NEWSWEEK: "Hear Her Roar"

The March 17 issue of NEWSWEEK (March 10), "Hear Her Roar" examines gender, class and Hillary Clinton, including an interview, in its cover package with essay's from various voices including author Tina Brown's view of Clinton's campaign and radio host Monica Crowley's advice from the right. Newsweek Poll shows the stalemate continues with Clinton, Obama tied. Plus: Clinton as her own worst enemy; Preview of Pennsylvania primary; the downside of technology's trend towards smaller devices and tips to prepare for mandatory HDTV in 2009. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK) NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES 03/09/2008




9 Mar 2008 16:19 Africa/Lagos


NEWSWEEK: Cover: 'Hear Her Roar'

Tina Brown Says Clinton's Appeal to Boomer Women is 'Wider And Deeper' Than Old Gender Wars of the Past

Clinton Tells Newsweek: 'It doesn't look bleak at all,' on Her Chances of Winning the Nomination Despite Being Behind in The Delegate Count

A Newsweek Forum on Gender, Class and Hillary Clinton

NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire/ --

"Much has been written about how boomer women have rallied to Hillary's cause (she won an impressive 67 percent of the white women voting in Ohio; they were 44 percent of the total). It's fashionable to write off this core element of her base as rabid paleofeminists fighting the tired old gender wars of the past. But Hillary's appeal to the boomer gals is wider and deeper than that," author Tina Brown writes in the current issue of Newsweek.


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"It's a revolt that has been overdue for a while and has now found its focus in Clinton's candidacy," writes Brown, who spent time on the road with the Clinton campaign. Her essay is part of the March 17 Newsweek cover, "Hear Her Roar" (on newsstands Monday, March 10), that includes Newsweek correspondents and others offering various thoughts on how gender and class are playing out in the campaign. It also includes an interview with Hillary Clinton days after her Texas and Ohio victories.


"All over the country there are vigorous, independent, self-liberated boomer women -- women who possess all the management skills that come from raising families while holding down demanding jobs, women who have experience, enterprise and, among the empty nesters, a little financial independence, yet still find themselves steadfastly dissed and ignored," Brown writes.


Brown even takes Oprah to task for abandoning boomer woman when she opted to endorse Obama. "Am I alone in suspecting that TV's most powerful 54-year- old woman just might have endorsed him so fast for reasons of desirable viewer demographics as much as personal inspiration? Certainly, no TV diva in her 50s who values her ratings wants to be tied to the hot-flash cohort."


"What saddens boomer women who love Hillary is that their twentysomething daughters don't share their view of her heroic role. Instead they've been swept up by that new Barack magic. It's not their fault, and not Hillary's, either. The very scar tissue that older women see as proof of her determination just embarrasses their daughters, killing off for them all the insouciant elation that ought to come with girl power in the White House," Brown writes.


"She might have a chance of winning them over yet, if she set about dividing the Obama girls from the Obama boys. Maybe start with some mother and daughter rallies in Pennsylvania, summoning an audience that would mirror the winning image of Chelsea onstage at her side on Tuesday night in Ohio," writes Brown.


Also part of the cover package, Newsweek interviews Clinton days after her comeback victories about her relationship with women voters, her comeback strategy and her plans for winning the youth vote. "I won the youth vote in Massachusetts and in California. I did very well with it in Ohio. And I think it's because more and more young people are starting to ask themselves, 'Well, I've got this very personal feeling about Senator Obama, but I also want to be sure that I'm picking the person who would be the best president,'" Clinton tells Newsweek. "So there is a sense of a real dilemma about the choice, which I recognize, but ... I feel like we're really making progress," she says.


On whether she can win the nomination when the math looks so bleak, Clinton says, "It doesn't look bleak at all. I have a very close race with Senator Obama. There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they're all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose ... This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process."


In addition to Tina Brown, many other writers from Newsweek and beyond examine the complex feelings Clinton stirs in women as part of the March 17 cover package. They offer passionate views on the global view of women in leadership positions, whether the U.S. wants a woman president, the challenges Hillary faces in attracting younger women, the impact of the Clinton marriage and the pressure placed on black women to choose. Monica Crowley, a nationally syndicated radio host and panelist on "The McLaughlin Group," offers advice from the conservative right.


And Newsweek reports that although Hillary Clinton is undeniably resilient, she is seemingly always recovering from her campaign's self-inflicted wounds. In the latest Newsweek Poll, voters were asked, "Who would you most trust to answer the phone at 3 a.m.?" Forty-five percent answered John McCain, 27 percent said Hillary Clinton and 18 percent chose Barack Obama. Newsweek reports that it is impossible for voters to truly know how a presidential candidate will respond to a crisis in the Oval Office. But there are clues in Hillary Clinton's background. She can certainly be tough-minded, and she has shown remarkable -- and reliable -- resiliency. The real wild card is her relationship with her sometimes domineering husband, who can offer good advice but be undisciplined.


Newsweek reports that the biggest crisis facing Hillary Clinton in recent times is her own campaign. Mixed and ever-changing messages and tactics have confused voters. The Obama campaign out-organized the Clinton campaign, especially in the caucus states. It seems that Clinton has been saved mostly by her own gutsiness, not by any particular flair for strategy or for running a large organization. "The major reason she won is her own true grit, resilience and ability as a candidate," Patti Solis Doyle, who was ousted as campaign manager in mid-February, tells Newsweek.


(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/120064 - Tina Brown
http://www.newsweek.com/id/120062 - Q&A Clinton: 'A Common Experience'

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