What kind of person ditches their family name for political expediency?

[Jersey Devil]

Sometimes the little, obscure things tell you more about a person than the big issues.

Hillary Rodham Clinton?

As far as I know (I love using that term now), it was "Hillary Rodham Clinton" throughout Hillary's legal career, her 8 years as first lady and for her entire professional life from the time she was married until very recently.

I assume she was proud of her parents' name and perhaps also used it also in order to make a statement that she was in agreement with the feminist agenda.

But ever since she has been talked about as a serious presidential contender she has dropped the "Rodham" like a hot rock.

So what statement is she now making, or perhaps avoiding? Is she afraid of the "feminist" label and, if so, why? Is she ashamed to be associated with feminists?

It seems to me to be a very drastic step to take to just suddenly drop part of your family heritage unless there is some powerful, overriding reason to do so. I know I would never dream of changing my surname out of any desire to gain politically or otherwise. Sure, if the family name were "Hitler" it would be understandable. Other than something really strange like that, why would anyone even consider disrespecting their parents in such a way?

[bigscott]

1. man, some people grasp at anything

[Jersey Devil]

4. Maybe I should ask her husband, William Jefferson Blythe?

ya think?

[jgraz]

2. She killed a million Iraqis for political expediency.

The name thing kind of pales in comparison.

[City Lights]

38. Bingo!

Nothing else needs to be said. :thumbsup:

[NoPasaran]

51. With her bare hands, no less

:sarcasm:

You know, sometimes you forget why you had someone on ignore, but it doesn't take long to be reminded.
NOT:sarcasm:

[jgraz]

73. No. Hillary never gets her hands dirty

She always has to preserve deniability.

"Nobody could have anticipated that Bush would interpret my vote for war as some sort of authorization to go to war."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

57. as did john kerry, right?

[jgraz]

66. Didn't support him in the primaries either.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

70. do you call him a killer now? and if so why does obama stand with him on the same stage

and use his email lists?

[jgraz]

76. He has some responsibility, but he's shown an ability to learn from his mistakes

Unlike Hillary "Kyl-Lieberman" Clinton.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

103. Exactly! Why get bogged down in petty bickering? There are much bigger transgressions to deal with.

[Cass]

113. That guy in your avatar did as well since he co-sponsored and voted for it.

[jgraz]

117. yep, he did. The difference is that when he apologized, I believed him.

[babylonsister]

3. That's one of the least of my concerns with Clinton. It's not even on

my radar.

[Jersey Devil]

9. I know that, same here, but here is where I am coming from

Before very recently (the past few weeks), as an Obama (originally Edwards) supporter, I was willing to accept either Obama or Hillary as nominee, was ready to support either in the general election and would have done so enthusiastically.

However, Hillary's actions in the past few weeks, beginning with "as far as I know", then the 3 am ad and now the seeming endorsement of McCain over her fellow Democrat have totally soured me on her to the point where I do not believe I can vote for her in a general election. As a died in the wool Democrat the thought of not voting for the Dem nominee makes my skin crawl.

So I, in my mind, decided to go back to the basics. What do I like or dislike about her, trying to find some way to justify supporting her in a general election. I started with this - her name - a simple thing but something that has for some time puzzled me.

[IsItJustMe]

75. True that. This issue is like an ant on an elephants butt compared to what's out there with her.

[0007]

5. If my dog was called Rover. I'd change it to Spot.

Does Chelsea look like Bill?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. the kind that is a woman trying to support her husband.

:eyes:

[Jersey Devil]

11. Did did that quite ably using "Rodham" at the Rose Law Firm

and was a senior partner there so that is a bogus reason

[La Lioness Priyanka]

14. law firms dont discriminate quite the same way as a voting population does

ask john kerry.

[Jersey Devil]

16. So then it is OK to deceive the voters to get elected?

I think that is what you are saying. To me, if someone is deceptive about their very own name, I have to wonder if there is any limit to what they may be deceptive about.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. clearly you have NO idea the choices and sacrifices women make for their partners.

its not deceiving. women in traditional society accept their husbands name. while she was in the professional world it didnt matter, she decided she needs to support her husband when they became public figures,

[Jersey Devil]

23. She used Rodham throughout her husband's presidency so

your argument that she dropped it to support Bill is just not true.

She only dropped it when she decided to run for President. So what are you telling me? Are you saying that a woman has no chance to get elected president if she is associated with feminists and therefore it is acceptable to disguise herself as something else?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. either you are a liar or you are ignorant, she changed her name when he ran as governor

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/27/rodham.poll/index.html

[Jersey Devil]

31. LOL, she did this twice?

OK, first she was Hillary Rodham Clinton, then Bill ran for gov and she became Hillary Clinton, then started using the Rodham again throughout his presidency and then when seeking the presidency for herself dropped it again.

