That's really creepy.

"Hillary" as brand...in our nations first billion dollar election.

And we call it democracy.

Maybe guys like Edwards, who can't play the Madonna-Oprah-Prince game, could just go with a brand name, like Obsession. Or Brut.

The fact that the URL is hillaryclinton.com doesn't count for anything?

Just askin'.

Hillarious.

Actually, every page has the word "Clinton" on it. At the very bottom, each page says, "Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee". But she does dubiously avoid the word in the text.

She didn't take Clinton as her last name for several years after her marriage to Bill. According to her autobiography taking on Clinton as a last name was something she sort of prodded into by friends and family when Bill lost his first re-election bid as Governor due to the more traditional electorate in Arkansas. If there is a current perception of negativity associated with the name Clinton then she's playing her cards right by emphasizing her first name. Of course people who don't like her will see it as sleazy, and those who do could care less. It's a big whatever in my book.

Yeah, as explained above, she never called herself "Clinton" to begin with, until it became an issue when he was running. She looks to me to be pretty much in the clear here -- she's kind of avoiding the morons who would judge her for keeping her own name without being pushy about it. I don't disagree that she's decided not to use the name "Clinton," but I don't think she uses that name except in politics anyway. Given the nonsense women are subjected to over changing their names or not, I don't blame her for just avoiding the entire thing. I'm not much of a fan of her at all, but of all the things to get on her about, this one doesn't bother me so much.

It's this kind of minor league bunk that makes all things Clinton so tiresome. While the Clintons may be, as Joe Klein wrote, the "Tom and Daisy Buchanan" of politics, they are also the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes of politics. We have been forced to examine the trivialities of the Clintons for years, leaving us just plain exhausted.

Hillary's name has been an "issue" for years. Is she "Hillary Rodham Clinton"? Is she "Hillary!" as her campaing posters proclaim? If so, what does it mean? Breathless political "analysts" speculate ad nauseum about the Clinton marriage. And the Clintons keep playing into it.

This taints others by association, too. Remember how much time was spent during the 2000 Gore campaign "analyzing" whether Al was or was not "distancing himself" from Bill? Not exactly the kind of stuff that really advanced the old Gore campaign very well.

Just another reason why Hillary's disapproval rating hasn't moved an inch from 2000, even though she's been a Senator in the interim.

Al Gore ran against himself in 2000 and lost. Maybe the outcome for Hillary will be different, but I pretty much hope not.

I know, Gore didn't lose. But he sure didn't win.

I'm not saying that Gore was a great candidate on his own in 2000 - I didn't vote for him and wouldn't vote for him if he ran in 2008. But I could not stand how the whole Bill Clinton soap opera affected the 2000 campaign, and I don't think it did Gore (or the voters at large) any good, either.

It is legit, if not mandatory, to ask a sitting VP running for President to compare and contrast his or her positions with the current President. It was disgusting how much effort was spent answering endless variations of the question, "Will you let Bill Clinton campaign for you?"

Now we're getting it again with the Hillary campaign, and it makes me want to scream. But the Clintons bring this kind of scrutiny on themselves, and I think they enjoy it tremendously.

She's not using "Rodham," either. She's letting us all know that she's so big, she doesn't need a last name.

According to the Social Security Administration website, Hillary was the 131st most popular baby name for girls in 1992 - the year in which most of us got acquainted with Mrs. Clinton.

In 2005, the most recent year available, the ranking was down to 882nd. I don't think this drop can be blamed on Hillary Swank . . .

I guess "Ike" was the same way. Too embarrassed to use "Eisenhower."

Use of first names in politics is incredibly common. People do it all the time, particularly if their first name is either (1) unusual or (2) heavily associated with them. I could show you ten relatively recent examples from Minnesota politics alone. She uses her last name constantly, in the vast majority of her political activities. I can't possibly fathom what the big deal is about this. If she's avoiding the name "Clinton" because she doesn't want to be tarred with her husband's behavior, then so what? That's HIS name. He can be on the hook for his own doings, and she can be on the hook for hers. I don't see the value in insisting that she use the name "Clinton" so everyone can endlessly relive ten-year-old slapfights.

Linda,
For me the point is, the Rodham/Clintons? have been a team, from the beginning of their married life and careers. Yet, there seems to be constant name changes to suit the current career/political ambitions.

Hillary Rodham - college couple, Hillary Rodham Clinton - governor's wife, Hillary Rodham - lawyer, Hillary Clinton - wife of presidential hopeful, Hillary Rodham - women's activist, Hillary Rodham Clinton - wife of former president, "just plain " Hillary - current presidential hopeful. Curious observation by Bojack.

BTW... not everyone assumes it is a negative to take their husband's last name, as read in your comment "That's HIS name." It's our marriage, it's our money, it's our kids, and it's our life.

Anyone who actually believes this first-name-only use is the result of anything other than focus-group/marketing reasearch is delusional.

insisting that she use the name "Clinton"

It's not so much insisting that she use it, as much as wondering why she's distancing herself so far from it.

She's not distancing herself from it! It's her name. She uses it as her name in the Senate, and she uses it as her name in every single formal statement she ever makes, and it's part of the URL of her campaign web site, for crying out loud. She refers to herself by her first name in the running text on her web site for the same reason people make campaign web sites in particular colors and wear this or that suit while they're campaigning. "Oh no, it's marketing!" Of COURSE it's marketing. Is that really a giant surprise?

There are a hundred marketing-based reasons to refer to herself as "Hillary." Some people hate her husband. Some people don't hate her or her husband, but don't ever want to think about that entire ugly period ever again. Using your first name is folksy. It's friendly. It projects an image of warmth and "just plain old me"-ness that has, for some reason, become a highly sought-after quality in politicians.

Hey, look!

http://www.joinrudy2008.com/

Politicians do this all the time. Hillary Clinton has about four billion serious flaws and should not be the nominee, but this? Is not anything.

And incidentally, Carol, I didn't say it was a negative. My mother and sister both took their husband's names. The point I'm making is that until it became clear that she would be perceived negatively for NOT taking his name (which is just as asinine as it would be to perceive you negatively for changing your name), she didn't take it. Taking it was perceived as a political necessity, and whether you judge her for that or judge the rest of us, I don't think she has ever been entirely comfortable with it. I'm saying that for HER, for this individual woman, that's clearly his name and not hers, not that that's the case for all married women. I never said it was a negative, nor do I think that.

For me the point is, the Rodham/Clintons? have been a team, from the beginning of their married life and careers. Yet, there seems to be constant name changes to suit the current career/political ambitions.

Hillary Rodham - college couple, Hillary Rodham Clinton - governor's wife, Hillary Rodham - lawyer, Hillary Clinton - wife of presidential hopeful, Hillary Rodham - women's activist, Hillary Rodham Clinton - wife of former president, "just plain " Hillary - current presidential hopeful. Curious observation by Bojack.

BTW... not everyone assumes it is a negative to take their husband's last name, as read in your comment "That's HIS name." It's our marriage, it's our money, it's our kids, and it's our life.

Hillary Clinton's name is her own business, her own choice, whether or not you think she's altering her name to "suit her ambitions." And the notion that somehow she's flying under the radar screen with the goofy "Hillary for President" website is absurd. How many conscious voters do not know who her spouse is?

Hillary Clinton's marriage is also her own business.

As for the patronizing "It's our marriage" comment, as far as I know, there is nothing preventing a man from taking his wife's surname.