Hillary's Inauthenticity Problem

Here, the Economist discusses Hillary Clinton's nascent presidential campaign, dutifully noting all its problems but nonetheless declining to bet against her.

What's most annoying is the way the issue is framed at the piece's conclusion -- about "breaking the glass ceiling." It's worth pointing out that Hillary is hardly the living example of feminist ideology that she claims to be. After a promising early start in Washington, D.C., she rode to professional prominence in Arkansas on her husband's gubernatorial coattails; similarly, she gained her Senate seat at the end of her husband's presidency. She resembles the female politicians who have taken over their husband's seats (like Jean Carnahan) more than truly independent female political pioneers like Condoleezza Rice (or even Dianne Feinstein, for that matter).

As Deborah Orin points out, Hillary is having trouble handling the anti-war left that she and others in her party were happy to galvanize for turnout purposes in previous elections. Her efforts to speak to present herself as a hawk and woo "values voters" (speaking, for example, about the tragedy of abortion) are falling flat. The reason? They come across as inauthentic.

And at least these days, inauthenticity seems to be the cardinal sin in electoral politics.