It seemed to be Monday as Sen. Hillary Clinton addressed the Service Employees International Union.
Clinton (D-N.Y.), who has previously opened up about her sometimes-Southern accent, was in full twang, firing up the cheering crowd. Her critics have charged the accent comes out when she speaks to predominantly black audiences.
She may have just been in the moment, after all. Sen. Barack Obama gave a revival-like speech two hours earlier and had the crowd on its feet.
"If you ever need a little energy pick-up, all you need to do is come and see SEIU," Clinton said when opening her remarks.
About midway through her remarks, as the crowd got excited about Iraq, Clinton started "talkin' Southern," as she has put it previously, dropping the "g" in several words. Fighting became fightin,' and so on.
Listen to this clip.
In it, she gives her stump line that President Bush is misleading voters by saying he will withdraw some troops next summer.
"Those troops were comin' home anyway," she said, adding for Bush "to take credit for that is like him takin' credit for the sun rising in the mornin'."
Here's some video of the senator Sunday in Iowa for comparison. At one point she uses the word "doin'" instead of "doing" but later says "doing" and "talking" like normal.
Clinton threw out plenty of red meat at SEIU, too calling Bush a "radical who has conducted a dangerous experiment with extremism."
Several nurses and home care workers who make up SEIU's membership said the speech was so "hot" her accent didn't bother them, but staffers for rival campaigns noticed the change in her voice right away.
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (8)
who cares, just listen and criticize the message, she did live in the south for a while and when speaking in motivational tone, its a natural inclination.
Posted by rigso | September 19, 2007 4:19 PM
I care... she's a phony. And no it ain't no natchal inklinashun.
Oh.... and her "message" stinks too.
Posted by sullly | September 20, 2007 1:10 AM
who cares. I'm from a Western state and grew up with Western twang, yet now that I've been in California for over a decade, my twang's gone. When I visit my home town, sometimes it returns. Am I being disingenuous?
Posted by bbln | September 20, 2007 2:14 AM
I care too. Her level of phoniness raises falsehood to a new level. If we can ever begin rebuilding our country from all of the damage done to it by Bush and the Bushmen, it cannot be on the shoulders of a rancid virago such as she. Her worldview is stuck in 1974.
Posted by Phillip | September 20, 2007 5:29 PM
Its a matter of integrity and how much a candidate will trade for power.
Posted by Larry Stone | September 21, 2007 3:33 AM
If Obama doesn't make it, I could see myself supporting Romney. I'm a centrist and Romney is not a doctrinaire conservative. Wonder Woman, a.k.a. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was on full display last weekend. Anyone who talks so eagerly about gaining and wielding power, and has the ethics of snake-oil salesman, should really, really, REALLY make people nervous. No, I take that back- that remark was insulting to snake-oil salesmen, I'm sorry.
Posted by George Robertson | September 25, 2007 4:07 PM
Hillary speaks the way she thinks the audiance sounds. She is not only disingeneous, she and her husband have criminal minds. If you think they have padded their portfolio while Bill was President, wait until you see what they are worth after four years of Hillary as President.
They never owned a home before they came to Washington D.C. in 1992 now look how well they're doing.
Posted by George Kelley | November 23, 2007 3:32 PM
William Safire is still and will always be correct. Hillary is a congenital liar. She can't help it. She wouldn't know the truth even if it slapped her botox-filled face.
Posted by Beto | November 24, 2007 3:45 PM