# Did Hillary Really Say This??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 10, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716 "2016-02-10T15:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/1 "2016-02-10T15:03:44Z")
Samantha Bee shows a clip of Hillary claiming “she never would have imagined she’d be on this stage running for President…” (or, words very close to this) — apparently said when addressing the people of NH in the days before the NH primary. Is this true? She actually said this? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/2 "2016-02-10T15:09:10Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if she said it. She has no idea that the things she says are blatantly phony. You can expect that of any candidate running on the ‘electability’ basis. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/3 "2016-02-10T15:26:41Z")
Depends on what she meant – did she mean “when I was a little girl, I had no idea…”? Or did she mean “when I was stepping down from being Sec of State, I had no idea…”? One is phony, and one isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/4 "2016-02-10T15:28:47Z")
Relocating to Elections from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/5 "2016-02-10T15:33:58Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Depends on what she meant – did she mean “when I was a little girl, I had no idea…”? Or did she mean “when I was stepping down from being Sec of State, I had no idea…”? One is phony, and one isn’t. She was there 8 years ago. As a result it has the smell of phoniness all over it no matter what she meant. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/6 "2016-02-10T15:35:11Z")
Without context it’s hard to judge the comment. The thought of a woman president was pretty extreme when Hillary was a kid. Geraldine Ferraro as a mainstream VP candidate was groundbreaking. I voted for Hillary in the last primary and I’m still marveling that a woman is a viable candidate. It’s hard to imagine how radical that thought was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/7 "2016-02-10T15:45:17Z")
From what I can tell it was in response to a rabbi asking about balance between ego and humility. Her statement was that she couldn’t imagine standing on stage asking people to vote for her (ego) and that her goal was to be of service (humility). She followed that up by contrasting herself with Bill who in her words, always knew he wanted to be president. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/8 "2016-02-10T15:50:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She was there 8 years ago. As a result it has the smell of phoniness all over it no matter what she meant. Not necessarily. President Obama could say “when I was 6 years old, I had no idea that I’d ever be here in the White House”, and it wouldn’t be phony. Without knowing the context of what Hillary said, I don’t think we can judge it – was the context “last week I couldn’t imagine I’d be here…” or “when I was 10 I couldn’t imagine I’d be here…”? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/9 "2016-02-10T16:08:10Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > From what I can tell it was in response to a rabbi asking about balance between ego and humility. Her statement was that she couldn’t imagine standing on stage asking people to vote for her (ego) and that her goal was to be of service (humility). She followed that up by contrasting herself with Bill who in her words, always knew he wanted to be president. Thanks. That’s actually a pretty interesting answer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/10 "2016-02-10T16:13:01Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Not necessarily. President Obama could say “when I was 6 years old, I had no idea that I’d ever be here in the White House”, and it wouldn’t be phony. Without knowing the context of what Hillary said, I don’t think we can judge it – was the context “last week I couldn’t imagine I’d be here…” or “when I was 10 I couldn’t imagine I’d be here…”? I do agree somewhat if she said “When I was 10 years old…” or something like that, at least then it’s not totally made up, but she was still there 8 years ago and it sounds like a recycled sound bite that she thinks makes her seem genuine, in which case she isn’t. Either way it highlights that she is not good at communicating with people in a genuine manner, the same kind of thing that’s dogging Rubio right now. This cycle is full of real life characters ranging from insane to sincere, but she is just a manufactured image. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/11 "2016-02-10T16:25:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I do agree somewhat if she said “When I was 10 years old…” or something like that, at least then it’s not totally made up, but she was still there 8 years ago and it sounds like a recycled sound bite that she thinks makes her seem genuine, in which case she isn’t. Either way it highlights that she is not good at communicating with people in a genuine manner, the same kind of thing that’s dogging Rubio right now. This cycle is full of real life characters ranging from insane to sincere, but she is just a manufactured image. [Here’s an article](http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-humility-cnn-town-hall-2016-2) that describes the exchange. Seems genuine enough to me though she didn’t seem to specify how long ago “she never imagined”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/12 "2016-02-10T16:46:37Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > [Here’s an article](http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-humility-cnn-town-hall-2016-2) that describes the exchange. Seems genuine enough to me though she didn’t seem to specify how long ago “she never imagined”. Meh. It’s a barely noticeable statement in this election cycle, and any of the candidates might have said it. It doesn’t affect my opinion of her one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/13 "2016-02-10T17:22:18Z")
Thank you, Moderator…my apologies. I forget there is a political forum now, although not so new anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hillary-really-say-this/745716/14 "2016-02-10T17:23:33Z")
Assuming she said it recently, that’s a pretty dumb statement. Of course, the lemmings cheer as if she just had an epiphany.