary Clinton resisted the scandals and blunders; she was stable, with professional preparation beyond doubt and an almost Olympic ambition. However, she always paled in the face her husband's charismatic power and later that of Obama who, helped by the historic embellishments of his candidacy, took her out of the presidential race.
Hillary Clinton must have wondered about the essence of charisma during television time. At this stage, she could write a thesis that would extend her three-book installment of political memoirs, all of which are destined for self-promotion rather than self-criticism. Her campaign, which has just begun, will be a powerful showing of how the best minds in political marketing try to get her closer to voters that want her in their living room. The exercise of media palatability will come accompanied by a downpour of monetary contributions, a legal absurdity that the Supreme Court allowed when it raised fundraising limits in its decision in Citizens United.
Her reinvention to become the first female president of the United States will consist of conquering those superficial yet fundamental values that voters appreciated in her husband during those times that the great Mike Royko called the Age of Indulgence.
Mike Royko publicó cerca de 7.500 columnas a lo largo de cuatro décadas en los tres periódicos de su Chicago natal: el Daily News, el Sun-Times y el Tribune. Un año antes de morir, reflexionaba sobre la más que probable reelección de Bill Clinton para un segundo mandato presidencial. Lo hacía a raíz de dos encuestas que se saltaban las preguntas tradicionales y que formulaban a los ciudadanos dos cuestiones muy particulares para que definieran sus preferencias electorales. La primera era a quién elegirían de los candidatos presidenciales para cuidar a sus hijos si salían a cenar fuera. La segunda, aún más comprometida, les preguntaba sobre cuál de ambos considerarían más fiable para elegir los ingredientes de su pizza.
Lo fundamental del asunto es que Bill Clinton salía elegido, con enorme diferencia, sobre el otro candidato, Bob Dole. Es imposible no recordar esta anécdota cuando se ha postulado para la presidencia una infatigable Hillary Clinton. Con elementos de tragedia, en algunos extremos incluso de tragedia grotesca, Hillary Clinton resistió los escándalos y los traspiés, asentada sobre una preparación profesional fuera de duda y una ambición casi olímpica, pero siempre palideció frente a la potencia carismática de su marido y más tarde de un Obama que, ayudado por los ribetes históricos de su candidatura, la sacó de la carrera presidencial.
Hillary Clinton se habrá preguntado sobre la esencia del carisma en tiempos televisivos y a estas alturas podría escribir una tesis que prolongara sus tres entregas de libros de memorias políticas, todos ellos más destinados a la autopromoción que a la autocrítica. Su campaña, que acaba de comenzar, será una poderosa muestra de cómo los mejores cerebros de la mercadotecnia política tratan de acercarla a un electorado que la quiere en el salón de casa. El ejercicio de potabilidad mediática vendrá acompañado por el baño de dinero en aportaciones, un disparate legal que el Supremo toleró al levantar las limitaciones recaudatorias en su sentencia sobre Citizens United.
Su reinvención para llegar a ser la primera presidenta de los EE UU consistirá en conquistar esos valores superficiales, pero fundamentales que el electorado apreciaba en su marido, en aquellos tiempos que el gran Mike Royko llamó la edad de la indulgencia.
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[I]n the same area where these great beasts live, someone had the primitive and perverse idea to build a prison ... for immigrants in the United States without documentation.
[I]n the same area where these great beasts live, someone had the primitive and perverse idea to build a prison ... for immigrants in the United States without documentation.