How I Came Out of a Media Coma and Discovered the Real Hillary

by Suzette Sommer

 

True Confession: I worked in TV advertising in the 80s and 90s and with ad agencies and PR firms.. I know how messaging works.

Yet, I did not personally realize how biased my impression of Hillary was until this primary.

If not for the influence of FB friends who know a shit load about her and shared a lot of background about her accomplishments and commitments since her early days with me – I would not have changed my attitude towards her, which was pretty negative.

I just kept looking things up and reading about her, as they kept bringing up so many good things she had quietly done for so many, over so many years..

I had to ask myself why there was so much good she had done that I had been unaware of – and how I missed it.

How could she consistently be voted a “Most Admired Woman?”

I had to ask myself where my impression of her came from.

As someone who worked in the industry, how could I have missed something so obvious as the drip drip drip of negativity against her?

Not just FOX News.. all of the media outlets.

I got rid of my TV in 2003 due to the way TV news had devolved into rot, with no journalistic standards left.

A mockery of a profession I used to admire.

So why did it take so long for me to see the lens of hate they have had on Hillary ever since she refused to play the traditional role as First Lady?

Me, a supposed feminist.. still absorbed a negative impression of her.

She was simply ahead of her time, stepped on the wrong toes, and has never been forgiven.

When she commented back in the 90s about there being a “vast right wing conspiracy” I remember rolling my eyes.

But she was right: Now, we all know the Koch brothers and ALEC.

It was her constituent fans in NY who probably started turning me around by their strong endorsements of her as their liberal senator.. but it was the sheer volume of her lifetime work for women, children and the poor that I was surprised by.

Everywhere she has gone, she has done such work – and not just to dabble – she gets results. She makes positive change happen.

If anything now, I would say she is horrible at tooting her own horn, is awkward as a campaigner and not a great orator..

But she is a wonk and a workhorse who makes a real difference.

She has been consistent throughout her adult life in her commitment to making life better for women, children and the poor.

Those who know her tell me she is more liberal than Bill Clinton.

There is a softer side of her that I suspect she played down in 2008 and still does, as a woman who has the balls to aspire to be Commander in Chief.

But now, with Secretary of State on her resume, nobody running is more qualified than she is to assume that responsibility.

As President Obama pointed out, she is “wicked smart” and her resume is so far above any of the men now running that they are laughable as opponents.

Do I like the idea of a woman for president, does that matter to me?

Yes.

But you have never seen me make that the point of her candidacy.

THAT is just a massive bonus.

Her election will elevate women’s issues in this country the same way electing a Black president blew the doors off racial hypocrisy and neglect of important issues to POC in this country.

It is time.

Way past time..

To include women in our national conversation in a serious way.

We now have the right woman to lead.