This CNN article outlines the first few moves of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The beginning of the campaign took Clinton and a group of close aides to Iowa, but she made a few stops along the way. One of these was at a Chipotle in Ohio (the article describes her order, if one would ever want to eat like a presidential candidate), where the media went abuzz due to her lack of recognition in the restaurant except by the security cameras. Another stop she made was at a gas station, where she engaged in conversation with a young man. The article says that she stopped at different hotels or towns, but did not add any specifics.
Although pretty short and simple, albeit a bit strange/stalker-ish (does anyone really care about the snacks--cottage cheese--that she packed for her journey?), this article is just the first of many articles to come which detail the lives of presidential candidates in order to connect the American people to their possibly-future president. In addition, she is campaigning on the road, which is another way to spark voters' interest in her campaign. By stopping at gas stations where she engages in conversation, eating at a popular and "normal" restaurant, and sharing these things with the media, Clinton is looking to portray herself as an everyday citizen, just like you and me, so as to better connect herself to her voters. By becoming relatable, she hopes to win more public support and swing public opinion in her favor come voting day. I'm interested to see if this tactic is affective in upcoming polls, but I certainly haven't been swayed by this campaigning.
I usually find it funny when famous people try to be "normal" or an "everyday citizen" because it seems so fake to me. Yes, Hillary Clinton is a person just like all of us, but she is also running for president which means she is inherently different from regular people who have not ran for president. I don't think that this is a bad thing, though. Also, I don't think that people should vote for her just because she acts like a normal person and eats at the same restaurants as us. Voters should be much more focused on what she plans to do if she becomes president rather than how many times she goes to Chipotle.
ReplyDeleteI don't get what the big deal is, I have always thought of political leaders as normal human beings with the same necessities and simple pleasures that we all share. Hillary would have the responsibility of a nation on her shoulders, I just hope her travels help her to realize how many people she will be affecting in her upcoming campaign and her presidency if she were to be voted into office.
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