One-Shot

Political Theater

Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton clearly was no longer wearing the pants in her family when she was dispatched to Eugene on an early September afternoon. University students still don't that it even happened, because there was bare a student presence in the city. It is probably just has well, University students would have been disapointed by the spectical of theatrical rhetoric spewed out. I expected more from Hillary, she always previously seemed like an intellegent and effective woman.

I had received many phone calls from several Democratic committees and organizations the previous week, which showed what a big deal Hillary's visit was to the local Democrats. I didn't want to have to deal with a crowd of high school students (call me an elitist), but it was my duty and desire as an activist to go, and the high schoolers ending up giving me a good surprise. Hillary was coming on her own, no Bill, which was fine by me. Face it - Hillary is just better than Bill.

When I arrived at South Eugene High I was shocked at the line that led into the small, hot gymnasium. I didn't want to wait in line, so I found a piece of paper on the ground which read, "Honored Guest of Hillary Clinton" and I followed a procession of important Democratic leaders, union members, student government, lobbyists and those who had given lots of money or worked hard on previous Democratic campaigns. We went through a side door and down a hallway where we emptied into a courtyard and awaited a special talk from the First Lady before her "official speech" in the gym.

Mayor Ruth Bascom gave the introduction and then the speakers and important people were introduced one by one: "Mrs. Tom Bruggere"," the wife of John Kitzhaber","the wife of Dave Frohnmayer", and yes even, "the wife of Bill Clinton". I was amazed and stunned. Do these women not deserve to be taken out of their husbands' shadows? Do these women not have their own identities and merits? Were these people so numb and myopic as to think that we didn't already know who their husbands are? All of these women were branded with their husband's names. Listening to the way in which all of the women were introduced made me feel as though I had fallen out of liberal land and into domesticity. The powerful Hillary Rodham Clinton was now firmly placed as the 'good wife' going out into America to help get her husband elected. I felt ashamed. I had always seen Hillary as one of the most powerful women in America and now as the key speaker whom everyone had come to see, she was not Hillary who fought for children's rights, nor the formidable lawyer, nor the creator of a difficult health care proposal. She had become "the wife of Bill Clinton."

In contrast to Mrs. Clinton's identification with her man, I was amazed at the power of the female high school students. In line with Hillary's speech which applauded teens for their tough work, the young students showed pride and strength in loud cheers. Looking into the stands of high schoolers it was clear that there were at least four girls to every boy. The place was packed body-to-body and it was clear that Hillary had inspired a female turn-out of high school students who were empowered and cared about the future of America. These women are going to fight for what they want. These future collegians acted with more strength by participating en masse than Hillary Clinton who had been subordinated to Bill. Even though her husband is President, Hillary has enough merit on her own to be introduced as herself.

I must say that as a man I do feel slightly uncomfortable talking about what can be seen as a women's issue. As a man, who am I to say that Hillary is or is not a powerful woman? I merely would like to point out some language that seems sexist to me. In the introduction of Sharon Kitzhaber (wife of John) and Kelly Bruggere (wife of Tom) their husbands names were used first as though they themselves didn't have enough merit to speak in front of the crowd. It also bothers me that such sexist language is used and acknowledged by people like Hillary Clinton. Some would argue that she is a feminist. If that's so, I will not dare define feminism.

As I soon came to understand, Hillary's visit to Eugene was nothing more than an election campaign swing. This visit didn't have anything to truly say about the issues, or improving the education system. It was grand political theater, made for image and to get votes. Hillary was just an actress playing her part in the "political theater" as she went straight from the airport to the school, and then after the speech straight back to the airport and directly onto her airplane, stage left. None of the local TV stations put one question to her. Looks like she just wanted to get out of Dodge. She played her role brilliantly - proud mother and wife who stands behind her man 100 percent. Politically speaking, I guess it is more important to make Bill look good, and Hillary less threatening to voters. It is much safer to put Hillary in the role of supportive wife than self-thinking, autonomous woman of power.

What was so interesting about the entire experience of seeing Hillary Clinton's speech was the fact that the actual appearance and speech were theatrical and empty, and yet the crowd of inspired women of the future seemed vital and strong. Of course she made some good points and talked about tax deductible college education, but the speech in general was all about Bill, how many great ideas he has, and how many great things he has done. Hurrah for the President, that masculine, dominant, hunk of a man. What is important is winning the election.

So Hillary's visit comes down to a great performance put on by the Democrats in an election year. If comparing Bob Dole and the Republicans to Clinton's political theater, it is clear that Bob would play the part of the jester. Both sides deal in figurative politics and not in what really makes any difference at all. One of the biggest reasons why Bob is losing in the polls, is that Bill and Hillary are just better actors and make better political theater. As a theater critic I choose Bill.

With Hillary now touring other places in America where Bill needs a boost in the polls, I'm sure Eugene, Oregon is far out of her mind, and I guess we will just have to wait for another four years before she decides to come back. Except maybe the next time it will be Tipper Gore making the campaign stop. She'll probably talk about how exciting Al really is. I pray I won't be here to see it.

Alex Tasaday is an unapologetic leftist and horrible grammarian