Bill Clinton Loves Mad Men!
Too thrilling to wait for Mad News:
[Former President Bill Clinton] told [the] Chicago Sun-Times, “You ever watch that TV series ‘Mad Men?’ If I keep watching this program, will I ever find a happy person? Great television. Good drama. But a lot of really painful reminders in that show about how black people were supposed to run the elevators? were supposed to ask permission before they get on an elevator. The way women were treated is appalling, and only occasionally funny to me.”
November 12th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
…and Bubba Clinton comments, “The way women were treated is appalling, and only occasionally funny to me.”
LOL!! Really now?! Hey, I loved ya Bill, and voted for you twice, but you were a pig, and a man from the Don Draper mold, except that unlike Don, you never really magically escaped your Dick Whitman childhhood. So, I guess, when it came to cheating on your wife, you were a much more sincere scumbag.
Anyway, like Draper, you did rise far above your childhood, and I guess that mitigates the downside of being a philanderer…. at the very least, I feel your pain.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I never heard of Clinton forcing himself on a woman. Alas, he had a hard time saying no to the women who came on to him.
But he had no problem dealing with strong, intelligent women. He married one.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
“Funny?!”
November 12th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
@2 not_Bridget: “I never heard of Clinton forcing himself on a woman…..”
Paula Jones? She may have been a willing victim (or maybe not), but she was a victim nonetheless.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
…A victim of the people who made her lie in court, maybe. Clinton had a lot of enemies.
And the word I used was “forced.”
November 12th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Bubba was no pig. I love him. LOVE him.
From a distance … and with the usual famous-guy conditions. (These depend on the guy, and range from disclaimers — “It’s the flashbulb effect, he’s fifty-something going on five” — to a HazMat suit.)
I have stood in a three-block line (of mostly women) to see my Bubba. I have stood four deep in suddenly-assembled shrieking crowds at curbside to wave at his motorcade. I have climbed out to my fire escape to get a view of him as he was driven past, on the deserted street below. I would do it all again.
No HazMat suit necessary, in Bubba’s case. You WANT some people to hug you. He’s one of them.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
@ 5 not_Bridget “A victim of the people who made her lie in court, maybe..”
What about the people who made Paula go into a motel room to have an audience with the guberantorial willie?
I voted for Bubba twice, thought the impeachment stuff was nonsense and was hoping Ken Starr would get caught cruising leather bars… but Clinton was a pathetic pig when it came to his relations with women…. and all that was revealed even before he got the nomination in ‘92, because there was almost a sincere, stupidity to his philandering. For all his success, Clinton was and is the same kid raised in a trailer park, and who was the fat kid in the band. He wasn’t smooth or smarmy like Don Draper, but I’m sure he wished he was.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Alas, he had a hard time saying no to the women who came on to him.
Oh, please, what is he an innocent victim now? *eyeroll*
November 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
#7 David,
I understand your point of view, and I respect it.
But Bill Clinton is a public person. His success was OUR success, for eight years. What we knew of him was, and is, something we like. In fact, the public man is almost impossible not to like.
I too voted for him twice. (Another thing I’d do again.) I’m proud of both votes and will stand by them for the rest of my life.
I didn’t elect a Saint. I elected a President. Everyone’s got feet of clay, and leaders in particular suffer from the Golden Mean: everyone does more of something he or she should not. JFK had the same problem as Bubba; for Nixon, it was mistrust and deceit; for Carter, it was guilt and indecision; for Dubya it was hubris and rage.
For Obama, it appears to be cigarettes and work. These are their things: they make them both human and relatable.
I have a thing, too. Don’t you?
November 12th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
#9 Anne B “I didn’t elect a Saint. I elected a President. Everyone’s got feet of clay…”
I’m not a moralist, and I wouldn’t have any problem with Don Draper selling my product. But I voted for Clinton to get certain things done, but his Monica affair gave his enemies the ammunition to weaken his power and lessen his ability to deliver on his agenda. For that I can neve forgive the man.
Not to mention he put his wife and daughter through the most public of all humiliations. Total lack of respect from Bubba. Total. He was revealed as a worthless, unredeemable piece of sh*t. Hillary may have been as emotionally cold as Betty Draper (or maybe not), but, unlike Betty, she had supported her husband and was an instrumental ally in getting him to the White House. That he would treat such a substantial, life-partner in that way is just an abomination. I wish Hillary had shot his nuts off… If she had, I probably would have voted for her.
