The sport of politics. The politics of sport.

Hillary Clinton’s perceptual baggage is coming back to haunt her. As I noted in my interview in December with news anchor Mike Walter on the CBS affiliate WUSA Channel 9, that baggage has been around for a while. Clinton’s tone of voice has also been a persistent liability that I brought up with the usual pundits on the Diane Rehm Show last year.

Such common-sense observations have clearly not been part of the Clinton campaign’s strategic thinking. They could have saved themselves a lot of pain by helping their girl tweak her demeanor early on. Guess that seemed too superficial a concern in a game where they didn’t seem to understand that perception is EVERYTHING.

Hillary’s multi-faceted personality has taken her from being “honored” to share the stage with Obama in their last debate, to angrily telling him “Shame on you” for a campaign flyer that didn’t make her look good, to silence on the leaking of a photo of Obama in Somali traditional garb during an official visit.

The implication is, of course, that he’s a closet Muslim, even though Clinton herself has been shown to wear Middle Eastern clothing during at least one similar visit abroad. Strangely, the press hasn’t picked up THAT photo. (Maybe they’re salivating as they wait for the Obama campaign to bring it up tonight.)

Below is an excerpt that speaks to the Hillary dilemma from my book, “Democrats in the Red Zone: an Independent voter’s take on the game of political perception.” I had to self-publish, because publishers in the “land of the free” seem to bend over backwards to avoid giving people who are not celebrities the opportunity to be heard.

Here’s the excerpt:

“The image problem for the current generation of female Democratic leaders is this: because of their identification with the feminist movement’s demands for gender equality, they tend to project themselves — and are therefore perceived — as women rather than ladies.

There is an important difference in style between the two, especially in terms of communicating with men. For example, a lady will happily allow her guy to watch his Sunday NFL game in peace, and might even join him. A woman is more likely to be annoyed if her guy opts to watch the game rather than spend time with her. For many guy voters, then, the following perception equation applies: ladies good, women bad.

A lady emits powerful charm, or charming powerfulness, without overshadowing or emasculating the men around her. She is respected by men because she demonstrates respect for them. She doesn’t consider it demeaning when a man holds the door open for her.

Rice and First Lady Laura Bush have, each in her own way, helped define Republican women of their generation as ladies. Of course, Nancy Reagan was the über-lady — classy, cool, and always letting her man shine.

The great irony for Democrats is that it was Democratic First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy who set the standard for what ladylike grace looks like in the upper echelons of politics. But that was back when Democrats could still look in the mirror and see a traditionalist reflection; when, in fact, the Democratic Party was a different party.”

Yours Truly, A.F. Cook