Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Happy April FOOLS!

Here is a excerpt from an interesting article about Hillary Clinton's odd humor:

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton walked somberly into a press conference Tuesday and stood before microphones. Reporters tensed, sensing something big might be afoot.
"This has been a very hard-fought race," she said. "We clearly need to do something so that our party and our people can make the right decision. So, I have a proposal."
The tension grew. Reporters shifted in their seats. Was she dropping out of the race? Offering to join rival Barack Obama as his running mate?
April Fools!
"Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off," Clinton said, provoking relieved laughs from the assembled scribes.
Clinton carried on, making reference to Obama's disastrous outing at a Pennsylvania bowling alley Saturday.
"A bowling night. Right here in Pennsylvania. The winner take all," she went on. "I'll even spot him two frames."
"It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted. I'm prepared to play this game all the way to the 10th frame. When this game is over, the American people will know that when that phone rings at 3 a.m., they'll have a president ready to bowl on day one." ...

There is more amongst the article. Clinton fills her speech with puns and small jokes to humor her audience. I just wanted to get a reaction from my adolescent peers about this "humorous" speech and how they feel about it. N-j-o-y!

8 comments:

Kristina McOmber said...

I'll be you a lot of money she didn't write it. (A shout out to my amazing speech writer during our pres elections, Angela!)

Kristina McOmber said...

Oh and also, a note of more academic merit, it is likely that at this point in the race, an attempt at humor will do little difference. The Clintons have always been consumed with "public image" and how they are perceived by Americans, and right now, her supporters probably laughed with her joke and applauded the step towards "showing a softer side", but those that already are committed to Obama would not appreciate another one of her limp attempts to get elected through "being human", and say things like, "I bet she didn't write it". I personally am neutral on the subject.

Keith Chin said...

I agree with Kristina, the speech sounds funny, but not something that would actually sway my opinion at all.

Paul Slack said...

Well, this humorous speech was probably just an attempt to win over voters by showing that she does have a sense of humor, therefore making her more likable. But really, it doesn't make a difference because we have watched her in debates and speeches for several months now, and we know what kind of a person she is. And she wasn't joking about being a president ready to bowl on day one--she actually believes that and wants voters to make it happen.

Anonymous said...

Kristina brings up this point that maybe Clinton didn't write this speech, but would you know if Obama or McCain, or any of the other candidates for that matter, write their own speeches too? Just pointing Clinton out and referring to the Clintons' public image doesn't seem to neutral.

I'm pretty sure all the candidates have some sort of help to calculate the reactions of the public, especially since actions at this level is so crucial.

Ryan Landis said...

Hey I like a president who can give me a laugh. I guess most people don't though after Bush has us falling out of our seats some times?

Brian Duddy said...

Supposedly Obana wrote that religion speech, although that just sounds a little too "good" for be. I heard on one of the cable news channels that supposedly before that speech, the last president/candidate to write (some of) his own speeches was Nixon.

Melissa Reinertson said...

kinda switching gears..i think its sad how mapped out the candidates are. like who are they really?? they are told how to dress, how to move, how to smile, how to speak, everything.....theyre like barbies you dress up and create...