On the other hand, Obama sneaks a butt now and then. Is that really comparable?
November 12th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
@9 Anne B: “I have a thing, too. Don’t you?”
When I grow up, I want to be Roger Sterling.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
#6: Go, AnneB! You made me laugh out loud.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Bill Clinton is yet another centrist I voted for because my truly progressive candidate got knocked out in the primary.
But he’s HOT. Hot. I would Monica all over his ass if given half a chance.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I saw Bill speak a few weeks ago–believe me, I wish I knew. I coulda used this as my in.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
#13, #14, I’m LMAO here… thanks for the laughter, it’s so cathartic. And I need it, today! xo
November 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I find it hilarious that people still think of philandering unequivocally as an issue of sexism. It’s an issue of interpersonal trust, integrity, intimacy–maybe a lot more–but not necessarily sexism.
This paternalistic attitude–women are so defenseless and weak, anyone who wrongs a woman must hate or disrespect all women!–itself tries to stereotype and draw distinctions between the sexes.
Anyway, the point is, Bill Clinton is no sexist.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
#2 and others:
Bill Clinton was actually accused of rape by Juanita Broderick. No idea if it’s true, but her story was all over the press, and still is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanita_Broaddrick
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33027
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/broaddrick022599.htm
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Juanita.htm
Note: I don’t endorse any of these sources above, just citing them for reference.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Ah, Bill Clinton has good taste in tv. As a side note, no comment on his affairs etc, but from what I hear he and Hillary are still very deeply in love and that seems to be part of why they are still together. I had a former neighbor who did the photography-editing on one of their books and he saw them together on many occasions and he said, unless they are good actors they are very loving towards each other. I’ve also heard stories about people spotting them around town in DC occasionally post-White House eating dinner at restaurants and seeming very, very in to each other. So in their case, I think love trumped the betrayl. though I would not be shocked if Hillary smashed a vase on his head at least once ala Joan
November 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Wow, there are a lot of Bill Clinton / Don Draper parallels. Never thought about that before.
Regarding President Clinton, I’ll keep my conservative yap shut here, except to say that he had a helluva good run from about 1994 to about 1998. As good a 4 yrs as any president I can remember.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Bill Clinton proved himself a liar – Don can be a liar
Both highly intelligent and christmatic and they know how to get things done – love to observe them
I would not want to be married to either one of them
Like Joh Hamm’s grandmother stated – the Don Draper character is a good person that makes bad choices.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Deb and Roberta, YES.
In case the Big Dog himself is reading this: Hello, sir! (waving)
Also: This is my bra. Sir.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I don’t think Don would have voted for Bill. He voted for Nixon, remember?
November 12th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
The AV Club also loves Mad Men: In their ranking “The best TV series of the ’00s” Mad Men landed the fifth spot.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-tv-series-of-the-00s,35256/1/
November 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
#21 – I don’t remember Don revealing that he voted for any one.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Don doesn’t vote. For obvious reasons.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Say what you will about President Clinton personally, but there is no doubt that he left the country in one helluva lot better shape when he left office after 8 years, than President George W. Bush did.
And speaking of Dubya — once can only wonder what HE watches on TV!?!
November 12th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Oh, Bill. You had me about the comment about Black folks, but lost me completely when you got to the comment about women. But like Don Draper, I love you any way. LOL.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Anne B – I walked 15 city blocks on a hot summer day to see Bill Clinton from half a football field away! LOVE HIM, too.
I did find it kind of ironic that he mentioned the way women are treated on Mad Men, given his “reputation.” Not that his “reputation” makes me love him any less.
By the way, I was 11 when he was first elected as president. And, he’s my “free pass” to cheat on my husband if I ever meet him.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Katie,
Bill Clinton’s on your Laminated List too? He’s so big he gets two spaces on mine.
It’s always good to meet a kindred spirit!
