Maureen Dowd: "Obama will never be at his best around Hillary"

[rhombus]

A bit of an old column, but so true. Obama truly expends a lot of energy when Hillary is around him. He has always tried his best to be respectful and gracious toward her, but I think it drained him of vibrancy.

Hillary has a strange, unnerving effect on Obama, and whenever he is around her, he’s unable to do his best....

In the last few days, as Hillary has deflated and Obama and the Democrats have dashed for daylight, he has been more like his old self, flashing his all-is-right-with-the-world smile on the cover of Time, joshing and charming Democrats and Republicans as he wooed superdelegates on the House floor, taking on James Carville for insulting his manhood....

Obama will never be at his best around Hillary; she drains him of his magical powers....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/opinion/11dowd.html


The Obamas Watching Hillary Clinton's speech last night:




We are going to see a rejuvenated Barack Obama who is free to be himself without fear of stepping on egg shells.

[Muttocracy]

1. I realized a few weeks ago that I used to work for a woman like Hillary and it was draining.

It was the perfect job for me, I was very good at it, and I had a good relationship with everyone else in my department. But my boss, and her husband who sometimes acted as my boss (it was never clear who was my boss and they would tag-team me too), stressed me out so much they made me physically ill. I quit the job and have been struggling career-wise and financially ever since, but I'm much happier now.

[speedoo]

3. I had a remarkably similar experience.

In my case, I became overconfident as a result of early success and my belief that I had a great relationship with my boss. Made too many mistakes, including not paying enough attention to cultivating that relationship. It's one of my biggest regrets.

[Muttocracy]

4. Well, I have the comfort of them being internationally known for being difficult to work with

And they were and continue to be abusive to others. It's quite tragic actually - they're in a field where collaboration is necessary (beyond the 2 of them) but their paranoia, selfishness, and need for all the credit keep them from achieving what they could. Brilliant people - very difficult to work with. Noone was surprised when I quit, and I had lasted longer than most of their staff over the years. I had heard some rumors before I took the job but none that captured what it was like.

It was quite the realization to see the parallels with Bill and Hillary. He is the one with the leading career, she followed and has some insecurities about that, she's better at the details, she ends up apologizing for his angry behavior, they both feel there are slights against them, very worried about loyalty yet don't foster it.

[speedoo]

5. Again, a very similar experience.

My ex-boss was/is very well known in her field, but was also well known as difficult and a poor manager. If I had been more aware and smarter, there's a chance I might have helped her change that.

[Muttocracy]

6. hope things have gotten better!

:hug:

[Condem]

2. rhombus

don't ever quote fuckin Maureen Dowd.

[blonndee]

7. emotional vampire

[PurityOfEssence]

8. Somewhere, in some sad sometime past, a boyfriend cheated on Maureen Dowd

and thus she must forever repeatedly destroy Bill Clinton and hound his remains into the ground with the resounding carping of the scorned. Such joy.

[Thrill]

9. You can tell by looking at that picture. That they're saying "Can you believe this shit"

[scheming daemons]

10. He's Superman... and she's made of Kryptonite