Oh sure, people do that all the time

[La Lioness Priyanka]

34. as i said i think you are deliberately lying.

[Bluenorthwest]

61. What's Michelle Obama's 'real' last name?

This is the stupidist posting about either candidate I have read thus far. And it brings up Hitler. What a pile.
At least voters are concerned with the important things, instead of tripe like gay rights, eh? Trivia like our economy, the war, non profit health care, Blackwater Mercs, the restoration of the Constitution, why discuss any of that when we can talk about the middle names of our two candidates?

[HereSince1628]

7. more middle names are for criminals crap...John Wilkes Booth

John Wayne Gacy, Lee Harvey Oswald. etc I heard this crap out of Tweety's mouth yesterday. Ok So I agree with George W. Bush.

But what about Jeffrey Dahmer? Dick Cheney? Tony Blair?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

82. Theresa HeinzKerry

[Yossariant]

8. Ask Obama's supporter Gary Hart who changed his name and his age.

[Jersey Devil]

13. Is he related to Hillary?

2 wrongs make a right?

[Yossariant]

18. LOL! I won't help ya try to redeem your dumb thread.

I just gave it a rec.

:rofl:

[Sparkly]

35. He changed his age?

I want to do that!

[Yossariant]

41. Hart and his flake factor.

Later, Hart the hero gave way to Hart the hack, whose age and name change were the subjects of reportorial investigations that helped sink the candidate.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDA1139F932A25752C0A961948260

[zbdent]

10. next thing you know, people will be complaining that

she says "you know" too much ... but embracing that their hero can't pronounce "nuclear" ...

[11 Bravo]

12. Holy shit! You have now officially moved into the realm of ...

a personality disorder.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. obsessive compulsive clinton hating?

[Jersey Devil]

17. You've never wondered about this?

I would bet lots of people wonder why she did it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. no as a woman i have NEVER wondered why she did it. i know why she did it

to be a good supportive partner.

[Jersey Devil]

24. By the time she dropped the Rodham Bill was done so that won't wash

She dropped it for herself, not for her husband.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. as i said earlier, either you are lying or you are ignorant. she changed her name for bill

when he ran as governor. after he failed the first time. during his second run she changed her name

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/27/rodham.poll/index.html

[SammyWinstonJack]

55. I haven't wondered.

:silly:

[Jersey Devil]

58. Well, you should

Don't mind me. I'm a comedy writer and am working up some stuff for George Carlin and thought this would be right up his alley.

[Enrique]

20. I think this little thing tells more about you than about her

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. i think this person knows nothing about what it takes to succeed in the public world

and the sacrifices women make for their partners.

[Jersey Devil]

27. What "sacrifice" was this for Bill?

She used Rodham upto and past Bill's last day in office as President.

BTW, I do have some idea of the sacrifices women have to make. Way back when I was first married my wife even had to take off her wedding ring at job interviews as a teacher because they wouldn't hire women who might get pregnant and lose time from work. That is "sacrifice", not dropping your family name to get yourself elected President.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. she still does, again maybe you should FACT CHECK before posting shit

as per cnn

Clinton's Senate Web site refers to her on first reference, almost without fail, as Hillary Rodham Clinton, as do her press releases.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/27/rodham.poll/index.html

[Jersey Devil]

33. Didn't know she dropped mom & dad when Bill ran for gov

You criticize me for questioning something so obscure and then demonstrate that you have complete knowledge of something that I would have to have way too much free time to research.

The fact remains that she dropped the name twice, both times for political expediency and that tells me that she cares more about her own personal ambition than she does about her family.

That's it. To you that might not be important and you can mock me all you want, but to me it indicates a kind of disrespect that I do not approve of.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

36. its called being a woman, a leader and a good wife. clearly things that have no importance in your

tiny world.

this article took me two minutes to find, were you not busy being so hateful maybe you would have bothered to fact check

[fishwax]

69. it's not uncommon for women to drop their maiden name

and it's hardly tantamount to having "dropped mom & dad." :shrug:

[Darth_Kitten]

28. What kind of people are so threatened when a woman DOESN'T take her husband's name....

and make a bigger stink about it than practically anything else?

[Jersey Devil]

40. Very true

My wife took my last name but retained her maiden surname as a middle name (she never had a middle name to begin with) and frankly she is the one who raised this issue in a discussion we had recently since she'd never dream of dropping her parents' name after using it for so many years. It made me wonder who would?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. people who vote. thats who. idiots who dont understand choices women make

and sacrifices women make for their husband. thats who.

