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Tales from the Trail

Tracking the 2008 U.S. campaign

March 24th, 2008

Clinton: See this as a job interview, but ignore the hair

Posted by: Jeff Mason
Tags: Tales from the Trail: 2008, , ,

UNIONTOWN, Pennsylvania - U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants voters to see the Democratic nomination race as an interview, and she says her resume of experience means she’s the right person for the job.

clintonmar25.jpgBut the New York senator made light of the length of that interview process in her race against rival Barack Obama and said sometimes people make their decisions based on silly things — like hair.

“Consider this a job interview,” Clinton told a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday evening.

“If it’s a job interview, which I think it is — it’s one of the longest job interviews on record … you have to ask yourself, who would I hire?”

The New York senator’s preferred answer, of course: Hillary Clinton. But one thing she doesn’t want you to take into account is her haircut.

“If they don’t particularly like your hair style, they can vote for you or against you,” she remarked about job interviews in general, saying sometimes selections were based on fickle criteria.

Clinton was famous for changing her haircut during her years as first lady but has kept a fairly consistent style since joining the Senate and, more recently, running for president.

The race between Clinton and Obama, a senator from Illinois who wears his hair short, is likely to go on through at least June when the final state-by-state nominating contests are held. 

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage

-Photo credit: Reuters/Tim Shaffer (Clinton speaks at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia)

54 comments so far

Things must be slow at the office.

- Posted by Jean Chevreille

I’d fire Tim Shaffer if that’s the best picture he took.

- Posted by Maggie

There’s a difference between hiring an experienced and diligent drone and hiring a CEO. Hillary’s great at running things, but she seems incapable of taking bold steps, uniting the nation and achieving challenging, transforming goals.

- Posted by Jon

Hilary’s long 36 pages resume is full of trash and tainted with Blue dress Stain!

She lies about her relation with Bill, an infidel husband who has 12 years relation with Jenifer Flowers, Kathlyn WIlly etc.

What is her success besides being a former first lady?

Vote wisely, Hilary is a scam!

- Posted by rutgert

Many companies will reject job applicants who embellish their past work experience and/or credentials. Shouldn’t we expect the same for the most powerful position in the world?

- Posted by Ed Cumming, GA

“She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.” Will she ever just wise up and drop out for the good of the party? She knows by now she can’t possibly win.

- Posted by Edzila

Somebody needs to get over herself. Most Americans are still voting based on skin color, sex, hair, and the two party system… yawn. That’s the way it is unfortunately. But you’re not losing because of your hair Hillary. You’re losing because I don’t want you for the job.

- Posted by wilyUSA

I hate to tell sloppy Hillary, hair is a crowning glory and she needs to wash hers.

- Posted by News Watcher II

Lying on a resume is 100% agreed upon as a reason for any applicant to be rejected.

Hillary has told bold faced lies that are clearly refuted by video evidence of Hillary herself doing and/or saying the exact opposite of what she has repeatedly claimed to be the truth. (and, no reading a prepared statement exactly as written on more than one occasion cannot be called “mis-speaking. It is lying!)

- NAFTA - we now have proof she pushed for its passage. A lot of people in Ohio wish they could have back their votes for her based on her lie that she opposed it from the start.

- Bosnia - Hillary’s pathetic attempts to tell tall tales about sniper fire, dangerous landings, etc have been made to look as ridiculous as they truly are by the video of Hillary standing beside a teenaged Chelsea excepting a bouquet from a young child and the “dangerous” tarmac where she was “dodging sniper fire” and the welcoming ceremony had to be canceled because it was sooooo dangerous.

Not only did this fool LIE to us, she told such outrageous and easily disproved lies that it raises questions about her stability. I certainly do not want someone with this kind of a problem with reality answering any 3 AM phone calls and making decisions about nuclear weapons!

- Posted by sam

As a manager who has interviewed and hired hundreds of people over the last decade, I can guarantee you that lieing about your resume is the surest way to get excused from an interview. So what was you experience in Bosnia?

- Posted by Mike - WA

I couldn’t care less about her hair. I do, however, care about her “misstatements” and never ending delays in releasing her tax returns and fundraising records.

