Deconstructing Hillary

Posted by A.D. Odom on Aug 27, 2008 • 91 views • (0)

Much has been written and said about Hillary Clinton’s speech last night. As one of her supporters said in an interview with a reporter last night, people are picking apart Clinton’s speech.

I know there is a good deal of shock and surprise shared by both the Clintons and the supporters of Hillary’s run for office. I personally believe the Clintons thought this would be their year and Hillary’s campaign was not up to snuff in the beginning. Towards the end of her run she really put forth an effort but it was too little too late.

I ran across a deconstuction of Hillary Clinton’s speech last night on CNN by Dan Hill, a body language expert and author of “Face Time.” In his analysis of her speech, Hill told CNN that even while the words Clinton delivered offered an unequivocal endorsement of Barack Obama, her body language was much less affirmative.

“When she spoke about Obama, she really did not emote very much,” Hill said. “The only thing she showed was a very weak smile, the cheeks didn’t tend to lift very much, it was really almost what I would call a ‘crocodile smile’ where even the slight corners of the lips sometimes raise into a little bit of a smirk.”

That’s very interesting and honestly, I was so wrapped up in the speech itself I did not look for a “smirk” nor did I check her body language. However, after seeing the speech again with Hill’s words in mind, I noticed it. I don’t know if anyone else noticed it during the time of her speech but looking at it now, I can certainly see what Hill speaks of. I don’t know what to make of it but, to each his or her own. At this point I don’t believe it really makes a difference. In truth, she lost and I’m sure that has to hurt particularly when you consider she could have been making an acceptance speech instead of a unity speech.