I rarely get political on this blog, but Katie Couric’s 60 Minutes interview last night with Hillary Clinton has made me crawl out from under my keep-my-mouth-shut-about-all-things-political bunker.
Uhm, what was up with that?
Hil + KC = BFF
I felt like I was watching a Barbara Walters Oscar special, not a serious interview with a candidate deadlocked in of one of the tightest Democratic contests in years. It’s unfortunate that with all the issues out there to discuss, Katie Couric had to inject her annoyingly-perky self into the questions.  This exchange nearly had me gagging on the remote (thanks to The Swamp for transcribing the hokey).
KATIE COURIC:
Someone told me your nickname in school was Miss Frigidaire. Is that true?
HILLARY CLINTON:
Only with some boys. (laugh)
KATIE COURIC:
I don’t know if I wanna hear the back story on that.
HILLARY CLINTON:
Yeah, well you wouldn’t know the boys either. (laugh)…
I mean, thank g-d Hil has been called things way worse than “Frigidaire” so she could come up with a good retort. But the real question/ issue for me was the nature of Katie’s questions and the interview set-up in general. Why didn’t Couric get Obama to interview? What PR person was behind the decision to set the two “working women” up together? Perhaps it wasn’t on purpose, but Katie’s “friendly” demeanor did nothing to but turn her interview with the next potential Commander in Chief into a mind-numbing coffee-klatch.
Instead of questions like, “so explain to me how you’re an underdog” that Steve Kroft asked Obama, Clinton had to explain “how do you do it?” (meaning how do you keep going and going) to the point where Clinton actually admitted she eats hot peppers to maintain her stamina. Didn’t you know? Jalapeno peppers are the new Coke.
A grande coffee’s got nothing on a couple of these.
Katie, with her affecting demeanor, could have seized the chance to make this woman-on-woman interview something special. Two smart, successful working moms talking about real issues that matter to the voters. Instead, Couric turned it into a “oh, won’t you be my best friend right now” type moment that demeaned Senator Clinton and didn’t add anything to her credibility as a news anchor. I mean, can you just see her moderating a debate?
“Senator McCain, now here’s a serious one – who are you wearing tonight?”Â
I mean, please. You all know I’m supporting Clinton in this election, and what I was hoping to see was the affable interviewer making Clinton a little more like her – likeable. All I got, though, was a bad stomach ache and the knowledge that giggling over high school nicknames aren’t going to get a woman closer to the Oval Office.
Tags: Katie Couric, Hillary Clinton, 60 Minutes
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I didn’t see this particular interview – although now I am off to find it, but they do treat her differently. They do ask her dif. types of questions that they would not nec. ask a man.
I will tell you that I think we need a woman in the White House and that feeling was recently confirmed when I had a chance to talk with KY’s first female governor Martha Lane Collins. It wasn’t that Gov. Collins endorsed anyone, she didn’t. It was how she spoke of her time in office and the stories she told, that you knew, only were made possible because she was a woman – she did things a man would not have thought of.
Ok. I am rambling, but essentially I am agreeing….lol
Ye gads. So glad I missed that one. Sounds painful on so many levels.
Good thing I missed this one too. I am soooo not a KC fan. I sometimes don’t know how Hillary keeps her straight face around these people.