How anyone could vote for Hillary Clinton is beyond me.

- Posted by Susan

If we the American people should view this as a job interview should we not disqualify you for falsifying information mainly experience? For someone of your stature ‘misspoke’ can be as deadly as pressing the big red button. You don’t get do-over’s.

- Posted by G™

This seems to be yet another instance of Senator Clinton implying that Obama’s supporters are choosing him for superficial reasons, another in the style of “choir” and “delusion” ones. Perhaps her greatest problem is taking her opponent and more than half of the Democratic Party seriously?

- Posted by James from PA

She’s got our vote/endorsement, as healthcare professionals.

- Posted by Debbie

I clicked on the article and just as quickly clicked away. While I have almost resigned myself to Obama managing to secure the nomination, it still galls me to see the media resorting to the nasty and underhanded tactic of using the most unflattering photograph they can find of Hillary to illustrate an article. I simply won’t read an article with that kind of dreck attached because I won’t be able to trust the author who wrote it, the editor who approved it or the publisher who printed or posted it.

- Posted by Sandy Stackhouse

The longer the interview, the more I like Senator Clinton.

- Posted by cb

Clinton’s spies must have read my comment about Edward’s use of the song “Hair” and those hairstyle head shots in his You Choose ‘08 intro video. True, appearance can affect a job interview. I was well aware of her and Bill’s resume. I would not hire them for a “buy one get one free” toted “co-presidency”. He was impeached and does not belong back in DC. Terrible role models for our citizens. Once again, Hillary insults the intelligence of voters. Perhaps rightfully so in her ability to lie and get praised for doing so. Her smear campaign against Obama may have handed McCain a win in November. Into Iran we go with either of them.

- Posted by mary CA

If only there really were snipers at Tuzla airport…really good snipers

- Posted by jack

There she goes again with her derogtory comments now its about hair, shes forke toungued.

- Posted by AMERICA

That is FORK TONGUED .

OBAMA 08 !!!!!!

- Posted by AMERICA

for a look at the race in NC…how many new voters there are…and a history of the state’s politics, please link below:

http://thevote.abc13.com/2008/03/a-look- ahead–1.html

- Posted by tom abrahams

nice work there guys ….keep it up…gret reading
by arul vigg

- Posted by arul vigg

are you serious??

- Posted by kir

Its an interesting but flawed metaphor. The question is who would I like to have as my boss, not who am I hiring to work for me.

On the one hand, Hillary Clinton. Knows a lot about a lot of things, detail-oriented, and has a plan for everything. Problem is that I am not sure I would like to work for this person, not sure she would share information with me, and am inclined to think that with her, I would not be motivated to come to work in the morning.

On the other hand, Barack Obama. Not an expert on everything, but a great communicator and, I feel, great motivator whom I feel will allow me to be the expert and keep me inspired.

I am sure Obama will be the better manager.

- Posted by Samer Kurdi

Forget the hair.

Show us your tax returns.

- Posted by Peter P

if this is a job interview then clinton would fail miserably. no experience, regardless of what she insists. would you allow your doctor’s wife to do surgery on you, just because she is married to your doctor? of course not. mrs clinton did spend 8 years in the white house, but as a spouse, not the comander in chief. her claims to executive experience would be like saying Yoko Ono was a Beatle.

- Posted by David

If this an interview and I have done plenty of job interviews for my company, she would find hers in the trash. The first thing I look for in an application is integrity. If she lies on her resume then what else is she going to lie about? She lied, embellished, misspoke or what ever you want to call it she LIED when she spoke about her trip to Bosnia. You cannot tell me she just didn’t remember it correctly. The last time I had to run for my life because of possible sniper fire would be something I would remember VERY well. She wins the pinochio nose award with me.

- Posted by Ron, Seattle

Hair has nothing to do with it. It has to do with honesty and integrity. Something Hillary has neither of. Here’s how we should vote this time around. Whichever of the three candidates can solve the Rubicks cube first wins. GO.

- Posted by kerry

Just a brief comment, as I am under sniper fire. I agree with HRC that this campaign is like a job interview; problem with her is that she seems to have lied on her resume. That, to me, is a deal breaker.

