The New York Times on Thursday offered a front page story hailing Hillary Clinton’s coming nomination as “the thunderbolt of history.” Despite the fact that this was an article on how not all Americans are happy with her rise, the story by Patrick Healy and Sheryl Gay Stolberg mostly focused on Democratic voices, avoiding Republicans who dislike Clinton’s liberal politics.
Healy and Stolberg lectured, “When Hillary Clinton swept onto the stage at her victory rally Tuesday night, the thunderbolt of history struck many Americans, no matter their love or loathing for her: A woman could be the next president of the United States.” Yet, who did this story go to for experts? Democrats Hilary Rosen, Donna Brazile, Patricia Schroeder, a Sanders supporter and the liberal Barbara Streisand. Hardly a cross-section of America.
The one Republican cited, Buck Johnson, a Republican from New Jersey, described himself as “kind of a feminist” and said that Obama was more historic. The article suggested that Clinton was not being celebrated enough:
Before Tuesday, many admirers of Mrs. Clinton were perplexed that the prospect of the first female president had not caused anything like the national soul-searching, cultural heat or political exhilaration produced by Barack Obama eight years ago.
But unlike Mr. Obama, who catapulted onto the national stage as a virtual political unknown in 2004 and snatched the party’s presidential nomination from Mrs. Clinton four years later, Mrs. Clinton has been in the spotlight for more than two decades and is the most scrutinized woman in American politics. On Wednesday, comparisons between the two were inevitable.
Considering that the Times uses phrases like “the thunderbolt of history” and CNN used video editing to make Clinton glow, it’s a hard argument hard to buy.
Healy and Stolberg contrasted:
For some, it was an inspiring moment that brought home in a visceral way that Mrs. Clinton is the first woman to become the presumptive nominee of a major party. For others, there were chills and discomfort that this next step forward in our national story was unfolding with this particular woman.
Too bad the Times couldn’t find Republicans who object to Clinton’s ideology.
