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# Iron your own shirt: Hillary’s comeback
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/iron-your-own-shirt-hillarys-comeback/
- Published: 2008-01-11T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T17:54:07.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

I HADN’T INTENDED TO WRITE ABOUT politics this morning, but it’s unavoidable as history is being made. Last week in Iowa, Barack Obama became the first black to win a state caucus. And this week, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a presidential primary. Now, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is contemplating a third party candidacy. A black, a woman and a Jew? Under their sheets, the KKK must be having mass strokes.

Deservedly, Obama gets credit for breaking down barriers, but so should Hillary. The presidency has to be the ultimate glass ceiling. On Monday, she was attending a crowded Town Hall meeting in New Hampshire when suddenly some sloppy Hillary heckler shouted: “Iron my shirt!” Hillary tried to talk over him, but it was no use. Police quickly “escorted” the jerk out of the hall as women in the audience yelled:“Iron your own shirt!”

Invigorated, Hillary commented, “I see the remnants of sexism are still alive and well.” The audience gave her a standing ovation. And the next night, Hillary pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in recent history, going from 13 points down to winning the primary in less than 48 hours. Why do I wonder if Bill put the guy up to it?

Personally,I like John Edwards,but even his former running mate, John Kerry, is endorsing Obama.As for Hillary, I’ve never been a fan. In fact, I would gladly make a deal: No more Clintons for no more Bushes. Hillary’s always so icy and calculating. That is, until at another New Hampshire campaign venue, when a middle-aged woman asked Hillary how she keeps going in spite of all the personal attacks. (Oddly enough, the woman wound up voting for Obama.) Hillary confessed that it wasn’t easy and moments later became teary-eyed.

The press had a field day saying Hillary suffered a meltdown. Being Jewish, I found it amusing when some said she was “verklempt.” (Yiddish for choked with emotion.) Actually, Romney was verklempt on “Meet the Press,” no less. He was asked how could he be in the Mormon Church that so many considered racist. (Send your angry e-mails to Tim Russert.) As reported in the Washington Post, it wasn’t until 1978 that the President of the Church, citing a revelation from God, decreed black males could participate in church rites. (What about black females? And why did God wait until 1978?) Romney got teary-eyed recalling when he first heard the news. He also said he saw his dad march with Martin Luther King, except it never happened. A few days later, Romney corrected himself, saying he used the word “saw” in a “figurative sense,” which to me sounds a lot like Bill Clinton’s “it depends on what is is.”

Despite his near tears, the press didn’t suggest Romney was having a meltdown. Double standard? Think about this. Can you imagine a female U.S. senator, halfway through her first term, running for the presidency? It’s inconceivable. Barack Obama is the most inspirational speaker since JFK, but that doesn’t negate that a few years ago he was an Illinois state senator, hardly a stepping stone to the White House.

Frankly, I’m exhausted by the endless campaigning. (And we still have 10 more months!) In England, they spend six weeks. We spend two years. And what great states-men does this process produce? Among this year’s crop is Mike Huckabee, who is charming and plays the guitar, but doesn’t believe in evolution. Rudy is the terrorism expert who put New York’s command center in the towers after the bombing in 1993.

When Ron Paul speaks he makes a lot of sense, but at other times he’s, pardon the technical term, cuckoo. The same could be said of Democrat Mike Gravel. Dennis Kucinich has some great ideas (and an unbelievably hot wife) but he probably should have kept the UFO sighting to himself, witness New Hampshire, where he got 2 percent of the vote. Of course, Fred Thompson got 1 percent! (So far, Thompson’s big contribution to the Republican debates is he appears to be able to sleep standing up.).

If it weren’t for George Allen’s “macaca” moment in 2006, he’d probably be the Republican nominee. Scary. Then again, if it weren’t for the requirement a president has to be born in the U.S., it might be Arnold Schwarzenegger. And if it weren’t for the 22nd Amendment, Bill Clinton would probably run against him. Bill Maher says it would be billed as “The Terminator against the Sperminator.” (Send your angry e-mails to Maher.) Lame jokes aside, whoever becomes president, 2008 figures to be a historic election. In the meantime, I’m tickled I was able to put Romney and verklempt in the same sentence.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 11, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011108.pdf?ref=smdp.com)