The comparisons are obvious enough.
The grating laugh. The rehearsed smile. The patently forced attempts to reach “normal,” average-joe voters.
HBO’s Veep, a comedy about an American vice president (and subsequently president), Selina Meyer, sometimes seems hilariously similar to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The show has remained silent on Selina’s political affiliation because her character’s guiding trait is not ideology, but naked political ambition. She bends and stretches like a yoga instructor to appeal to constituents.
Selina’s political maneuvering in the TV show recalls her real-life counterpart. Anderson Cooper once asked Hillary in a Democratic debate, “Will you say anything to get elected?” Republicans and Democrats alike have wondered the same thing.
Here are five Hillary moments that might stand out as especially familiar to Veep fans.
1. Hillary holding her Blackberry
The picture is practically iconic now (and not in a good way). In it, Hillary, who has been called “blackberry-obsessed,” wears sunglasses indoors while staring at her phone. It has been the go-to stock photo to illustrate her e-mail scandal, her shiftiness and lack of transparency, and her sometimes absurdly heavy reliance on e-mail. (She has e-mailed to ask her assistant for iced tea.) It also attained “meme” status — it became an Internet phenomenon, often overlaid with snarky comments.
In Veep, after an image of Selina on her phone during a serious meeting goes viral, a White House aide informs her, “You’re a meme, ma’am.”
