Hillary Clinton would like to be known as a candidate that is not only smart, but is also considered a sports 'jock'. The 2008 Presidential hopeful has even gone so far as to list 'speed walking' as her favorite sport on her My Space account.
Besides listing 'speed walking' as one of her favorite hobbies, Sen. Clinton says she enjoys a good cross word puzzle, Scrabble, and gardening.
However, when it comes to actually showing herself as a weekend sports warrior, Hillary seems to miss the mark being hit by her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama.
Many pundits feel the Illinois Senator is bringing back the sports glory days of the Kennedy clan's touch football games by showing his sporty side during pick-up basketball games. Most men view someone as being cool if they can show any ability to play a pick-up basketball game or two.
The problem, as one of her donors put it: “How does 59-year-old Mama run against sexy Obama?” (The donor asked not to be named speaking critically of his candidate.)
The American public is used to seeing their President involved in some type of sport such as George W. Bush tossing the first pitch at a baseball game, George H.W. Bush racing speedboats, Ronald Reagan sitting atop a horse, and even Bill Clinton hitting the golf links. Some pundits even point to Condoleezza Rice's love for the National Football League as a plus if Rice ever decides to run for president.
And herein lies the problem for Hilliary-How does she show her 'inner jock' without it appearing as if she is forcing a persona that she has no idea how to project to the American public.
“I certainly don’t foresee her playing basketball,” said Alan Patricof, a Clinton fund-raiser.
While her camp does feel the NY Senator will win when it comes to brains and guts, many in her camp feels she will badly lose when it comes to projecting a personality the American public will come to accept.
Hillary's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said Mrs. Clinton is a very intelligent, warm, friendly, compassionate, strong and experience person. Columnist Ellen Goodman even went so far as to say Sen. Clinton would be the ‘caring commander in chief'.
However, Mrs. Clinton does realize that when it comes to winning the Presidency, the American public wants a president who is not only strong and smart but likable as well. And when it comes to likable, Sen. Clinton knows she needs to make up a lot of ground, and this has led Hillary to start poking fun of herself more and more during recent campaign stops.
At a recent campaign stop, Hillary made fun of her weight by seeking the help of the Lord, and Hillary has even gone so far as to making a video that mocks her. Sen. Clinton even likes to joke about her lack of singing ability.
But when it comes to being a sports jock, well it appears the 59 year old Senator may find this job a little harder to pull off than the job of poking fun at herself.
Last week, Sen. Clinton teamed with tennis legend Billie Jean King while sharing stories about how she once played softball, pick-up basketball, and tennis. The erstwhile presidential candidate even mentioned she once won an Arkansas doubles tennis tournament.
Sen. Clinton may find out that trying to show a sporty side at her age may cost her votes instead of helping her gain votes. All Hillary has to do is look back to the 2004 race for the White House to see how tricky it will be to convince the America public about her sports prowess.
Many people feel Sen. John Kerry lost major points with the American public when he tried to show off his sports skills by windsurfing, hunting and downhill skiing. This sports persona move back fired on Kerry because the America public ended up viewing him as a phony because he looked more like a fool instead of someone who could lead our country.
So if Sen. Clinton is a smart as everyone thinks, she may want to leave the sports persona image to the glamours and athletic looking Sen. Obama because sometimes it is better to reminisce about your 'glory days' instead of actually trying to recapture that moment in time.