[Jersey Devil]

50. you really have a problem with debate, don't you?

That's about the fourth time you have called me "idiot" or something similar though I have said nothing whatsoever to you that anyone could construe as insulting.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

54. you are conducting a completely dishonest debate.

its very idiotic.

[Jersey Devil]

60. There you go again - 'idiot' and 'lyer' (dishonest) are your forte'

What do you do for encores? Perhaps next time you might try calling me "pigsnoutface" like my daughter used to do to her older brother when she was about 5. How old are you, 7?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

62. why would i? i stick with the truth. if you want a debate post honest facts and ask for honest

debate.

you post a blatant lie, get called on it, and still keep going.

[11 Bravo]

116. Stop complaining. You're getting off lightly with just "idiot".

[seaglass]

105. Your wife did drop her maiden name by taking yours as a last name, Seems

odd for her to sit in judgment of what someone else does with her name.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

29. Well, to be fair

most women don't go by both their maiden and married names. Oh, it is there, but at times it is used and other times it is not. Interestingly enough, in the state of Arkansas, a woman's driver's license automatically lists her maiden name as her middle name. There are a lot of troubling things about Clinton's actions and her stands on issues, but the use or non-use of her maiden name is not one of them (for me at least).

[MonkeyFunk]

32. Ask Gary Hartpence

[Jersey Devil]

37. I did, as well as asking Billy Blythe

I don't approve of it in either case, though Bill may have had a much better reason than Hillary.

[MonkeyFunk]

43. Now you're saying Bill Clinton

changed his name for political expediency? When he was a small child?

You guys are getting sicker every day.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

46. i think they are getting more and more hopeless so they are grabbing at any little thing they can

[Jersey Devil]

48. No, I didn't say that at all

Bill Clinton, born Blythe, changed his name to honor his step-father I suppose, which is certainly a good reason, though he says his step-father abused his mother and was a drunk, clouding the issue a bit. I didn't say he did it for political reasons, but clearly, Hillary did.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. guy is lying/ignorant.

[Jersey Devil]

47. No need to get personal

I am asking a legitimate question and if it were not a valid issue you would not have taken the time and energy to oppose what I am saying so vehemently.

Accusing those who disagree with you of lying or being ignorant is a very poor way to present yourself as a rational adult.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

52. no you are not. your question was answered by CNN already. you could just admit

that you didnt bother to do your research.

when people ask an honest question and get an answer typically they move on.

[Slagathor]

44. Double barreled names are ridiculous

Hyphenated names are the detritus of a failed and forgotten decade. Nothing dates someone faster or looks more pretentious than a hyphenated name.

[QC]

45. What kind of Democrat sounds and acts just like a freeper?

Now there's an interesting question.

[Jersey Devil]

53. argumentum ad hominem

Is that all you have to offer?

[QC]

59. Perhaps, but it has been marvelous to behold how much Obamatologists and Freepers

resemble one another. Kinda gives me the willies, and for the record I do not care much for either candidate, since both are timid corporate centrists, despite the conviction of their followers that they are Mother Jones, Emma Goldman, and Eugene Debs all rolled into one.

[Jersey Devil]

63. Neither do I

John Edwards was my candidate, for the same reasons.

[MonkeyFunk]

71. Why did John Edwards change his name?

Political expediency?

You know his real name is Johnny Reid Edwards, right?

[Jersey Devil]

78. Interesting

Did he do that just before running for political office? Then again, he didn't change his last name, just formalized his first name, I would guess for the purpose of his law practice. I doubt many people want a lawyer named "Johnny"

[La Lioness Priyanka]

88. so when a man does it for career expedience, its ok?

[Jersey Devil]

yes

He's not trying to hide anything by changing Johnny to John, just make his name more formal sounding.

I think you need to take a time out. I hope you remembered your milk money this week.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

91. ...

:eyes:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

93. she isnt hiding anything either. just like johnny she is making her name more acceptable

[desi]

49. Damn...you've been relegated to picking nits

and picking on and insulting old friends...kinda sad but not surprising when one looks back into the time machine.

Barack Hussein Obama ..???

[Jersey Devil]

96. Hey, des, hiya (edited

Just had some time to kill before going to the surrogate's office for a probate. Couldn't help myself.

Toodles

edit: insulting? What, by disagreeing?

[desi]

110. Hate to kick this crap again...

but throwing loyal old friends under the Obamamania bus is hardly "disagreeing"..it's something you're good at, especially with your "new" cohorts.

Toodles...

