08/22/2008 10:00 am

POV

Cher To Hillary: We Want You, Babe!

Clinton: photo by Barbara Kinney/Flickr.com; Cher: Getty

Cher had dinner the night before, in Las Vegas, with strategist Paul Begala and Bill Clinton himself. She did not reveal more than that, or to what extent the former president agrees with her. (I’d say chances are, 100 percent!)

So, I say, when the star takes a breath, "You’re going to vote for McCain? She replies, "What?!? Are you crazy? Never. McCain is going to lead us down the terrible path cleared by George W. Bush."

But, then, isn’t Obama, whatever his perceived flaws better for the country? Cher paused a long time. "Liz, the thought of McCain terrifies me. But I have searched my soul, and right now I don’t think I could vote for Obama without Hillary on the ticket. I hate to admit it, and I stand astonished at myself. Look, Barack says he is strong. Okay, prove it. Pick her. If he’s not up to dealing with Hillary, how can we believe he’s ready to deal with the world?"

And what of the "Bill factor?" What to do with the testy former president? "Oh, please, all that is media hype. He’s forgotten more than most people will ever know. He’s too smart to interfere. There’s plenty for him to do, and I don’t mean hanging around getting in Barack’s way. He won’t be what they say he’ll be. And again, I come back to this. Obama wants to be president. So he’ll be the president. Not Bill Clinton. Obama has to have that certainty. He should have it, or he should get out of the game."

Whoa! Cher’s voice was rapidly fading, but not her passion. This star is famous for her laid-back, no-sweat, slightly impassive quality. She left all that at the door in this conversation.

Before we hung up, sounding huskier by the second, she said: "This wasn’t smart. I have to sing tonight!" I asked if she thought sexism was involved in Hillary’s failure to win the nod. "You bet your ass. All the media gave it to her, right from the start. The MSNBC frat boys and Keith Olbermann were especially vicious." "But," I said, "Do you really think it was sexism or just Hillaryism?" Cher again took a long pause. "I think the hate on her, personally is very strong in the media. So, yes, it might have been a bit of ‘any woman but this woman.’ Still, as far as I’m concerned, there was plain old-fashioned fear of a woman in power playing itself out.

"If a woman is tough, she is way tougher than any man. And men can’t take it. I speak from experience."

Click here on this text to read my nationally syndicated daily column.

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189 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

