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brooklynite

(94,591 posts)
Sun Aug 2, 2015, 11:22 PM Aug 2015

Hillary Clinton gives mother's tough upbringing the lead role in first TV ads

The Guardian:

As Hillary Clinton seeks the nation’s highest office for a second time, a central theme of her pitch has been the story of her mother as a lesson in resilience. And now, in the first ad buy of her presidential campaign, Clinton is introducing voters to the late Dorothy Rodham first-hand.

An up-close-and-personal Clinton recounts her mother’s tumultuous childhood directly to the camera in the first two ads of her campaign, which were unveiled late Sunday and will air beginning on Tuesday in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Titled Dorothy and Family Strong, the 60-second spots cast Rodham as Clinton’s primary source of inspiration in fighting for women, children and working class families.

Rodham, who passed away in 2011, was abandoned by her divorced parents at the age of eight and sent with her younger sister to live with her grandparents who, as Clinton puts it in one ad, “didn’t want her”. At the age of 14, she ran away and worked in someone else’s home for just $3 a week.

The latter experience, Clinton says in one ad, opened her mother’s eyes.



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Hillary Clinton gives mother's tough upbringing the lead role in first TV ads (Original Post) brooklynite Aug 2015 OP
K & R Iliyah Aug 2015 #1
Yes I see it also. Thinkingabout Aug 2015 #2
I thought exactly the same thing! MoonRiver Aug 2015 #22
I've got to say the weird focus on Hillary's mother in this campaign baffles me. askew Aug 2015 #3
Her mother taught her that "all lives matter". n/t PoliticAverse Aug 2015 #5
Hey Rocky... watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat! cherokeeprogressive Aug 2015 #10
Waste of money kcjohn1 Aug 2015 #4
That's my thinking as well. askew Aug 2015 #7
Article from Iowa paper on the ads... PoliticAverse Aug 2015 #6
I'd vote for Dorothy!!! tomm2thumbs Aug 2015 #8
good ads- showing her human side virtualobserver Aug 2015 #9
Oh! I get it! She's a GRANDMOTHER now! dirtydickcheney Aug 2015 #11
Nothing to see here... move along... Fearless Aug 2015 #13
Promotes Hillary as having "the common touch". Reassuring oasis Aug 2015 #12
Sheesh she even sounds phony talking about her mom ram2008 Aug 2015 #14
Yep she truly is awful at this. askew Aug 2015 #30
Message auto-removed Name removed Aug 2015 #15
President Hillary Rodham Clinton, 45th POTUS ericson00 Aug 2015 #16
I like to think of Poli camp ads silenttigersong Aug 2015 #17
This is what Wikipedia has about her mother's childhood 6chars Aug 2015 #18
Rough childhood for her mom. oasis Aug 2015 #24
I think that it's a great ad. BlueMTexpat Aug 2015 #19
mysogyny? can you point to a specific example? frylock Aug 2015 #31
OK, I'll bite. BlueMTexpat Aug 2015 #32
so is any criticism of Clinton to be construed as misogyny? frylock Aug 2015 #33
The bitterness of the anti Hillary brigade here is sufrommich Aug 2015 #20
They typical story of a political dynasty, surely... SidDithers Aug 2015 #21
I like it. bigtree Aug 2015 #23
UPDATE-Hillary Clinton set to launch $2 million ad campaign brooklynite Aug 2015 #25
Powerful, well-done ads! 66 dmhlt Aug 2015 #26
My 4 siblings and I were raised by a dirt-poor single mom whatchamacallit Aug 2015 #27
Well done! JustAnotherGen Aug 2015 #28
These are great ads Gothmog Aug 2015 #29
Not to steal any of Hillarys thunder jeepers Aug 2015 #34
Wouldn't that be up to Bernie? brooklynite Aug 2015 #35

MoonRiver

(36,926 posts)
22. I thought exactly the same thing!
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 09:34 AM
Aug 2015

Three generations of incredibly strong, intelligent women. Now that's a legacy!

askew

(1,464 posts)
3. I've got to say the weird focus on Hillary's mother in this campaign baffles me.
Sun Aug 2, 2015, 11:59 PM
Aug 2015

I am not sure I'd be mentioning her time as First Lady and healthcare in the same sentence. Just reminds voters of her massive screw-up of Hillarycare.

