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| Clinton Says Her Southern Twang a Virtue |
| 2007-04-27 |
| Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she sees her sometimes Southern accent as a virtue. "I think America is ready for a multilingual president," Clinton said during a campaign stop at a charter school in Greenville, S.C. The New York senator—who said she's been thinking about critics who've suggested that she tried to put on a fake Southern accent in Selma, Ala.—noted that she's split her life between Arkansas, Illinois and the East Coast. Clinton added a Southern lilt to her voice last week when addressing a civil rights group in New York City headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton. On Monday, dealing with a microphone glitch at a fundraiser for young donors, she quoted former slave and underground railroad leader Harriet Tubman. The two episodes prompted some ribbing in the media and hatched more than a few humorous YouTube video clips. Clinton is a linguistic polyglot—a Chicago native turned New York resident who works in Washington and spent two decades living in Arkansas when her husband, Bill Clinton, was governor. But observers have long noted her tendency to speak Southern primarily in front of black audiences, as she did with Sharpton last week and at a civil rights commemoration in Selma in March. I have several names I like to call Hillary. "Polyglot" is not one of them. All the Democrats are vying for the support of black voters—a crucial constituency especially in the early voting state of South Carolina. In 2004, black voters comprised nearly 50 percent of the state's Democratic primary turnout. |
| Posted by:Dave D. |
| #18 Then there are those of us who speak computer languages. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-04-27 22:51 |
| #17 look at countries of similar size. I bet Americans of the "interior" speak and know a LOT more foreign languages than Russia, China, Canada, et al....not EVEN counting Dearborn |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-27 22:51 |
| #16 TW, most Americans do speak English only. There's nothing wrong with English spoken well. ;-). I'd say that probably the same portion of Americans speak other tongues as is usual in most other countries. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-04-27 22:41 |
| #15 Most Americans speak only English? I'm quite certain that isn't true. I could read and write in Hebrew before I could do so in English, my American-born father-in-law from the other side of town speaks Polish as fluently as English even yet and Mr. Wife used to speak in French with his mother, I've a girlfriend from North Carolina whose three native tongues are American, Greek and German. How many of those born in America translate into Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, etc and so forth for their not-much-English speaking parents and grandparents? Not to mention the many Americans who've been abroad long enough to acquire another language or several... or have learnt Spanish in self defense. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-27 22:16 |
| #14 I think her "multilingual" reference was to her sexual preference. I could be wrong, tho..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-27 19:46 |
| #13 She does NOT have a Southern accent. I, however, have been told I have a Mexican accent when speaking Spanish. This form my wife who was from Puerto Rico. The pandering by this abomination is unbeleavable. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-04-27 19:06 |
| #12 She has no virtue. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-04-27 18:50 |
| #11 Kewl! No if she can only toss her head from side to side whilst waving her finger she will be as Black as she can be. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-04-27 18:36 |
| #10 Thank you for the link, GP. The only thing more repulsive than such blatant patronizing is the fact that this carpetbagger was getting applauded for it. Much like Hispanics after Bush's election, do America's blacks really think that they won't be cast aside like an old shoe the moment Hillary steps into the Oval Office? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-27 18:25 |
| #9 Hillary is remarkably naive if she thinks that in this media-saturated age she can pull these stunts and no one will notice! This woman is an absolute disgrace. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hillary+accent |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2007-04-27 17:29 |
| #8 She done lernt all she knowed about jive from watchin dem ol' Airplane movies.... |
| Posted by: USN. Ret. 2007-04-27 17:16 |
| #7 "Y'all know there's this vayast rhait wing con-speeracy, doncha?" |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-04-27 16:15 |
| #6 Ms. Clinton, I knew Southern accents, and that was no Southern accent. - Ghost of Lloyd Bentsen |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-04-27 15:31 |
| #5 I've seen her little bullshit cornpone act and my first thought was, "Jesus, that's insulting as hell". What's next, blackface? But she's Hillary! so no rules apply... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-04-27 14:49 |
| #4 This is satire, right? She is not multilingual - like most Americans, she speaks only English. Does she speak with a Spanish accent when she addresses a Hispanic audience? Or speak in Spanish, better yet? |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-04-27 14:41 |
| #3 She be from da south, southside of Chicago. Saw it clip on Leno last night. Reminiscent of the finest traditions of carpetbaggers. Truly a painful experience, like William F. Buckley, Jr. trying to speak jive. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-27 14:41 |
| #2 What about her Amos And Andy voice? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-04-27 14:39 |
| #1 Ebonics nex? Don tink omelette yu slide on dat, missus Bill. |
| Posted by: Shemp Hapsburg9148 2007-04-27 14:34 |