November 12th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
In our house we say “not EVER honey…except for…”
November 12th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Betty told Don that she thought their district carried Nixon suggesting Don w/be happy with that news. Don was also quite upset that Kennedy won when they discussed it in some board room or Bert’s office later. So either he did vote for Nixon or he w/have voted for Nixon. With that said, he would not have voted for Bill Clinton.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Obama and Clinton love “Mad Men”!!! Good, good stuff. Glad I voted for presidents with taste.
Side note: My dad looks just like Bill Clinton and he is a republican (I’m the black sheep) and it drives him crazy that everyone thinks he looks like Bill ; ) I on the other hand think it is a riot!
November 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Is Bill Clinton the Don Draper of presidents?
Disclaimer: I voted for 2 different Clintons in 3 presidential election years …
November 12th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
When Bill Clinton focuses on you, you and he are the only people in the Universe. Total opposite of the typical pol’s glazed-over look through you. He’s the real deal, and I’d have him back in the White House in a New York minute.
Meanwhile, he’s probably tuned in to MM so he’ll know when Henry and Betty get settled in Chappaqua. Then the Clintons will have them over for dinner to talk politics.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
It doesn’t surprise me President Clinton watches Mad Men. It’s a show for smart people, and he’s easily the smartest President the United States has had in the last 30 years (Obama’s pretty smart too, but I’m not convinced he’s Clinton Smart yet).
He’s also proof that intelligence is sexy to some women. That is very comforting.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Bill Clinton basically IS Don Draper. But I’m very happy about this because I’ve been a Clinton groupie since I was a little child and I voted for Hillary my first time voting (I only reached voting age a few years ago)
Yes Bill Clinton is very sexy, if only there were more guys like him.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I remember reading that among the videos then candidate Obama carried on his campaign trail was Mad Men Season 1! Gotta love that!
November 12th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Someday, somewhere, someone will create a graduate psych course on why women love William Jefferson Clinton. The man’s got the KAVORKA!
Anne B – I’ve been reading 27 responses on this thread and want to know … what’s your thing?
WJC was my first, and so far best, presidential vote.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Don Draper, hot. Bill Clinton, not. Two words: Juanita Broderick
November 12th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
B.Cooper, I have more than a few theories on Clinton’s appeal to women:
1) He’s truly remarkably intelligent. The man is a Rhodes Scholar, a brilliant academic and would read three to four books a week on vacations. He drafted and executed public policy on a level that has not been duplicated since. He understands domestic and foreign policy issues better than any American President since Franklin Roosevelt. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about women, the good ones love a smart man. Intelligence equals ambition, curiosity, depth, good conversation and The Funny.
2) He has charisma writ large. This is the only President since Kennedy that has managed to convey strength, energy, personal warmth and personality in a way that makes people feel really, really good. Clinton managed to accomplish this on a personal level (the famous Clinton Intimacy, whereby he made everyone he was talking to feel like they were the most important person in his world at that moment) and on a national level. That’s a very rare skill for anyone. He also gave off really being genuine, caring and kind, while still being The Man when he had to be. And let’s face it: women do love it when a guy can be good, sincere and handle himself and others. He’s confident in who he is, sincere and has a little bit of edge to him.
3) Power. Let’s be honest: everyone, regardless of gender, is attracted to power. It’s seductive and primal. Clinton just oozed power. He gave off the confidence and belief that not only was he in charge, but he can handle whatever is thrown his way. There’s an element of danger to powerful men and women, too.
Am I close?
4)
November 12th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
# 33 – Is Bill Clinton the Don Draper of presidents?
Now THERE’S an interesting concept: Bill Clinton as Don Draper.
Maybe we should make a game of it and explore what real life political figures suggest which Mad Men character.
My vote — Sarah Palin = Lois on the John Deere lawnmover!
November 12th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I feel compelled to shout, “Get thee to a nunnery,”
But after a quick count, it might be easier to be bring the nunnery here. Let me make some calls.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
#42 LOM: hahahahaha! Let me go to bed! ha!
November 12th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
#40, okay I was gonna shut up, but just this one teensy comment:
“This is the only President since Kennedy that has managed to convey strength, energy, personal warmth and personality in a way that makes people feel really, really good.”
I agree that Clinton did that. But that SOO describes President Reagan, especially his first term. I mean, come on, he took a bullet!
