The Autopsy

 

Vocabulary

trot	senator	secretary of state
globe	emerge	image (2)
rage	activist	discontent
fame	shatter	glass ceiling
quest	portray	postmortem
revolt	handout	establishment
rust	skeletal	landscape
queue	figure (4)	post-industrial
anti-	Rust Belt	going through
seed	campus	appeal (2)
faith	as usual	stronghold
prove	seedbed	I’ve had enough
unique	earn (2)	to run for (2)
qualify	trust (2)	council (2)
crystal	stumble	repackage
launch	first lady	soften her image
vote	struggle	long-standing
decade	ballroom	hit the road
literal	stamina	crystallize
claim	code (3)	misogynist
fixture	persona	personify
rent	grandeur	campaign

 
 
 
 

Video: Why Hillary Lost

 

Transcript

She’s been a first lady…a senator…a globe-trotting Secretary of State.

But what made Hillary Clinton think she was uniquely qualified to be president — her decades of Washington experience — actually proved to be a weakness.

So rather than shattering that famed glass ceiling, she was portrayed as the face of America’s broken politics.

Nearly out of the morning, it was broken hearts, when news came through that her long quest for the White House was over.

Supporters came here expecting a party . . . already, it’s turned into a postmortem.

This was a revolt against the political establishment.

And for Donald Trump’s supporters, Hillary Clinton personifies the political establishment.

To understand why Hillary Clinton lost, you need to leave behind her political home in New York, and travel to the skeletal plants of the Rust Belt, where the post-industrial landscape provided a seedbed in selection of economic discontent.

And anti-establishment rage.

Here in Pennsylvania, a state she unexpectedly lost, people weren’t queuing to vote; they were waiting for food handouts.

And in what was once a democratic stronghold, they’ve lost faith with politics as usual.

Pennsylvanian One: “We’ve had enough of what’s going on for the last twenty years. I think we need to change.

Pennsylvanian Two: “Trump. Trump all the way. Trump.
Journalist: “Why is it that Donald Trump has such an appeal in these communities?”
Pennsylvanian Two: “He’s a businessman.”

But Hillary Clinton is a career politician. Even as a teenager, she ran for president of the student council. She was a star campus activist in the sixties.

But the more political she became, the less people seemed to trust her.

Hillary Clinton: “You know, I’m not sitting here, some little woman, standing here by my man like Tammy Wynette.”

So when it emerged that she had used a private e-mail server during her years as Secretary of State, it crystallized long-standing feelings of mistrust, and hatred.

Hillary Clinton: “I’m running for president.”

When she launched the campaign for president, she tried to repackage herself to soften her image.

Hillary Clinton: “So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote.”

But she’s not a natural campaigner. And she struggled to connect with voters.

At this year’s anniversary of September the Eleventh, there was a stumble, in the most literal sense of all.

Journalist: “Madam. Secretary, how are you feeling?”
Hillary Clinton: “Great!”

Donald Trump claimed she didn’t have stamina. Misogynistic code, it sounded like, for a woman who isn’t strong enough to be president.

Hillary Clinton once described herself as being one of the most unknown-known person in the world.

Her friends say her public persona is very different from the woman you meet in private.

But we’ll be seeing a lot less of a figure who has been such a fixture for so many decades.

Her long political career is surely over, ending in a rented ballroom rather than the grandeur of the White House.

Nick Brian, BBC News, New York.

Questions

1. Hillary Clinton has had a long and varied career in law and politics. True or false? In this election did her experience become a asset or liability? Why was it a handicap?

2. Hillary wanted to shatter the glass ceiling. What does this mean?

3. Did many voters wanted to change the establishment or maintain the status quo? Why did they feel this way? Was Clinton part of the establishment?

4. The Rust Belt of America is very different from New York. Is this correct or wrong? What is the “Rust Belt”? What is it like there for people? Are people there disillusioned?

5. Did Clinton have setbacks in her presidential campaign? What were some tarnishes in her campaign?

6. Would many women feel slighted (offended) when Donald Trump said that Hillary doesn’t have the stamina to serve as president?

7. Hillary will probably run for president again in 2020. What does the presenter think?

8. Was this report very positive, positive, neutral, in the middle, slightly negative or very negative about Clinton?

 

A. Are most politicians career politicians or did they come from the private sector?

B. Do voters prefer career politicians or outsiders or does it depend?

C. Elections are very exciting, like the Olympic Games. What do you think?

D. Do you remember some very colorful characters in dramatic elections?

E. Voters always mistrust the establishment and want change. Do you agree?