The following compilation of press comments about Hillary Clinton's
"mood swings" and possible "personality disorders"
comes from MediaMatters.org.
Between February 25 and February 27, members of the media asserted
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton displayed "mood swings,"
"could be depressed," "[r]esembl[ed] someone with
multiple personality disorder," and "has turned into
Sybil," an apparent reference to a book
and movie
about a woman who developed multiple personality disorder after being
severely abused as a child.
Asserting in a February 25 National Review Online blog
post that Clinton has displayed "erratic, roller-coaster, mood
swings these past few weeks,"
CNBC host Lawrence Kudlow wrote: "Now I'm no psychiatrist, far
from it, but I think a simple answer is that Senator Clinton could be
depressed." Kudlow added, "Maybe Hillary's taking meds, but
they're just not working for her? Could that be why she's always
attacking Big Pharma?"
In a February 27 New York Times column,
Maureen Dowd claimed that Clinton "has turned into Sybil."
Dowd added: "We've had Experienced Hillary, Soft Hillary, Hard
Hillary, Misty Hillary, Sarcastic Hillary, Joined-at-the-Hip-to-Bill
Hillary,
Her-Own-Person-Who-Just-Happens-to-Be-Married-to-a-Former-President
Hillary, It's-My-Turn Hillary, Cuddly Hillary,
Let's-Get-Down-in-the-Dirt-and-Fight-Like-Dogs Hillary. Just as in the
White House, when her cascading images and hairstyles became dizzying
and unsettling, suggesting that the first lady woke up every day
struggling to create a persona, now she seems to think there is a
political solution to her problem."
On the February 26 edition of CNN's The Situation Room,
commentator Jack Cafferty claimed Clinton "[r]esembl[ed] someone
with multiple personality disorder."
And on the February 25 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host
Chris Matthews declared: "I mean, most people have mood swings and
attitude swings, which, I have to say in my case, change radically time
to time, but to go from basically applauding him [Sen. Barack Obama] as
a human being to saying he ought to be ashamed of himself is a wicked
turn of tone, I think. But you say what you think."
Chicago Tribune reporter Jill Zuckman responded: "It
comes across as a little schizophrenic."
As Media Matters for America has
documented,
in her 2007 book The
Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton (Regnery
Publishing), Republican strategist Bay Buchanan suggested that Clinton
may have a disorder "involving narcissistic personality style"
and was quoted in an article
on the book as saying, "[W]e are talking about a clinical condition
that could make her [Clinton] dangerously ill-suited to become President
and Commander-in-Chief."
Additionally, as Media Matters documented
in 2004, following a speech
in which former Vice President Al Gore called for the resignation of six
top Bush administration officials, pundits claimed that Gore "has
gone off his lithium again," that "half the country thinks
he's a mental patient," that he "is insane" and
"needs medication," and "that if he is already on
medication, his doctors need to adjust it or change it entirely."
Kudlow's February 25 blog
post, headlined "Hillary's Mental Roller Coaster":
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed Hillary's
erratic, roller-coaster, mood swings these past few weeks?
She's all over the map. Irritable and angry. Manic. Pessimistic and
sad. One minute she's shedding tears, the next minute she's shouting
and attacking, then she's sarcastically ripping on Obama, and on and
on it goes.
So, is Hillary depressed?
Now I'm no psychiatrist, far from it, but I think a simple
answer is that Senator Clinton could be depressed. She seems
deflated. Down in the dumps.
Look, depression is a serious problem. It's also a
multibillion-dollar business. Three of the more popular drugs in the
market today to treat it are Pfizer's Zoloft, Eli Lilly's Prozac, and
GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil. Maybe Hillary's taking meds, but
they're just not working for her? Could that be why she's always
attacking Big Pharma?
From Dowd's February 27 New York Times column:
After saying she found her "voice" in New Hampshire, she
has turned into Sybil. We've had Experienced Hillary, Soft Hillary,
Hard Hillary, Misty Hillary, Sarcastic Hillary,
Joined-at-the-Hip-to-Bill Hillary,
Her-Own-Person-Who-Just-Happens-to-Be-Married-to-a-Former-President
Hillary, It's-My-Turn Hillary, Cuddly Hillary,
Let's-Get-Down-in-the-Dirt-and-Fight-Like-Dogs Hillary.
Just as in the White House, when her cascading images and
hairstyles became dizzying and unsettling, suggesting that the first
lady woke up every day struggling to create a persona, now she seems
to think there is a political solution to her problem. If she
can only change this or that about her persona, or tear down this or
that about Obama's. But the whirlwind of changes and charges gets
wearing.
From the February 26 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
CAFFERTY: Hillary Clinton has her work cut out for her when it
comes to that debate tonight in Cleveland, Ohio. If she has any hope
of closing the gap on front-runner Barack Obama next Tuesday in Texas
and Ohio, Clinton's got to deliver a big night tonight, a really big
night.
The question is, which Hillary Clinton's going to show up? In the
last few days, we've just about seen it all. At Thursday's debate in
Austin, Texas, Clinton showed a softer side, saying that she was
honored to be there with Barack Obama. A couple of days later, she
morphed into a scolding mother, talking down to a child, waving her
finger and saying, "Shame on you, Barack Obama." She called
him out, demanding that he meet her in Ohio for a debate on his
tactics and behavior in the campaign.
She wasn't finished. Resembling someone with multiple
personality disorder, last Sunday, Clinton mocked Obama,
derided his calls for unity. She made fun of him, as though his 11
straight victories in the primaries meant nothing.
From the February 25 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris
Matthews:
MATTHEWS: Let me, Chrystia, to start with this, and then I want to
go to Jill and then Susan [Page, USA Today Washington bureau
chief]. What is Senator Clinton's endgame here that seems to have
started on Saturday? Telling Barack Obama because of some literature
he's put out in Ohio that he ought to be ashamed of himself. Very
strong language. What is up?
CHRYSTIA FREELAND (Financial Times managing editor): Well,
we did see a really interesting change over the weekend. You know, and
if you think about the Texas debates, where she was almost
valedictorian, quite gentle, quite elegiac in how she treated Senator
Obama, and then over the weekend, we saw two new tones.
MATTHEWS: Let's take a look at this two tone here, both the one on
Thursday, then the one on Saturday.
CLINTON [video clip]: And, you know, no matter what happens in this
contest -- and I am honored -- I am honored to be here with Barack
Obama. I am absolutely honored. [video break] Shame on you, Barack
Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in
public.
MATTHEWS: Jill, what do we make of that? I mean, most
people have mood swings and attitude swings, which, I have to say in
my case, change radically time to time, but to go from basically
applauding him as a human being to saying he ought to be ashamed of
himself is a wicked turn of tone, I think. But you say what you think.
ZUCKMAN: It comes across as a little schizophrenic.
I think that the Clinton campaign is trying everything they can
possibly try to stop his momentum. And I think the other thing is, he
is going on offense against Senator Clinton when it comes to NAFTA. In
Ohio, a state that's been so badly hurt by the loss of manufacturing
jobs, NAFTA's a four-letter word, and if you let that concept take
hold, that you're for that, then you're in deep trouble.
I mean, she's only up at this point by about 11 points, compared to
20 points maybe a week ago. So, she's got to do everything she can to
hold on to that.
(SOURCE: Media
diagnose Hillary "Sybil" Clinton with "mood swings,"
depression, and "multiple personality disorder" (02/27/2008)
