As if there isn’t enough nonsense to worry about, now Tapped is urging liberal bloggers to refer to Senator Hillary Clinton as Senator Clinton as opposed to Hillary. I’ve referred to her by both her first and last name in various posts, and actually am tending more towards using just Hillary recently. This should not be taken as a sign of disrespect, regardless of how I feel about her as nominee. If she gave the slightest indication that she found being referred to by her first name as overly familiar or in any way inappropriate I would try to change, but her campaign is doing the opposite. Her web site promotes Hillary for President and Team Hillary.
There’s a simple reason for the common use of her first name. In casual conversation, and often in blogging, people are called by a single name. I frequently refer to Senators by just their last name. Everyone knows who I mean when I say Kerry, Reid, Lieberman, or Obama. However if you hear “Clinton,” a guy named Bill comes to mind first. Having been President sort of gives you such prominence. Fortunately Hillary is not too common a name. I have little fear that when I write Hillary anyone will misunderstand, thinking I’m writing about Hilary Duff or Swank. Besides, they spell their names with only one l. I guess that if there are any mountains discussed in a post with Hillary I better be careful or people might think I’m referring to Sir Edmund, who does spell Hillary with two l’s.
