Why Is the Media Ignoring Hillary Clinton?
July 2, 2014 · 10:03 AM EDT
I’ve been deeply distressed by the lack of coverage of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new book and of her potential 2016 presidential bid.
What could possibly be more important and more interesting than her past, present and future?
Forget about the midterm elections, immigration reform, the United States’ standing around the world and developments on Capitol Hill. Let’s be honest: Compared to Hillary, those are questions nobody wants answered or even addressed.
We all have our favorite memories involving Hillary. For me, it was the time then-Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who chaired the Democratic Policy Committee, invited me (and Charlie Cook) to speak at a lunch that was attended by most of his Democratic Senate colleagues.
Clinton, then a senator from New York, sat immediately to my left, and we nodded to each other as she sat down. It was an utterly thrilling experience that I will never forget. Her nod was neither too fast nor too slow. It was neither too knowing nor too unknowing. It may well have been the perfect nod, showing real empathy and yet real strength.
I’m not sure if Clinton actually ate lunch, or, if she did, what she ate. I suppose it might have been a salad, possibly with various kinds of greens, maybe even with some carrots or croutons. I guess it could have included an egg, as well, or even been a Caesar salad, but I’m not really certain of anything, except that Clinton was sitting next to me.
But none of that really matters. All that matters is that I was at the same table as she was, and we had a deep connection in our nods to each other.
Knowing her as well as I do, I am still not sure whether she will run for president, though I must admit that I expect that she will. However, I am neither so certain that she will run nor so confident that she won’t that I think people should stop speculating about it for even a moment.
For me at least, a day without significant mindless chatter and uninformed speculation by the media about Clinton’s 2016 plans is a day of missed opportunities to drone on and on about her future.
My own view is that Hillary needs more exposure in the media. She ought to have her own talk show aimed at women, much like Oprah did, in the mornings. That could be followed by a drive-time afternoon talk radio show, aimed primarily at angry men stuck in traffic. In the evening, of course, a one-hour, prime time nightly television show hosted by the former secretary of state and New York senator could rotate among the broadcast networks, guaranteeing a broad viewership.
On the weekends, Hillary could have her own show on ESPN, discussing sports around the world (to take advantage of her international background and connections).
All of her shows would, of course, be bracketed by shows that talked exclusively about her, allowing deeper, more intense discussions of all things Hillary.
Maybe even more important, Clinton should be mentioned for more jobs instead of only president.
Why on earth isn’t Hillary in the mix to replace Bud Selig as the next commissioner of Major League Baseball? If Disney CEO Bob Iger can be mentioned as the next commissioner, surely the former secretary of state should be mentioned, since she would become the first woman commissioner of Major League Baseball. (Actually, Hillary would become the first female commissioner of a major sport, since former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed on the NFL commissioner’s job years ago.)
In fact, I’m pretty confident that the former first lady could do both the MLB commissioner job and the job of president. I’d suggest an entire week of programming to talk about the pros and cons of that.
Personally, I’m still distressed that Clinton was never considered to replace Jay Leno.
I think we need more books about Clinton, including more books written by her. And we certainly need more “exclusive” interviews by the networks with her and about her.
And I would like to see the cable companies launch a 24-hour All Hillary cable channel. That way, if you have insomnia or simply feel lonely during the middle of the afternoon, you can switch on the HRC channel and feel comforted that somewhere, someone is talking to or about Hillary Clinton.