Also, I watched the end of “Frost/Nixon” last night and Nixon also had a bit of the Dick Whitman inferiority in him that drove him on.
Funny how that same theme keeps showing up.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
For all of his much vaunted intelligence and charisma, there’s an emptiness at the center of Clinton that needs to be repeatedly filled–more so than with your average politician–by adoring men and women who are intent on hanging on his every word. Without realizing it I may have also hit on a similarity to Don Draper, i.e., that the success, material possessions and women are a way to narcotize himself to what he really is.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Look at all these liberals! I knew I loved this blog.
Clinton was also my first presidential vote, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Great president with a questionable personal life which did not affect me or anyone else but Monica and Hillary (and Chelsea). Aside from that, he is certainly the smartest president of the last half of the 20th century. He was on Letterman a couple of years ago, and it was amazing listening to him talk extemporaneously. The man is brilliant. When I compared him to our then-current president, it made me very, very sad. Luckily, we’re free of the last dolt. Obama is very smart (his books are great), but he has a long way to go to get into Clinton’s class. I think he has it in him, though.
They clearly have great tastes in television!
November 13th, 2009 at 1:01 am
After reading the above, this somehow seems appropriate, excuse my shaky Shakespeare.
(ahem)
Friends, Romans, Basketcases, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Clinton, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Clinton….The noble Gingerich
Hath told you Clinton was randy:
If it were so, it was, what?, er…is now..or is then.. was always a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Clinton answered it…
{Yadda, yadda, yadda. Blah,blah,blah.}
You all did lust for him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then to jump him now?
O judgement! thou art fled to buxom breasts,
And women have lost their reason….Bear with me;
Anne B is in the coffin there with Clinton,
And I must pause till she swoons no more.
Ah! The Classics.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:45 am
“This is the only President since Kennedy that has managed to convey strength, energy, personal warmth and personality in a way that makes people feel really, really good.”
I agree that Clinton did that. But that SOO describes President Reagan, especially his first term. I mean, come on, he took a bullet!
Taking a bullet is not really a proactive policy stance is it? I’m sorry if that’s all it takes to get your approval.
The difference between Reagan and Clinton (and their supporters) for me is that Reagan had a great private life that he presented and it excused his horrible political policies; Clinton had a load of great public policies that got derailed by private behavior that should have stayed that way.
I really really DON’T care if a politician cheats…whether he be Demo or Repub…Clinton, the gov of No Carolina, or Gary Hart. I DO care if he builds a platform slamming gay people and then is caught in a bathroom stall, or paying for male hustlers, or sleeping with Congressional pages. Not because of the behavior, bur because of the hypocrisy it reveals about their political life.
If a bunch of white, privileged, middle-aged Pete Cambells mysteriously started dying of some strange new disease, Reagan would have funded emergency research to stop the epidemic IN A HEARTBEAT. But he( and his Republican advisors) didn’t give a rat’s ass about some marginalized hated gay men.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Come, l-o-m.
We’ll have a swashing and a martial outside,
As many other mannish cowards have …
Screw it. You’re funny as hell and I love you.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
HI COOP.
Well that’s a loaded question, isn’t it? Are you accustomed to people just telling you their weaknesses? “Hi, I’m Anne B, and my thing is Elizabethan comedy.”
(That’s not it.)
Because the Internet is not AA, and because I like mystery, I’ll just tell you the tattoo story.
A year ago I got my first tattoo. Even if you see it (difficult), you probably won’t understand it. But you might be, say, my little nephew. He’s adorable — I mean, I’d learn to make balloon animals for this kid — so when he asked (why that? What’s it mean?), I just told him.
But you are not my nephew. No one here is. Believe me, I’d know. Kid would have started a YouTube war with the folks over at AMC, ages ago.
Grown-ups like you gotta find some things out for yourselves. Location, meaning? Yes.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Anne B- you tagged me as Rosenkrantz or Guildensmustard last week, I like the job; I’m just running with it.
Poaching Cooper’s mail, (pardone moi Mr.C) Hey A-B. I feel sure you won’t need any help but
here’s your ticket to Aunt of the Year . . . click and click.
I grew up with a couple of cool aunts, I value that job, too.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Anne – that’s the response of the year, hands down.
I’ll make my guesses another time …
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