Clinton: A harder edge?
Posted: Monday, April 14, 2008 9:06 AM by Domenico Montanaro
At the Alliance for American Manufacturing forum in Pittsburgh, Clinton will say, according to excerpts of her speech, per AP, "We need solutions to fix our trade laws, build a strong manufacturing base, and stand up to China and say that unsafe toys and unfair currency practices are unacceptable." Obama is also scheduled to speak at the event today as well.
Boston Globe looks at the problem Clinton has had softening her public persona. "Collegial and quietly diligent, Clinton could be counted on to exhaustively work a bill through and cultivate support from both parties, according to numerous senators and aides interviewed by the Globe. This was, some say, the new Clinton that her presidential campaign wanted to reintroduce to voters - the Clinton who once described herself as ‘the most famous person nobody knows.’”
“Fifteen months later, however, even some Clinton supporters concede that goal has been more difficult to achieve in the one-on-one campaign against Barack Obama, in which Clinton chose after her loss in the Iowa caucuses to define herself as a relentless fighter. That harder-edged persona - intended to present her as tougher than Obama - has won her greater support among some elements of the electorate, especially blue-collar voters, pollsters say. But it has also come at a cost, as Clinton continues to be hamstrung by public impressions of her as divisive and untrustworthy.”
“Clinton's supporters say she is the victim of old, unfair images that are reinforced in the media. But some political specialists and lawmakers say the tone of Clinton's uphill campaign against Obama has underscored the side of the Clintons that some voters do not like."
