The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Sunday, July 15, 2007
UPDATED Estrich: Jeri Thompson's youth will "turn off" Old Lonely Women voters
It means that Ms. Estrich has reached a new low, even for her. Which is pretty telling, considering that this icon of feminism has very little at all to say about Hillary Clinton riding her husband's coattails all the way to a gift-wrapped Senate seat and Presidential run, despite the fact that their marriage is a complete sham, and knowing fell well that without the old blue-skirt chaser, Hillary would still be chasing ambulances for some mid-level law firm somewhere. So, Susan, please tell us: has this "model of womanhood" suddenly become the feminist ideal?? If not, then how about zipping it (no, I'm not talking about Bill Clinton now...) when it comes to the candidates' wives? You should be so lucky as Jeri Thompson; unlike Hillary, at least Jeri had made a name and career for herself before she married Fred. Seems to me that this is more in line with what used to be known as "feminism." But what do I know? I'm just one of those "older men" Estrich seems to despise so much...All of this should support the view that Jeri Thompson’s assets are irrelevant to her husband’s prospects. But I don’t buy it for a moment — at least not among women of a certain age, both married and single, who are liable to play a decisive role in this campaign, particularly if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate.
The reaction I hear from every woman I know, those who have gotten sick to their stomachs over seeing middle-aged men cavorting with girls barely beyond their teen years, is a giant “yuck.”
What does it say about a man who’s busy having babies only two years after being diagnosed with lymphoma? What does it say that he’d rather be with someone who wasn’t even alive when JFK was shot, or at least was too young to remember where she was?
What does it say that he doesn’t care that she doesn’t remember the songs and the history and the fears we grew up with? [Who’s “we”? — ed.] Where does it leave those of us who do?
Dateless is where. And maybe voting no.
I can’t help it. It makes me like Fred Thompson less. And I can’t believe I’m the only one.
Susan Estrich, serious political commentator.
She knows how old Jeri Thompson is, incidentally; she mentions it earlier in the piece. By setting the date ranges as she has (pretty widely too, as women who were too young to remember the Kennedy assassination would be in their mid 40s now at a minimum) she’s emphasizing that this isn’t really about the Thompsons as much as it is symbolic revenge for every member of the First Wives’ Club who’s been wronged. Obama’s wife wasn’t alive when JFK was shot either but since she’s not cutting into any sexagenarian action you won’t hear any complaints about her. Also, as the hit pieces on Jeri start to pick up, keep an eye out for how many of them conveniently omit the fact that she didn’t “steal” Fred from his first wife by any means. They didn’t meet until 1996; Fred and the first Mrs. Thompson divorced in 1985. The Times, to its credit, at least mentioned that fact. It’ll gradually become unmentionable as the campaign wears on.
Exit question: What on earth is that lymphoma remark supposed to mean?
This sort of story also shows just how afraid of Fred Thompson the Left really is--terrified is really a better word. Bob Beckel was quoted in The American Spectator as saying that Thompson is the only potential GOP candidate "who scares me"; meanwhile Clinton aide Lanny Davis wrote in The Hill newspaper: "I hope he isn't the GOP nominee because he would be very difficult to beat, " and then goes on to address Thompson directly: "An awful lot of Democrats and independents would share with me their high level of respect for you, as well as their concern that you may be the most difficult Republican to beat in November 2008."
Exactly. So let the sliming begin--even before Thompson officially declares he's in the race! Susan Estrich should be ashamed of herself for such a transparent and intellectually vacant appeal to cheap emotionality. What a role model for Women everywhere...
UPDATE: Here is another example of the media's "Get Fred" mindset.
UPDATE: Don Surber offers his .02 on Hillary Clinton, "feminist":
Margery Eagan took a look on Saturday the Clintonian soap opera and decided, “Clinton spectacle one giant step back for feminism.” I found myself completely agreeing with Eagan, who wrote:
Bill and Hill is now morphing into Hill and Bill, for obvious reasons. The road show came to New Hampshire yesterday. Bill stared at Hill adoringly, rapt, like Nancy Reagan in drag, for God’s sake, except Nancy actually felt it.
Does it get more humiliating? Did Elizabeth Dole drag Bob all across America? Did Kerry Healey? Have you ever even seen Attorney General Martha Coakley’s husband?
“It’s a bad commentary on women candidates that she can’t stand on her own,” says GOP strategist Holly Robichaud.
Hillary is an embarrassment. Her voice is wrong. She is stiffer than an overdose of Viagra. She is as sincere as a Paris Hilton anti-DUI ad.
Labels: 2008 Presidential Race, Feminist Left, Fred Thompson
