Suitably Flip

Unfortunately, That Train Has Sailed

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports on an apparent attempt by Hillary Clinton to reach out to the siderodromophile voting bloc.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign will close down Washington’s Union Station for all but the trains to hold a major fund-raiser there Dec. 6 — a month before the first and most-anticipated presidential-nominating vote in Iowa. The location is no accident, says a lobbyist who’s among the planners (though publicly still aligned with a rival Democrat): The metaphorical message is, It’s time to get on board.

Objectively, I'm not sure the "train" metaphor is inherently positive or inspirational.  Yes, you've got the Little Engine That Could (and to a lesser, creepier extent, Thomas the Tank Engine) as good train role models, but as the embarrassingly monied presumptive winner, Team Clinton lends itself more naturally to the image of the unstoppable freight train (which may or may not be what she's going for).  With all their momentum and pre-determined routing, the only interesting things trains do is derail.

The last time a train was in the the headlines, after all, it was only because authorities were dragging off a half-naked, delirious man in some kind of high-profile fugitive bust.  And that might not be the first thing Hillary wants voters to think of.

Comments

Unfortunately, That Train Has Sailed

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports on an apparent attempt by Hillary Clinton to reach out to the siderodromophile voting bloc.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign will close down Washington’s Union Station for all but the trains to hold a major fund-raiser there Dec. 6 — a month before the first and most-anticipated presidential-nominating vote in Iowa. The location is no accident, says a lobbyist who’s among the planners (though publicly still aligned with a rival Democrat): The metaphorical message is, It’s time to get on board.

Objectively, I'm not sure the "train" metaphor is inherently positive or inspirational.  Yes, you've got the Little Engine That Could (and to a lesser, creepier extent, Thomas the Tank Engine) as good train role models, but as the embarrassingly monied presumptive winner, Team Clinton lends itself more naturally to the image of the unstoppable freight train (which may or may not be what she's going for).  With all their momentum and pre-determined routing, the only interesting things trains do is derail.

The last time a train was in the the headlines, after all, it was only because authorities were dragging off a half-naked, delirious man in some kind of high-profile fugitive bust.  And that might not be the first thing Hillary wants voters to think of.