European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                What s in a name lots of words when it s the first lady s Clarence pages of Etimos we in the Media leap before we look once we smell a whiff of controversy. This is particularly True when the controversy is about Hillary Clinton. Excuse me. I mean Hillary Rodham Clin ton. Once the Media heard that s what she prefers to be called a controversy was brewing. After All it is Well known that she went by Hillary Rodham until her husband was voted out of the a Kansas governor s office in 1980. She Only became Hillary Rodham Clinton when he ran to gain the old Job Back. No one can say How much it helped his chances but it probably did t Hurt. Then during last year s presidential Campaign she mostly was called Hillary Clinton. Sure everyone Fig ured Why take chances so when word got out that Hillary Clinton safely installed in the White House had became Hillary Rodham Clinton again it became big news especially since it coincided with other dramatic expansions of traditional first lady duties her own West Wing office a full staff with big league pay and an appointment to head the president s crucial task Force on health care. Suddenly major Media were dispatching pollsters across the land to ask the Public what it thought about the newest Little Rodham in the White House. A Wall Street journal Abc poll published Jan. 28 asked respondents should the first lady be known As Hillary Clinton or Hillary Rodham Clinton the pollsters did not As the journal pointed out Tell the respondents which name the first lady herself preferred. As a result 62 percent preferred the Shorter Moniker while Only 6 percent voted for the longer stuffer version. Another 28 percent said the difference did t mat Ter and 4 percent said they weren t sure. It baffles me that so Many could remain uncommitted Over such a crucial question of o or times. Nevertheless a least two major wire sen ices re ported the polling results As a National repudiation. The associated press reported that americans think she ought to drop her Maiden  a Reuters Story Lead with a majority of americans feel president Clinton s wife should drop the Rod Ham in her  Fine except the majority did not necessarily say any such thing. Nevertheless untold multitudes of newspapers and broadcasters picked up the Story exactly the Way the wires reported it and passed it on in the same spirit. Rush Limbaugh and other committed Hillary washers must have had a Field Day. Poor Miz Hillary. She can t win it seems. When she tried to be herself she was painted As a fearsome feminist. When she compromised she was Demon izod As unprincipled. But a what s this maybe the first lady need no change her name after All according to a new poll released two weeks ago by can Usa today Gallup. More than two thirds 68 percent of the people it surveyed on the first lady s name said it does matter  just for the record a spokeswoman for he first lady offered a Washington Post reporter the follow ing reason for the apparent name change Hillar Rodham Clinton is her  just a Story that the Media could t resist. You can blame the Clinton Gore Campaign for encouraging the Shorter Moniker All summer and fall. Mrs. Clinton continued to sign her name with All three names without interruption. What s in a. Name plenty when it is a political woman who insists on hanging on to her Maiden name in a political atmosphere of competing values. At least since the women s liberation movement emerged in the late 1960s, it has become fashionable for Many married political women to use All three names attaching their married name on the end in a Bow to traditional family values while their unmarried name intrudes in the Middle like a battering ram for Justice Equality and sisterhood. Newly elected sen. Carol Moseley Braun d-i11. Recently raised innumerable eyebrows by announcing triumphantly the addition of a Newborn Hyphen to her name. She likes All three parts of her name so much she says she is adding the Hyphen to help make sure none of us Pesky Media folks carelessly drops any of it. Still traditional America tends to like its first la Dies to fit in the folkways it idealized for its women Sweet Fluffy maternal supporting and subservient nurturing of leaders but not trying to be leaders themselves. We also have a Long tradition of using first ladies As conduits for attacks against their Hus bands. Another embattled first lady often remembered by three names Mary Todd Lincoln comes to mind. Yet interestingly she Seldom if Ever used her Maiden name after she married Abraham according to Thomas Schwartz curator of the Lincoln collection at the Illinois state historical Library. Rather it was historians most of whom did t like her who used her Maiden name partly to put Dis Tance Between her tarnished memory and her Hus band s heroic image. Hillary Clinton should not be upset by bad press Schwartz said. There arc More serious prec  How True. Besides Hillary Rodham Clinton s educational and professional achievements arc without precedent for first ladies. That naturally Nettles the traditionalists and arouses Thuc fears and anxieties of those who feel threatened by the sight of a woman who can think for herself. That s of. The times they arc a Changin As Bob Dylan that Well known inaugural performer might say. Working moms used to be the exception. Today they re the Rule. Someday we will have a woman president. I wonder if she will have three names. The Chicago Tribur or. Prez avoid the common Man like the common cold Andy Rodney president Clinton i m still not used to the sound of that has announced his intention of eliminating the Media middlemen so that he can go right to the people. He wants the common Man the average american to have a lot of input in what goes on in the White  sounds Good and or. Clinton May be Well intentioned but it s a mistake. It was a Nice gesture when the president let those average people walk All Over the expensive rugs in the White House to shake his hand the Day after his inauguration but that s Over there s a time to show and a time to reap a time to shake hands with the common Man and a time to find someone uncommonly Bright who can really help. I Don t want my president relying on advice from people who Aren t any smarter than i am. If president Clinton thinks the common Mun is smart enough to give him worthwhile advice he s not Only dumber than i think he is but he s also out of touch with the common Man. What we re All looking for in the White House is uncommon men problem solving geniuses and they Ain t us. Let s just take a look at this average american this common Man whom Clinton s going to rely on. Does he know anything about the Economy of course he does t. If average americans knew anything about Money they would t charge stuff on their credit cards and then by not paying right away end up borrowing Money at something like 18 percent interest. The common Man s idea of a Good thing to do with a Little extra Money is to buy a lottery ticket that gives him a one in 5 million Chance of winning. This is someone we want advising the president on Money matters and what does this or. Average do with his spare time does he read a Book to learn about foreign affairs he does not. If he reads at All it s Madonna s dirty Book or the National enquirer while he s standing in line at the checkout counter waiting to pay for his six pack of Lite Beer. He does t even buy that paper. He puts it Back without paying for it when he gets to the cashier. Mrs. Common Man watches soap operas in the afternoon. Both of them get their information about International issues from hard copy or entertain ment tonight. Their idea of an intellectual is Garry Trudeau because they Don t understand his comic strip. Are these people anyone we want influencing the president on the course this country will take the chances Are the president s Barber in Little Rock or the Guy he bought his Gas from does t know Saddam Hussein from Hosni Mubarak and could t come within 1,500 Miles of pointing to Bosnia and Herze Govina on a map. Once he has talked them into voting for him the president should t have anything to do with these average people. He should find a Nice Way to Brus them off. The average american is a Boob and if there weren t so Many of us each wrong but in a Dif Ferent Way the democratic system would t work atall. President Clinton ought not hesitate to be a snob when it comes to picking he people he associates with. Let s face it or. President. The common Manis an idiot. Keep your distance. Tribune Media services february 14, 1993 sunday Page 9