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Ha! Is there any female who pulls it off well?
I think Hillary should be taking a lesson from Nancy Pelosi, I really do. She, for me, is fashion on the Hill. She has a femininity yet a professionalism, and she has style. She's also not afraid to be a woman, and she celebrates it. She's not ever remotely vulgar or provocative in what she wears, but I have to say, she's a very sexy woman.

Alan Flusser, the author of ''Style and the Man,'' called Kennedy ''the last stylishly dressed president." Do you agree?
Well, you can't look at Kennedy without looking at Jackie, because they really enhanced each other. But it was clear that what was on the outside was important to them. They had a polish and a sophistication that was accessible, and I think that's why America embraced them. Those were the most glamorous days that Washington knew, and the only days that came remotely close to that were, frankly—and forgive me—the Reagan years, and I think it was the Hollywood aspect. Reagan knew how to dress, Nancy had her own designer clothes, and there were a lot of movie stars walking around.

What's your take on the current candidates, as a group?
I look at them and I feel like they've stepped out of the 1980s. And what really disturbs me, deep down in my very core, is whether these candidates really think that having people talk about your clothes in a positive way could be a bad thing. To think that they might answer yes horrifies me.

I hate to keep focusing on Hillary, but is there anything she's doing right?
[Pauses] You can say I responded with utter silence. [Laughs] But let me put it this way: her clothes fit her, she does have a polish, and she's well groomed. Those things are all good. But it's like she's wearing a whole body of Kevlar and she wants to make certain as much of her is protected as possible. I just want to say to her, "Hillary, don't be afraid to wear a dress!"

But do you think she avoids looking too feminine because the press gives her such a hard time?
When you think about what we consider feminine traits, I think those would be great in a leader and belong in the White House. I mean, we think of sensitivity as being feminine, and I think that is a wonderful quality and attribute. I think that's what she has to offer as the only female candidate: her womanhood. The fact that she's a mother. These are the things that none of the other candidates can even pretend to be. And I just wish she'd celebrate it more.

Have Americans moved on from the power-suit mentality, as Vogue editor Anna Wintour said recently?
Yes, those days are over. Yet the candidates don't seem to have received the memo.

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: sportbillie11 @ 02/07/2008 3:55:35 PM

    Mick, before you launch into an ignorant and bigoted dissertation, non-related to the current article, get your facts straight. For one, Bill Clinton, like other former presidents, has made millions of dollars giving speeches around the globe. I believe Newsweek reported something along the lines of 40 million. I'm sure he shares some of it with his wife! I agree with emmarcee.

  • Posted By: emmarcee @ 02/07/2008 12:27:15 PM

    since you are attacking Hillary in different blogs. Are you an imbecile? Don't you see that back stabbers are trying to bury Clinton with money flowing to Obama - who are these people? People without any special interests? Is it the way things work in our system? Do you think all the other candidates are your regular joes? All of them are rich people. Do you really think Hillary is using some kind of unaccounted money? Please shut up.

  • Posted By: "Martin Edwin "Mick" Andersen @ 02/07/2008 12:05:26 AM

    The news about Hillary Clinton donating $5 million of her own money to her presidential bid struck me as odd.

    How was it that someone of once modest means who claimed to have worked selflessly for 35 years ("fighting for YOU!") in the notoriously badly-paid public interest sector had become so wealthy?

    Sure there's been some financial scandals.

    And as the late Sen. Everett Dirksen used to say, "A million here, a million there" it adds up to real money."

    But why focus on the negative?

    Then, suddenly, a tune entered my head and I thought, maybe if I offered a tailored version of it to the Clinton campaign, they'd use it to replace that awful Celine Dion song that used to be Hillary's campaign anthem.

    And maybe they'd give me some of that moolah.

    I promise I wouldn't ask what account at Clintons, Inc. it came from, or which lobbyist forked it over.

    (I'm sure it was in a gesture of sheer generosity--why think evil of people, K Street lawyers have hearts too, no? Wasn't it those nice medical insurance lobbyists who hired that couple, Harry and Louise?)

    If you ask me, it's like Bill with that race coding thing. How unfair the criticism! (And how slick he was ;) )

    Always leave just a little wiggle room, small enough to fit the word "is" through. Or maybe a cigar. ...

    Anyway, remember that girls" song, "It"s My Party," written by Wally Gold, John Gluck and Herb Weiner and recorded by Lesley Gore?

    Well how about this version for HRC?

    IT'S MY (DEMOCRATIC) PARTY

    Nobody knows where my Bill has gone
    Monica (Gennifer/Kathleen/Paula/etc.) left the same time
    Why was he holding her/their hand(s)
    When he's supposed to be mine?

    It's my Democratic Party, and I'll cry if I want to
    Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
    You would cry too if it happened to you

    Playin' my constituents, flip-flopping like a Wallenda,
    Leave me alone for a while
    'Till Bill's dancin' with me
    I've got no reason to smile

    It's my Democratic Party, and I'll cry if I want to ...

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