Hillary Clinton’s clumsy pandering to racial groups, and her campaign theme of portraying herself as America’s Grandma-in-Chief, collided in a website post inviting Hispanic voters to think of her as their abuela, or grandmother.
The mockery greeting this post–#NotMyAbuela–isn’t the reaction Clinton’s campaign was hoping for.
The post is entitled “7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela.” (It was originally called “7 ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela,” but her tone-deaf campaign team hastily changed it after the backlash began.) Those seven things, as described by the vast army of highly-paid political consultants this particular abuela employs, include:
She worries about children everywhere. Because no one else running for President worries about children.
She knows what’s best. (This point wins extra creepy totalitarian points by citing Clinton’s enthusiasm for climate change as an example of “knowing what’s best.” The climate change movement is increasingly focused on asserting that democracy ends where their theology begins, and unquestioning compliance with their demands is mandatory.)
She reacts this way when people le faltan el respeto. In other words, when people fail to show respect. This probably isn’t the right tack for a gazillionaire aristocrat noted for her arrogance to present herself to voters.
The Clinton campaign demonstrated how she reacts to people who don’t show respect with a GIF of Clinton looking exasperated at a congressional hearing – a moment from the Benghazi hearing, perhaps? Double clueless points for campaign staff if so. Too bad Clinton didn’t show the men who died in Benghazi some respect, isn’t it?
She reads to you before bedtime. Yes, this is seriously a point the Clinton campaign thinks will sell a presidential candidate to Hispanic voters. Enjoy being patronized, folks!
She isn’t afraid to talk about the importance of el respecto (especially when it comes to women). Well, except for women who accuse her husband of sexual harassment or assault, that is. The example of Clinton’s soaring respect for women is her lecturing Donald Trump about daring to say he “cherishes” them, which is pretty weak tea for a woman running as Feminist Numero Uno.
She likes to highlight accomplishments. The example provided is a GIF of Clinton saying she has “met and worked with DREAMers.” What about all her “accomplishments” as Secretary of State?
.. And she had one word for Donald Trump. The word is basta, or “enough.”
This couldn’t be more patronizing if it had been whipped up by Trump’s campaign as a phony website to make Hillary Clinton look bad.
The Hill collected responses on Twitter that mocked the super-rich, whiter-than-white Clinton for daring to presume she knows anything about being a Hispanic grandmother:
My grandmother doesn’t have a steady income and has no wealth. @HillaryClinton‘s a multimillionaire. #NotMiAbuela
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 22, 2015
My Abuela came to this country with a 6th grade education and worked in factories for 50 something cents to a Man’s dollar #NotMyAbuela
— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) December 22, 2015
Hillary is #NotMyAbuela but I bet she pays someone like my abuela does her hair.
— Mary Sue ⭐ (@MarySueRenfrow) December 22, 2015
THIS LIST THO. It’s like the algorithm is: Spanglish + talk about “respeto” + Hillary gif + Marc Anthony = Latino Vote
— Gabe Gonzalez (@gaybonez) December 22, 2015
Besides very accurately dismantling how the Clinton-bot’s programming operates, this last post mocks Clinton for wrapping up her abuela list with a photo of herself and singer Marc Anthony, gushing “Everybody loves abuela – even this guy.”
It will be fun to watch Hillary claim she’s a better Hispanic grandmother than the grandmothers of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. If either of them is the Republican candidate, it looks like we’ll be in for another round of Democrats claiming that racial identity is defined by strict obedience to left-wing political dogma – you’re only an authentic member of your demographic group if you vote Democrat, and their elderly white candidates are more “authentic” than Republicans who actually belong to the demographic in question.
It would be very dismaying to think this kind of absurdly heavy-handed pandering worked with any American demographic. So far, it doesn’t look like Hispanic voters are going for it.
History should have taught Americans of every background to be extremely suspicious of any politician who runs as the National Father or Mother.
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