Monday, March 19, 2007

Deconstructing Masterly Clinton Politics

Consider Hillary Clinton's recent statement about the morality of being gay or lesbian: "I'll leave that judgment to others." Notice how artfully, carefully, this is constructed. A coastal lib, doubtless, sees 'judgment' in this sentence - if they think about it at all - as synonymous with 'decision', 'call', or 'belief' - but in any case the coastal lib definitely doesn't see it as an anti-gay slur, which is what Clinton wants.

In contrast, ask yourself how a reasonable southern evangelical - not a wingnut, but a reasonable one - reads the word 'judgment' here - it's church talk, Bible language, Jesus' teaching - "Judge not lest not you be judged." Hillary's winking at Christian evangelicals, speaking their language, and intentionally letting it sail right over the heads of the coastal libs that this is what she's doing. Coastal libs are inattentive to words like judgment, grace, and faith when used in a semi-secular context.

This ingenious way of appeasing two groups at once, without having either one quite realize this is what's being done, is fascinating, and doubtless it originated with Bill. It's a potent political device.

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