Monday, September 17, 2007

"Clinton does late-night"

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" yesterday and read the Top Ten list, titled "Top Ten Hillary Clinton Campaign Promises."

10. Bring stability and long term security to "The View."
9. Each year on my birthday, every American gets a cupcake.
8. You'll have the option of rolling dice against the IRS for double-or-nothing on your taxes.

7. Having trouble getting a flight and Air Force One is available - it's yours.
6. My Vice President will never shoot anybody in the face.
5. Turn Gitmo into a Dairy Queen as soon as possible.
4. For over a century there have been only two Dakotas - I plan to double that.
3. We will finally have a President who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
2. I will appoint a committee to find out what the heck is happening on "Lost."
1. One more pantsuit joke and Letterman disappears.
from Newsday.com August 31, 2007
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/nation/ny-uslett315353318aug31,0,2672995.story



At the end of August former First Lady and Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on the Late Show; the perfect guest to not only interview but also theme that night's Ton Ten List.

Letterman took this opportunity to play on the fact that the United States has never had a female president and if Clinton did take office the kind of changes we could expect throughout America. For some this could be seen as controversial, as many still don't believe that a woman could run this country; however, Letterman's audience tends to be fairly liberal and in turn able to see the sarcasm in Letterman's list. The list could be construed as a faulty generalization of all women. One could place all women in a group that enjoys baking and watches prime time dramas, though we know this is not true.

I believe that Letterman is trying to appeal to the emotions of his viewers; hoping they will see the obvious chauvinistic views that many Americans attach to women by playing on those very opinions. Letterman has taken the job duties of the most powerful person in the world and whittled them down to 10 simple tasks, almost implying "What does the President do anyway?"

As the list progresses the campaign promises get more outrageous and less about politics, this is Letterman's way of keeping his audience engaged. The final promise truly takes the cake! As a women in a man's world many female politicians and business women choose to wear the ever popular pant suit. Is this a comfort issue or an issue of trying to be consistent with the dress of the male professionals and politicians? Letterman could be simply making reference to Clinton's choice of clothing or he could be making reference to Clinton be willing to take on the country in a way that no woman has ever been able to do before.

Through humor Letterman has addressed the issue that we do in fact have a female running for the position of President of United States and that she can handle the bigger issues at hand if she has these 10 simple campaign promises!

2 comments:

Polak said...

I saw the same program, and I found it equally funny. While I don't know exactally how I feel about Hillary being the first female president, I do like the way Letterman presented the top ten list. Especially because you know that there are people out there giving equally ridiculous reasons about why a woman couldn't be a good president. Letterman does a good job of poking fun at those people.

Megan said...

I also think the program was pretty hillarious. My favorite item on the list was definetley the comment about "bringing stability and long term security to The View." As a woman, I find 'The View" to be kind of irritating. I think it gives the impression that the rest of American women sit around gossiping and bitching about one another. Clearly, Letterman is satarizing on this point and making Hilary Clinton out to be the same type of woman. Letterman satirically brings out many of the stereotypes about women in his Top Ten List and makes people who have these ridiculous notions in their minds seem ignorant, since Hilary Clinton is a very intelligent person regardless if you think she should be president or not.