- Posted by deborah wilks

As a professional recruiter, I wouldn’t hire a candidate who lies on her resume (about being under fire in Bosnia). Anyone who misrepresents her experience to get the job is usually not hired for it. Why should it be any different for this job,”the toughest job in the world”, as she calls it?

- Posted by roxanna

Barack Obama frightens me - then again change is frightening at times.

The article insinuating I vote based on appearances, such as Hilary’s hair undermines my intelligence though. I know I vote based on the illusions created for me by the candidates and media. That, my friends, is what scares me most about politics in the US.

- Posted by Jen

I wouldn’t hire someone that lies on her resume, misrepresents her experience, uses manipulation and fear tactics to gain votes, and is incapable of taking responsibility for her actions.

- Posted by Jan Sealy

Good question Hillary.

However, contrary to her claims, I think no one really has “experience” to qualify them to be president. It’s not like interviewing to fill a position to be a short-order cook — can you cook eggs? can you grill burgers? can you do it fast? — where you’ve got to know how to do those things to get the job done. With president, we need to interview for someone who has a broad intelligence, can inspire people in tough times, and can make decisions on things we don’t even know about yet — intangible qualities that are hard to show on a resume.

I’m not looking for a candidate who personally knows details about everything that could possibly happen — rather I want someone who will bring in the best advisors who do know about all those details (sometimes with opposing views), listen to them carefully, then make a decision that’s best for the country (and not for small groups with narrow agendas).

That’s what’s important to me - who cares about the hair?

- Posted by brad

Hillary is the only one that can win for the Dems. The Rup know this. Obama the raciest, no milatary exp. or any other kind of experience.

- Posted by cal

This is not about Hillary’s hair. Janet Reno likes Hillary’s hair-do as do all the femme-nazis, so, forget about it. Her hair seems to be getting shorter and shorter and her nose is getting longer and longer.

- Posted by Larkin G. Mead

Hillary Clinton could be as bald as a baby’s butt or as hairy as the Shaggy Dog, it would make no difference. Do you hire someone who has lied on their resume? i.e. Bosnia? Hillary Clinton is an obsessive compulsive and is dangerously obsessed with winning this election. In essence, she is nothing more than a stalker, stalking the presidency like a jilted lover and if she can’t have him, nobody can.

- Posted by Gary W Davis

I wouldn’t hire a candidate whom I have reason not to trust. I don’t trust Hillary for lots of reasons. Many of them are laid out on the Progressive Review’s web page on the Clintons and corruption. Last time I checked, the Progressive Review wasn’t part of the “vast right wing conspiracy” but maybe Hillary would beg to differ…

- Posted by Dante

I used to think that Hillary Clinton was a good person.But now i see that she fights really dirty.Hillary will do and say anything to get her lies across.HILLARY,stay in a woman’s place because you are starting to look like an OLD MAN.I can see right through you, hillary.OBAMA is the better MAN for the President of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.”Chill out and sit down.”

- Posted by Katie

What do you do with a job candidate who lies about her work experience during a job interview. Hilary Clinton has claimed that her candidacy for the Democratic nomination is a job interview and today she admits that during that job interview she lied about coming under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia. Oops, my bad.

What do you do with a candidate like that? What do you do with a candidate that wants a job so bad that she will lie about a past experiences and fess up only when caught red handed.

The election of 2008 is not about the war in Iraq or the economy. It is about the pervasiveness of corruption that has engulfed our government and estranged it from the will of the people.

It is odd that the media has fed for over a week on statements by Barack Obama’s minister, as if the candidate himself had gaffed, while he chose to do something that a candidate for public office rarely does without resigning – he took the high road.

On the one hand we have a candidate that shows us the way to racial accord by acknowledging that everyone in America is a racist to some extent and that a nation of racists must find the promised land together and for one another. On the other hand, we have a candidate that tries to say that she has vast experience in nation and international affairs, some of which are complete fabrications.

This is a difficult choice because ….

