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Go Home Hillary Is Neither Hip Nor Open To Fresh Ideas

THE SPINE FEBRUARY 3, 2008

Hillary Is Neither Hip Nor Open To Fresh Ideas

BY MARTIN PERETZ

The Financial Times has an article in Saturday's edition about the sartorial tastes of the remaining male presidential cadidates. The article has photographs of Romney, McCain, Barack Obama and John Edwards who, as you know, has dropped out. In any case, it wasn't his clothes which spoke to the electorate but his haircut. This cost $1,100 which made it hard to come across as someone who identifies with the struggling classes.  Actually, the article said almost nothing about the suits the candidates wear.  So here's a secret from the Obama camp.  He wears clothing by the American designer, Joseph Abboud. Yes, Abboud presumably is of Arab descent. So what? And, anyway, I like and wear Abboud sweaters and sport coats. Abboud fabrics are always fine, and the cut is contemporary but not hip.  Which is very good for the candidate who appeals to young people who are hip and to others who are open to fresh ideas. And fresh styles.  Which is certainly nothing you can say about Hillary Clinton. 

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14 comments

About Abboud:

"The Abboud family was a working-class Christian Lebanese family that started out in the South End of Boston and later moved to the Roslindale section of Boston. Abboud's mother, Lila, was a seamstress. On a trip to Australia, Abboud discovered that his great-grandfather had owned Australia's largest men's tailored-clothing company." from wikipedia

- jacksondyer

February 3, 2008 at 7:34pm

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What a ridculous post.

- basman

February 3, 2008 at 7:55pm

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Marty Peretz is losing his cool. He has descended to the level of all these right-wing Clinton haters. Where thought fails, they attack their target's sartorial tastes. Peretz has gotten so catty and petty. Whatever the Clintons' personal flaws, they have been the most successful liberal politicians of the past quarter century. That's why the religious Right and the fat cats Right hate them so much.

Peretz can't think straight about Obama. Obama is a intelligent, symbolically attractive, naturally gifted politician, but his experience is limited and his accomplishments are limited. Obama wants to "talk" things out with Islamic Republican Iran, a recipe for doing nothing about the real nuclear threat they pose. Obama is surrounded by anti-Israel types like Brzezinski and some younger national security advisor wannabees. The rush of some wealthy Jewish donors to Obama doesn't impress me.

Obama is soft on national health care. He's put a plan on the table only to meet the competition posed by Edwards and Clinton. Is he really ready to fight the vested interests in the health insurance industry. I suspect not.

- amidut

February 3, 2008 at 9:10pm

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tabloid shit

- sleepyavl

February 3, 2008 at 9:39pm

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Please, it's a freaking blog, not the front page of the New York Times.  If Marty wants to talk about what kind of sweaters he wears, let him.  It's not like other bloggers aren't ranting about the totally funny thing their cat just did.

- bcbaird

February 3, 2008 at 10:13pm

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sleepy...

how can I top that?  Right on the nose sleepster, right on the nose...

- thejauntyboulevardier

February 3, 2008 at 10:33pm

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Obama wears a smile, Hillary wears a smirk.

It's the Sunday before Super Tuesday, and Stephanopoulos devotes most of his show to interviewing Hillary. The cronyism is nauseating. In his book detailing his mad ambition - "All Too Human" - George talks about learning how Bill lied to everyone about having contact with Gennifer Flowers during the campaign. She pulled out tapes at her press conference of her and Bill canoodling on the phone.

George was devastated...briefly...but quickly turned it all inside/out and upside/down, and reached the remarkable conclusion that Bill's flaws made him only more real, more worthy of his loyalty.

From pg. 69: "They'd stop at nothing to defeat him, so nothing would stop me from defending him. Now I was a true true believer."

And over on Meet the Press, Carville went on and on and on about Hillary.

Both shows, no Obama, no one from the Obama campaign.

Does Obama really have a chance when the media establishment is this corrupt?

- fougasseu

February 3, 2008 at 10:35pm

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Although I certainly feel Hillary is an excellent debater and has "won" most of the debates, her performance on the ABC Stephanopoulos interview I thought was mixed at best.  She had a broad smile with no warmth in it the entire time and a sort of smarmy attitude.  If other viewers had a similar reaction, the extra coverage might have backfired.  Anybody else watch?

- JackR

February 3, 2008 at 11:05pm

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IIUC Joseph Abboud has always been popular with afr-amer media figures, partly because his palette (back in the day) tended to favor earth tones that go well with olive skin. Bryant Gumbel was his most famous client in the old days.

- teplukhin2you

February 4, 2008 at 11:20am

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tep: pretty fancy talk for a guy who wears sweats to work!

- basman

February 4, 2008 at 11:34am

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As to our host's interest in matters sartorial, cut him some slack, folks. If your family fortune derived from sewing machines, you'd take an interest in garments, too.

Re Obama's preferences, I'd be worried if he were into Brioni (too GOP) or Ralph Lauren Purple Label (too foppish). Abboud's not a bad choice, symbolically: immigrant to USA made good, mainly by selling American clothes to Americans. No ersatz Savile Row wannabe stuff.

- teplukhin2you

February 4, 2008 at 1:08pm

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The sartorial choices of the candidates _are_ important, because they play a role in the perceptions game.  It's a banal point, really.

I'm just waiting for the ridiculous spectacle of the Rush Limbaughs and the Ann Coulters jumping on the clothier's origins in order to demonize Obama.

Seriously, I find Obama to have the most elegant bearing of any presidential candidate I can remember in the forty years since I've taken notice of presidential politics (i.e., since 1968 when I was eight).  Does that influence my vote in some way?  Probably, but it's the last reason I'd ever give for my choice.

- StraussGuy

February 4, 2008 at 1:16pm

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I am not gay, but damn doesn't Obama wear his suits well, cut quite the figure. Me, you can stuff in the most expensive suit and i still wear it like Karl Rove.

- blackton

February 4, 2008 at 2:43pm

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He cuts a good figure. A pity for him that smoking's incorrect; otherwise, he'd be cooler than cool.

- teplukhin2you

February 4, 2008 at 3:41pm

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