A very popular young lady

As covered by Media Matters (shown below), correspondent David Shuster's comment that Chelsea Clinton is being "pimped out" by her mother's campaign has gotten him suspended. I didn't think this was that big a deal, but then, I'm a potty mouth. My mother was furious about the comment. Never a feminist, she was nevertheless upset that vocabulary associated with prostitution was used in conjunction with a female candidate and her daughter. And besides, she said, Chelsea's behavior has always been above reproach. Like Caroline Kennedy, she's America's Daughter. We've watched both Caroline and Chelsea grow up, slim down (and discover the importance of a flat iron) and consequently the American public has become fond of these women.

I think my mom is right. So, apparently, do the many other women who complained to NBC. It was tin-eared at best of Shuster to use language like that in discussing the campaign of the first serious female Presidential candidate and the former First Daughter. And there's no comparison between Chelsea and, say, Jenna Bush. I am sooooo tempted to include the photo of Jenna holding a gin and tonic in one hand as she put the "ball" into her father's last Inaugural Ball, or tumbling onto the floor on top of a college chum, cig in one hand and drink in the other. I'm not going to because she does seem to have grown up. But this does get me thinking about the "family values" question. Somehow Laura Bush is considered in some quarters to be saintly because she stayed at home and concentrated on her girls while Hillary Clinton worked. I think the results of this very narrow study show that ALL mothers should work.


From Media Matters: Specifically, while discussing Chelsea Clinton's campaign work with nationally syndicated radio host Bill Press and online columnist and former CNN correspondent Bob Franken on Tucker, Shuster asserted: "For most of the Bill Clinton presidency, then-teenager Chelsea Clinton remained out of public life. Political opponents like Mike Huckabee have credited the Clintons for raising such a poised and self-possessed young woman. Now, just shy of her 28th birthday, Chelsea is out and about on her mom's behalf, campaigning in Nebraska as Saturday's caucuses approach. What is the Chelsea factor?" Shuster then said to Press: "Bill, there's just something a little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea is out there calling up celebrities saying, 'Support my mom.' And, apparently, she's also calling these super delegates." After Press responded, "Hey, she's working for her mom. What's unseemly about that? During the last campaign, the Bush twins were out working for their dad," Shuster asked: "But doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" He then said: "I will give Chelsea Clinton a break when she sits down and gives an interview to somebody like ... Bob Franken, because if she ... wants to do all this stuff, then she should face the questions, right?"