- Posted by David Kenyon

I support Sen Clinton for many many reasons. I know she is qualified to be the Pres. of the USA. After going thur the caucus in my state I would never, every vote for
Obama.
He also fluffed up his resume. Last nite Alan Spector was on, he said there were about 100 senators that took part in the Immigration Bill. When it was almost completed Obama came and asked if he could take part in it. Spector said yes. OBAMA CAME TO ONE MEETING- THAT IS HIS CLAIM TO FAIM KIND OF LIKE A SPEECH ABOUT HOW HE WAS AGAINST THE WAR TWO YRS BEFORE HE WAS EVEN A SENATOR. THEN WHEN HE BECOMES A SENATOR HE VOTES EXACTLY LIKE CLINTON DID.
Who is doing his job right now that he is away so much from the capitol, who is paying for all the time he is out on the trail. Really they are all away from the capiton, away from their real job. Do you suppose they would have jobs yet if they worked at normal jobs????

- Posted by MK5112

i think America should wake up to reality. why do we condemn Rev Wright for the 911 remarks. when at the same time we admit that George Bush’s failed foreign policy has made us less safe.
it doesnt take a genious to know that our failed foreign policy is the reason why the anti american sentiment has grown across the globe. china, russia and even venezuala are getting allies against america
to fight global terror we need to adress the root cause.terrorism is an ideology you cannot fight ideology with abram tanks and f22s. its been seven years and weve lost thousands of lives and billions of dollars. we can only win if we change our image across the globe. Thats the definition of victory and Barack Obama has what it takes to do that. he is the only one who has openly admitted to negotiate with our enemies, change our image and make friends
hillary Clinton may have it..but she’s too intertwined in the old establishment shes made blatant lies about voting for the war..i know she is a fighter…but we need a negotiator some one who can TALK not FIGHT..sorry Hillary
we dont need sniper evasion experience either.

- Posted by joe ombima

Senator Clinton reminds me of those weary housewives who prefer to blame everything that goes wrong as somebody else’s fault. No, this election is about who would be a better candidate to lead America, not whether one candidate has better hair that attracts or not attracts the beholders. Perhaps, that’s why she’s painting her experiences with such misleading fantasies to attract voters, instead of telling the trutrh about her real worth. Truth works with educated voters; fantasies thrill for a short period, and serious voters don’t go for fantasies. Electing a President is serious task, not a Realty TV show in which participants get their few minutes of desired fame.

- Posted by Bilbo983

Many people have misconstrued that Rev. Wright’s comments are unfounded that the “chicken has come home to roost”… in regards to pay backs for our horrendous foreign policy. I am an ex-pat living in Australia. when asked if I am an American, and I respond “Yes” - people give me a dirty look and walk away. And this was before the Bush error! Have any of you never heard of the “ugly American”? It may just surprise you that many people in the world do not want to live like Americans.

And that comes to Billary - in the 30 years that they have been in the public eyes, they have never taken the bold steps that Barack Obama has taken in the last few months. Nor have they ever promised to seek global reconciliation for America’s offences. How refreshing ti is to see someone as courageous as Kennedy seeking the White House again!

- Posted by MizuInOz

You can not blame Hillary for having a perfect 35 years of experience resume; just because you really can’t say any thing about Obama’s resume, his is empty.

- Posted by Nancy Sabet

Part of Hillary’ resume:
“She is the first New Yorker ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, working to see that America’s military has the necessary resources to protect our national security. She has visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and at Fort Drum in New York, home of the 10th Mountain Division and other New York bases, as well as at Walter Reed Military Hospital. She has learned first-hand the challenges facing American combat forces. Hillary passed legislation to track the health status of our troops so that conditions like Gulf War Syndrome would no longer be misdiagnosed. She is an original sponsor of legislation that expanded health benefits to members of the National Guard and Reserves and has been a strong critic of the Administration’s handling of Iraq.”

- Posted by Nancy Sabet

Not only does she need to cover her gray, she need to get back in her rocker, apparently she fell off of it, in the midst of her lying job and bumped her head. If she can’t stay on her job setting on the rocker without lying and crying then Bill need to let Monica attend her , and let Chelsea continue to hide from the truth, cause all she knows is lies.

