The Power of Words

The race in New Hampshire was hard fought on both sides, but a few things bothered me about how the campaign was conducted. Hillary Clinton, for the second time in her rather short political career, was facing defeat. My grandmother used to say that you learn much about the character of a person when the chips are down. She is right. Hillary seemed stunned that this upstart from Illinois was gaining traction. How could it be? All he has are words and no record to back them up! Forget for the moment the ineffectiveness of Hillarycare in the 90's. Although, to be fair, she says she has learned her lessons from that experience and won't repeat the same mistakes. How do I know this? She said so. Words and more words.

While campaigning in NH, she got a quick lesson in the power of words. She made the argument that it took the action of LBJ to make the dreams of MLK possible. The way she framed the argument trivialized the achievements of MLK. Recognizing her gaffe, she went on to pay lip service to the greatness of MLK. When words are meaningless, they are easily thrown around.

The argument Clinton is trying to make isn't necessarily invalid. She is trying to say that words are cheap if not followed up by action. I'm not sure her clumsy attempts at making the argument hurt her in NH since she won the state, but certainly her words have reverberated loudly in SC, where African-American Congressman James Clyburn has warned that he may break his pledge of neutrality before the SC primary slated for January 26. If Clyburn endorses Obama before the primary, it would most certainly ensure a victory for the junior Senator from Illinois in the Palmetto State. An endorsement is just so many words too. Apparently, words can and do have power, as Mrs. Clinton has found out the hard way.