Pics of her on 9/11 a bit tacky especially since the big 9/11 healthcare bill was done after she left Congress.

She didn't mention 1 accomplishment from her time at SoS.

But, hey she's a grandma so who cares.

I am never going to see what her supporters see in her I guess. I just see a hanger-on who has had a lot of power and very little to show for it and who is talking about her mom and grandkid so she can avoid talking about the real issues. And how she is still making her campaign about herself. It makes her seem small.

 

cherokeeprogressive

(24,853 posts)
10. Hey Rocky... watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat!
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:35 AM
Aug 2015

Prestidigitation.

Legerdemain.

Sleight of Hand.

The word sleight, meaning "the use of dexterity or cunning, especially so as to deceive", comes from the Old Norse. The phrase sleight of hand means "quick fingers" or "trickster fingers". Common synonyms from the latin alphabet include prestidigitation and legerdemain. Seneca the Younger, philosopher of the Silver Age of Latin literature, famously compared rhetoric techniques and illusionist techniques.

Could it be a way of deflecting from the belief that the Russians (and who knows who else) are quite possibly in possession of everything that ever came to, and everything that ever went from, the server in her garage?

kcjohn1

(751 posts)
4. Waste of money
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:06 AM
Aug 2015

What exactly is this Ad supposed to do? Not big fan of biographical commercials and this is made useless 100% of the people know who she is. Why do I care about her mother, and fact she is grandmother now? Nothing I hate more than politicians running on biography. What is worse her biography aint that great. You can see why someone like McCain would run on it, but her?

askew

(1,464 posts)
7. That's my thinking as well.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:21 AM
Aug 2015

Makes her look like a weak candidate. This is what she has to run on. Really?

 

dirtydickcheney

(242 posts)
11. Oh! I get it! She's a GRANDMOTHER now!
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:08 AM
Aug 2015

Now please explain how you plan on challenging the One-Percenters and taking on vast corporate power?

Your thoughts on the TPP?

Your thoughts on fracking?

Your thoughts on mass-surveillance?

Your thoughts on taking on the Banksters?


While you're at it talk about extrajudicial assassinations.... $15/hr wages.... outsourcing...????

I'm not going to vote for you because your mother was or wasn't a battleaxe.

oasis

(49,389 posts)
12. Promotes Hillary as having "the common touch". Reassuring
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 01:38 AM
Aug 2015

The average voter she can relate to the problems they face in everyday life. The unfair attacks by the media over the years, has worn away the connection Hillary once had with the public.

ram2008

(1,238 posts)
14. Sheesh she even sounds phony talking about her mom
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:09 AM
Aug 2015

I guess I'd vote for Dorothy....??? How many times are we going to be Re-re-re-re introduced to Hillary?

The second ad was a bit better, putting her mother in the context of her own accomplishments, but the first ad was pretty bad.

I'm not sure why she keeps trying to play this down to earth, everyday woman, grandma card. It comes off as fake and cringey. She needs to go back to her roots as the strong, 'ready to lead', experienced candidate who can use her intellect and wit to get things done. Compare these crap ads to the good ones in 2008:

I think this type of 08 Iowa ad would be much more effective if she revamped it into the context of todays issues:

Response to brooklynite (Original post)

 

ericson00

(2,707 posts)
16. President Hillary Rodham Clinton, 45th POTUS
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:13 AM
Aug 2015

rings great. Also having two presidents in the White House would be pretty dope. Would it be "Presidents Clinton" or "President Clintons?" I just say out in the open how excited I am to vote for the Clintons, two for the price of one.

I can see her victory speech on election night 2016 now: Bill comes out and introduces President-elect Clinton.

silenttigersong

(957 posts)
17. I like to think of Poli camp ads
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:47 AM
Aug 2015

as a public service for comedians,having said that_I am reminded of the time Bill Clinton was asked that ever important issue question by some mtv girlz" Boxers or Breifs?".I am sure Hillary would not approve if asked "breifs or granny panties?".Ahh yes this ad just makes me want to run out and get some comfort food ,grab a teddy bear and sing songs like oh give me ahome where the buffalo roam and banker wont forclose on this
day_where seldom is heard a discouriging word and the sky is not cloudy all day.