[Jersey Devil]

111. Ah well

you can never please everyone, especially if they talk in riddles

[QC]

56. Have you asked Barry? n/t

[Skinner]

64. She seems to have dropped her last name as well.

Her campaign paraphernalia all says "Hillary" -- no middle or last name. Would seem strange to keep the middle name when you've already ditched the last.

For the record, I am pretty sure that she dropped the "Rodham" early in Bill's gubernatorial career, and only brought it back after Bill won the White House. Of course it was done for political expediency. It's unfortunate, but sometimes politics require unpleasant compromises in order to be successful.

Here on DU, Senator Clinton is typically regarded as moderate or even conservative. But out there in the real world much of America sees Senator Clinton as a loony lefty, and the epitome of everything they dislike about feminism. If she were to embrace the "Rodham" it would remind many voters of why they disliked her so much in the first place.

Required disclaimer: The fact that I have shared some insight into what much of America thinks does not mean I agree with it.

[Jersey Devil]

67. LOL, of course you don't want to be associated with my lunacy

Heck, here I was with a few hours to kill before having to get ready for work today and I said to myself, "Self, what can I do this morning for fun?" and my OP suddenly appeared before my eyes as if delivered by a stork to an expectant family.

In as much as the post itself is the product of a demented sense of humor coupled with too much time to kill, I'd say 70+ responses (so far) is pretty good for a Seinfeldian post about nothing, doncha think?

[Skinner]

72. A bit of advice:

It's generally considered unwise to tell an admin that your borderline-flame-bait thread topic was posted "for fun" and is "about nothing."

[Jersey Devil]

77. oops

Sorry. OK, I meant every word of it (maybe).

[jgraz]

80. lol -- gotta look for the union label

[MonkeyFunk]

79. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

81. ...

:rofl:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

87. what you consider SEINFELDIAN and about nothing, is a fairly important issue to some of us

who are women. what you think is a joke, is a choice a lot of women will have to make for their husband in terms of sacrificing part of their identity to help their husbands.

so yeah, real funny joke.

[Jersey Devil]

89. Sheesh, what a grouch

[La Lioness Priyanka]

92. oooo so clever

[Jersey Devil]

98. Every hook, bait, even without any tackle at all

you keep jumping on the line. Well, I'm looking for big game now, have no more time for porgies.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

100. ...

:rofl: you are right, you are kind of a joke.

[Jersey Devil]

102. I still love ya though. Keep the meat loaf warm for me, will ya?

See you later snookums

[LostinVA]

108. So, there's not ENOUGH divisiveness on DU for you?

So, you have to contribute to the infighting?

Oh boy.

If you're that bored, there are plenty of charities and non-profits who would love to have your help as a volunteer.

[baldguy]

65. Ask President Blythe next time you see him.

[acmavm]

68. The threads get more ignorant and insane with each day.

[mmonk]

74. Let's go on more substantive issues. It's a rich enviroment

to do so.

[taterguy]

83. Bono

And unless you've done as much as he has to help the planet then please:

STFU

[Jersey Devil]

85. Cher Bono?

She's terrific except that she has the same taste in clothes as a Las Vegas hooker.

[NDambi]

84. She dropped it because it rhymed with Saddam..lmao...great comedy for sure..

[Jersey Devil]

86. Oh Jeez, I wish I had thought of that one!

Raddam, LOL, coulda started a riot!

[NDambi]

90. I can't take credit..it belongs to Stewart and Colbert...quite good though, huh

[Apollo11]

95. Yeah - that was a good one!

You can watch it here: www.thedailyshow.com

[Horse with no Name]

94. Keep going "there" about names

and you will find Barack HUSSEIN Obama plastered from sea to shining sea.

[SeaLyons]

97. Do you really want to go there???

Hillary for President!!!!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

99. Hillary's constatnt name changing is the least of my worries about her. She can call herself

whatever she wants - it's her Rovian tactics against Obama and Nixonian mentality that are what really troubles me.

GObama!

[Name removed]

101. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[joeybee12]

104. Barack HUSSEIN Obama...

...enough said about political expediency.

[Jersey Devil]

106. Congratulations! You win first prize

How come it took over 100 responses to get there? Is this Chowderhead Underground?

[joeybee12]

112. Yes, it is Chowderhead Underground...

...at least it seems that way today!!!

[Warren Stupidity]

107. WGAFF?

Totally idiotic post. Of the many areas where I disagree with Clinton, here use/non-use of Rodham just does not show up.

[BigDDem]

109. Another important issue!

Run with it, please!

[yourguide]

114. Rodham rhymes with Saddam - she's totally a muslim

:rofl:


sorry, stolen from steven colbert...

[CyberPieHole]

115. What does Barack Hussein Obama have to say about that?