This is my very first diary on DailyKos. I have been a poster here for years, though. I just never felt compelled enough to write a diary til now. Seeing Hillary's ad today pissed me off. On its face, the ad was very effective. It struck the right chord and pushed all the right buttons and had the perfect tone for a just-out-of-the-gate ad. Her voice was great and she looked wonderful in it. Overall, an A+ ad...until. Until you consider that it had NO diversity in it. The ad made the world in which Hillary campaigns look like no black, no Asian, nor Hispanic people live there. Here we are in the year 2007 and we have the frontrunning candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination run her very very first ad and paid absolutely ZERO attention to diversity. How ironic that the campaign named this ad, "Invisibles", because, as a Hispanic, I feel like I'm invisible in Hillary's world.
Here's the ad:
http://www.youtube.com/...
I have been torn, lately, on whom I support for the Democratic nomination. I live in Massachusetts and could spend a fair amount of time helping out who I think would be the best president on our side. So far I have given financially to two candidates for president: John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton. In 2003-04, I gave money to Howard Dean, John Kerry, and John Edwards. At the start of the 2008 cycle, I was firmly in HRC's camp. I believed in her, mainly because, of all the candidates, I have the most confidence (by far) in Hillary to be able to counterpunch effectively and stand up to the Republican attack machine. I took a lot of grief here and on other sites because of my always defending Hillary and supporting her.
Then, some time ago, I saw the clip of her saying that she'd try and get universal health care done by "the end of her SECOND term." Ouch. Since health care is by far my number one domestic issue, I was appalled. I realize that the lion's share of changes that any president makes as part of their agenda happens in their FIRST term, when they still have some political capital. Certainly UHC cannot be put off until a lameduck second term. So, I looked at Edwards, liked his economic and domestic agenda better, and switched to him. However, I still have a soft spot for Hillary, think she'd be a good president, and also feel that ANY of our candidates would pick good Supreme Court Justices (and, perhaps I spoke too soon, because, as a gay man, there's nothing more important than the Supreme Court). And I still like HRC and have her as my second pick. I have been torn ever since I switched to Edwards. Torn between the two.
Well, it appears that, in Hillary's world, no Asians, Hispanics, or African-Americans exist. The first ad being so lacking in diversity is very disappointing. It's a slap in the face, really. In 2007, you would think that diversity would be considered in producing one's very first ad, even IF that ad is playing only in Iowa. It appears that that is the case, considering the terrain in the background of the ad and the farmers in it. I am very disappointed in the Hillary For President campaign's disregard for diversity. And I would not be surprised to find out her Iowa team is lacking in diversity as well. Because, I have eyes. I have seen that almost all the major players on all these presidential campaigns (including the GOP's) are inevitably white male. When IS politics going to finally reflect the great diversity of the country it's in?