6chars

(3,967 posts)
18. This is what Wikipedia has about her mother's childhood
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 04:23 AM
Aug 2015

"Dorothy's childhood has been described as Dickensian. The family lived as boarders in a crowded house. The parents were dysfunctional and unhappy and prone to sometimes violent fights they moved Dorothy amongst various schools, and paid only sporadic attention to the children before divorcing in 1927. The children were then sent on a train by themselves, unsupervised (Dorothy was eight, Isabelle younger), to live with their paternal grandparents in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, California. The sisters endured harsh and unloving treatment from their grandparents. The grandmother favored black Victorian dress and punished the girls for trifling acts. After Dorothy was caught trick-or-treating during one Halloween, an activity the grandparents forbade, she was confined to her room for an entire year except for attending school, and was not even allowed to eat in the kitchen or play in the yard. Having had enough, Dorothy left home at age 14 at the height of the Great Depression, working as a $3-per-week housekeeper, cook, and nanny for a kind-hearted woman in San Gabriel, California. Encouraged by her employer to read and go to school, Dorothy attended Alhambra High School, where she joined several clubs and benefited from two teachers."

oasis

(49,389 posts)
24. Rough childhood for her mom.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 09:38 AM
Aug 2015

This surely helped shape Hillary's opinion about how poverty and ignorance can affect children which possibly motivated her to pursue a life in public service.

BlueMTexpat

(15,369 posts)
32. OK, I'll bite.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:58 PM
Aug 2015

I just see a hanger-on who has had a lot of power and very little to show for it and who is talking about her mom and grandkid so she can avoid talking about the real issues.


Why do I care about her mother, and fact she is grandmother now?


That's my thinking as well.
Makes her look like a weak candidate.


I'm not going to vote for you because your mother was or wasn't a battleaxe.


I'm not sure why she keeps trying to play this down to earth, everyday woman, grandma card. It comes off as fake and cringey.


But now I'm done with you.

bigtree

(85,998 posts)
23. I like it.
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 09:36 AM
Aug 2015

...a really inspiring success story of an indomitable woman and her child raised and matured in her own indomitable image.

brooklynite

(94,591 posts)
25. UPDATE-Hillary Clinton set to launch $2 million ad campaign
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 10:53 AM
Aug 2015
Politico:

Hillary Clinton will become the first top-tier candidate to hit the airwaves in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire starting Tuesday with a $2 million ad buy for five weeks of television commercials — a gambit intended to get out in front of her competitors and help boost her popularity before the airwaves are cluttered with competing messages from other candidates.

It’s also a show of force in Iowa where recent polls show Clinton’s favorability numbers dropping, and where Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has enjoyed surging popularity — the single ad buy is almost as large as Sanders’ total campaign spending of $3 million in the first quarter, and more than any top-tier Republican candidate has spent so far on ads.


whatchamacallit

(15,558 posts)
27. My 4 siblings and I were raised by a dirt-poor single mom
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 11:04 AM
Aug 2015

and look how I turned out. Lol. She needs to come up with a more compelling angle than pity.

jeepers

(314 posts)
34. Not to steal any of Hillarys thunder
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:01 PM
Aug 2015


But has anybody thought about telling Bernies story?

Son of a Jewish immigrant raised in poverty, lifelong activist now only a step away from becoming the President of the United States.

Bernies story is the American legend, work hard, be honest and there will be no limit to what you can achieve.

This is the kinda stuff you tell your children to inspire them.

brooklynite

(94,591 posts)
35. Wouldn't that be up to Bernie?
Mon Aug 3, 2015, 02:09 PM
Aug 2015

Alternatively, I was told by the Sanders supporters that this was the new age of grass-roots campaigns and social media tools. Isn't it YOUR job to craft a compelling Bernie Sanders and disseminate to the voters?

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