SherrieCrews
Bravo, as usual, to Cher. I wish I could think she’s wrong, but I don’t believe she is and it scares me. I know the media is the reason Hillary lost primaries to Obama. I also know they’re beginning to turn on Obama because of McCain’s (republican party’s) whining to the corporate barons that control the media. Besides that the filthy mud-slinging lies of Corsi and his ilk make for much juicier sensationalism.
By SherrieCrews on 08/22/2008 9:49 am
LucindaHerbert
Cher has dinner with Paul Begala and former President Bill Clinton in Vegas, and then she puts in a call to you???? Liz, with no disrespect to you, but come on????!!!!??? So this is the Clintons latest effort to sway the public???? What is this country coming to??? Hillary and Bill would be nothing but a burden to Obama and his cabinet. They have already hijacked the convention! And, for them to think that women vote for women simply because they are women demonstrates how out of touch they are with most women in this country. Hillary lost because of Hillary … and Bill. I recommend that Cher go back to entertaining and perhaps give Paul Begala a job as a dancer or back-up singer because his political instincts have beome obsolete.
By LucindaHerbert on 08/22/2008 1:53 pm
DeBrcaobj
In a way it shows a lot of disrespect toward the women’s vote. To think that just before Obama is set to announce his choice, Bill Clinton and Paul Begala would run to Cher in order to get her to speak out for Hillary… as though woman put so little thought into their vote that they will believe if Cher says she won’t vote for Obama if Hillary is not on the ticket, that we had better be scared. Also, Obama says he has already made his choice, and if that choice happens to be Joe Biden, I think it is very disrespectful on the part of Bill Clinton and Paul Begala toward Biden for them go down this route of trying to strong arm Obama to choose Hillary at this point in time. It sort of makes peoples point that Hillary has no control over Bill and if she got the VP spot he would have his hands in everything. Personally I will vote for Obama whether he chooses Biden or Clinton, I just want it to be his choice.
By DeBrcaobj on 08/22/2008 2:08 pm
MaizieJames
DeBúrca, I don’t believe for one minute that any intelligent woman would fall for a deliberate ploy which suggest that, “if Cher says she won’t vote for Obama if Hillary is not on the ticket, that we had better be scared.” It’s not going to happen I give no credibility to Cher’s endorsement of Hillary for Vice President, than I did to Oprah’s endorsement of Obama for President. They are both celebrities with opinions; no more, no less. However, should someone ‘qualified, like Colin Powell, or Al Gore, for example endorse either candidate, you bet I’ll listen.
By MaizieJames on 08/22/2008 3:18 pm
DeBrcaobj
I agree with you completely… but apparently Bill Clinton and Paul Begala think we women vote that way!
By DeBrcaobj on 08/22/2008 4:25 pm
DianaT
Maybe they just want to hang out with Cher.
By DianaT on 08/23/2008 12:47 am
DeBrcaobj
Yes, I suppose that’s a possibility! I’ll bet they wish Cher hadn’t mentioned it.
By DeBrcaobj on 08/23/2008 9:00 am
DeBrcaobj
Diana, I’ll bet you’re happy about Biden! Thanks for the links to those Biden videos.
By DeBrcaobj on 08/23/2008 9:11 am
LindaMason
I agree, but it’s even sadder to think that Bill Clinton, our ex-pres, having dinner with Cher! I loved this guy as our President, and supported him — strictly as President — through the end of his 2nd term despite my distaste for the abominable, crass behavior he could exhibit towards women. The idea of him seeking political favors from Cher as she seeks to make a come-back — it’s too depressing.
By LindaMason on 08/22/2008 8:44 pm
DeBrcaobj
Agreed! I have always been a supporter of both Bill and Hillary and I am very disappointed in their behavior throughout much of this campaign. But hunger for power and facing the prospect of losing some of it must be more than they can stand if it’s come down to meeting with Cher a couple days before Obama plans to announce his pick! You’re right, it is depressing. I think Bill will get his credibility back, but only if he and Hillary begin to back Obama strongly throughout the rest of this campaign and during his term, hopefully, God willing, knock on wood, as president. I heard an editor from Slate magazine say that for Hillary to get some of her cred back she must give the “speech” equivalent of a french kiss to Obama at the Convention!
By DeBrcaobj on 08/22/2008 8:54 pm
LindaMason
Personally, if HRC does not achieve her ultimate goal, I think that history will judge her as a classic, tragic figure — e.g., as tremendously gifted, but brought down by her own flaws. First, maybe her devotion to Bill, but that is her personal choice, and I don’t think the world can judge this. The 2nd is her all-consuming ambition, which clouds her judgment and her willingness to hear objective criticism. Having said that, many a man has achieved tremendous heights with equal flaws, but that does not mean the electorate needs to overlook them in her case.
By LindaMason on 08/22/2008 9:37 pm
DeBrcaobj
And the electorate may not have had a problem with her had Obama not been in the race and offered an alternative. Most people who are for and were for Obama… were not “against” Hillary, they just wanted Obama. There is no crime in that nor is it sexist.
By DeBrcaobj on 08/22/2008 9:51 pm
BuhBye
time will tell Lucinda, time will tell. Obama picked a deadbeat for a VP. we’ll see how far that gets him
By BuhBye on 08/23/2008 1:50 am
LucindaHerbert
I disagree with you My Alias. Did you read David Brooks’ column? Biden offers Obama what he lacks … including Pennsylvania. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?em
By LucindaHerbert on 08/23/2008 1:32 pm
DorothyW
The media wasn’t fair to Senator Obama either. Senator Clinton mostly lost the primary because of the type of campaign she ran. Put the blame where it belongs! Senator Clinton campaign was disfunctional and negative. She lost her base because of the negativity. She ran her campaign like the Far Right Republican Party. And as in the past, Senator Clinton and President Clinton are only thinking of themselves and not the Democratic Party. It’s strange why people are unabe to comprehend this fact. But instead choose to believe something that’s not true.
By DorothyW on 08/22/2008 3:02 pm
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