- Posted by sEAN

Hillary really said a winner this time. Sure, there are a few people out there that would vote for someone based upon his/her appearance for a job. However, others would actually research and investigate who the person is that is before them and decide to scrutinize the resume itself. These are the reasons Hillary will not have my vote.
1. Lying about White Water Conspiracy and having more involvement in it allegedly than Bill Clinton did. People died from this. If people do not know what that is, I’d suggest ‘google search’ on it or Wikipedia has an article that outlines it well. This investigation was going on and seemed to get lost in the shuffle while more people cared about Bill Clinton’s affairs.
2. Not paying taxes from a few years before and having to be told to do so while in the White House. They represent us very well. They were -tax evading-.
3. Lying about Bosnia. Nice move there Hillary, expressing how much more job experience you have while fibbing about it.
4. More experience boasting goes for Hillary each week…and yet…Hillary was the wife of the president. She was -not- the President, whether she likes it or not. She assisted him but she did not have his job and it would be nice if she’d stop making like she did. She gives herself way too many pats on the back for a job she did not hold.
5. She is not a personable sociable being. She plays nasty and seems extremely passive aggressive. I do not feel she would be good for negotiating and dealing with other nations well when things do go bad.
6. She is a hypocrite. She practically demanded that Obama make amends for Wright while her own husband is out making comments such as how he addressed the issue of Obama winning NC and SC, which consisted of saying ‘Jesse Jackson’ had won there as well when Bill was running. Come on! Wright is a pastor. Bill is her husband.
So all in all, I’ll go with who I can trust because this application is phony.

- Posted by Zarthus

Hilliary, your hair looks electrifying, I guess as a result of the lie detector meter sending sparks straight to your hair as a result of your extensive lying ability. Try refraining if possible toning down your lies that your next test may result in your hair looking more subtle.

- Posted by Nisey01

Wake up America! If you don’t see Obama part of a racist group then you are blind. He has been a part of the church for 20 years, and that same pastor has been there for 20 years. Think of the hate he and his whole family has heard and endorsed. To think the pastor used the Lord’s name in vain, and people are still not upset about it.
When did Obama change his name to a Muslin name?
That was not his birth name. He has never known poverty or even middle class.
He keeps dividing us into colors-white, black, brown, etc.
These are not races, just colors of skin.
On his site, he claims to be black-Afro American.
No mention of this Irish/English ancestry which makes up half of him.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I am an American citizen first with an ethnic background of Comanche, French, Scottish and Irish. Now, how would that look hypenated?

We have come so far, and he has put us back in time.

Think about his circle of friends that he does not want you to know about. Jesse Jackson, etc.

What about his involvement with the slum lord in Chicago?
He claims he is still is friend, too, just like his pastor, and all the others.

America, wake up before it is too late, unless you are wanting John McCain.

These are just a few reasons people are standing behind Hillary Clinton, and they will not stand behind Obama.

The Democratic Party is going to split wide open when everything about Obama is finally brought out.
It took them how long to expose his pastor?

Get smart, read, listen to all of his speeches and how he never addresses anything completely. It is quite a song and dance routine. He doesn’t even say the pledge, cross his heart for the pledge–that is from the direct doctrine of his church-which is not truly. If in a Mosque they said these words, we would call them terrorists. If is was a Caucasian church, you would them white racists or KKK. No one has the right to talk that way about the United States or any race and make-up untrue stories.

But, Ameica voted for Bush twice, so maybe that its
mentality.

God Bless America and hope He is with us to make the right decision.

- Posted by Beverly Hill

To the youth of America: Please learn about the issues before you decide who to vote for in this election. Don’t be swayed by spin that there is very little difference between Hillary and Barack. Hillary’s Solutions for America are far and away above his empty promises of hope. Hillary is right for America and we need to hire her for the job. Our country faces serious issues and the next President will be challenged above all others before them to restore our standing at home and abroad. Please just do your homework before you vote and then, I believe, you will vote for Hillary for President of the United States of America.

- Posted by Mary O'Bryan

This ridiculous blog is just another prime example of how sexism is alive and well in this country that is so proud of our advanced thinking. Why is Clinton’s hair important at all? Did we ask that question of any male candidate EVER? I choose instead to ask the questions that matter such as: Who is most qualified? Who do I feel best represents my beliefs and will do the work that I think needs to be done? Which candidate has what it takes to represent this country in a way I see fit? If you all want to let the media spin this thing and make up your minds for you, then go ahead. Be sheep just like most Americans are. I will not look to your blogs for any enlightenment, rest assured.

- Posted by Holli

Hillary, will you pledge to defend women against sexual exploitation in the workplace? How about Whitehouse interns?

- Posted by Elizabeth

Resume?

She was in the White House for 8 years. So was the pastry chef. … and if the pastry chef was cute, more of a chance that she was sharing a bed with Bill, rather than Hillary.

The recently-released First Lady Agenda pages show us that the things she was most involved with during her years there were mostly about tea parties and state dinners.

- Posted by Michael

this is what itis about….
While the Clinton campaign steps up its efforts to ratify the sham elections in Michigan and Florida — their lone lifeline in a campaign they have otherwise thoroughly lost on the merits — they seek to disenfranchise actual voters in a real contest — that in Texas.

On Wednesday:

Garry Mauro, Clinton’s state campaign chairman, said Wednesday he is satisfied that the process is working well. Mauro said Clinton is planning no challenge to the process.

Birnberg said he is not expecting many challenges to convention delegates because too many delegates would have to be rejected to change the mix for either Obama or Clinton.

“If you’re talking about Senate District 13, which has 4,000 delegates, you cannot imagine how many credential disputes you’d have to have to change” the outcome, he said. “That probably takes 1,000 successful challenges mathematically.”

Then on Thursday:

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Texas campaign is challenging the seating of delegates from numerous precincts for Saturday’s Democratic county conventions, particularly in Barack Obama’s strongholds.

State Senate District 23, which includes much of southern Dallas County, was a central target of the Clinton campaign.

Just before Wednesday’s deadline to file complaints before the county convention credentials committee, Clinton campaign officials delivered a large packet of challenges.

“There are numerous challenges,” said Dallas County District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons, who is temporary chairman of the District 23 credentials committee. The district went solidly for Mr. Obama in the primary, and there’s a question over whether Mrs. Clinton will reach the 15 percent threshold needed to receive delegates.

The committee meets Thursday night to deal with minor challenges. The rest will be handled on Saturday, the day of the county conventions.

On a conference call Wednesday, Clinton campaign officials said they would not try to influence the county conventions with mass challenges before the credentials committee […]

“Apparently the promise that the Clinton campaign made less than 24 hours ago not to challenge the seating of delegates at Saturday’s district conventions was just another made-up story,” [Obama spokesperson Josh] Earnest said. “The Clinton campaign’s politically-motivated outrage over disenfranchising voters apparently doesn’t extend to the 1.1 million Texans who participated in the precinct conventions earlier this month.”

Of course it doesn’t. Clinton originally agreed to the sanctions against Michigan and Florida. Yet now, even after the states have admitted they don’t have the money, time, or political will to get new sanctioned contests, the Clinton campaign clings to the states in an effort to spread enough uncertainty to keep her failed campaign alive.

Note that in Texas, SD-23 in Dallas is little different than SD-13 in Houston — Clinton got only about 27 percent of the vote, and only about 18 percent in the caucus. She’s in danger of failing to reach viability there and in Houston’s SD-13, and those are huge districts. Note also that the district, which the Clinton campaign is trying to disenfranchise, is essentially half African American, half Latino. But every delegate counts, and SD-23 has six of them. They’ll fight for every single one of them no matter how many people and communities they disenfranchise.

There are also reports that several south Texas counties, Clinton territory, are refusing to publish the location of the conventions. In the old day, no one showed up to these things, delegate slates were just filled in without hassle by some local party honcho. These people would like nothing else than to fill in a full slate of Clinton delegates without the hassles of “democracy” and all. So between credential challenges and other subterfuge designed to depress Obama’s performance and cast the caucus results in doubt, we’ll see that once again, Camp Clinton will do and say anything in its mad pursuit of power.

- Posted by Docb

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