Hillary Clinton: Secretary of cool?

>> the blogosphere is aflitter over secretary of state hillary clinton . she's cool again. maureen dowd writes, " hillary clinton cemented her newly cool image and set off fresh chatter about her future when she met at the state department with two young men who created a popular internet meme ." here's msnbc's richard lui . and i'm so not cool, richard --

>> oh, come on.

>> -- that until this happened i didn't know what a meme was.

>> and now you do. for all other folks who don't have their dictionary sitting right by them, it means the buzz, basically. and an online homage called texts from hillary have boosted secretary hillary clinton 's buzz. it starts with this very scene you see here. shades on, documents stacked in front of her, staff hovering in the back. but the question might be in this power sending wondering what she's doing here with her blackberry. well, the website offers some muses. mitt romney , he asks, "any advice?" she responds, "drink." facebook's mark zuckerberg . he wants to friend her. instead the secretary rejects him. now, our own rachel maddow . she asks, "who run the world?" clinton texts, "girls." and get this. secretary clinton even sent in her own spoof. now, headlines echo the hype. hillary clinton talks women , work life balance . bill clinton would be happy if hillary runs for president. hillary clinton , 2016 . well, luke russert asks husband bill that very question.

>> i think it's up to her really. i don't think she plans to do it. and i think that you will understand this in 30 years or so, but hillary 's worked really hard for 20 years.

>> and one result of that work, respect. gallup ranks her the most admired woman, ahead of oprah winfrey , the first lady, and queen elizabeth . andrea mitchell talked to her about being a role model.

>> i don't think of myself that way, but i know that i am considered that in the eyes of many people. and it's a great honor. it is a burden --

>> the most popular woman in the world for ten years in a row.

>> well, it is a great honor.

>> she knows cool can turn to icy. in 2008 she rode that wave. now, hoping to profit from this wave, a $22 t-shirt. it says, "i supported hillary clinton before it was cool to support hillary clinton ." and chris, that is the meme.

>> richard , thank you so much. it is hilarious if you read it. let me bring in karen finney, msnbc political analyst and deputy press secretary for the former first lady. and kelly wallace, the chief correspondent for ivillage. hello to both of you. i've been clicking on it every morning and i laugh at the same jokes over and over again. and karen , i was devastated this morning. it shows you how small my life is. to hear that the creator of texts from hillary have actually decided to go out on top. they're going to stop it. not to post anything else. but what do you think of this whole mania that's developed over these last couple of days over this?

>> you know, i've got to tell you, i love it. as somebody who has known hillary for i hate to admit it, about 20 years or so, because of course i was in kindergarten back then.

>> that's right.

>> she's always been a really cool, neat woman. i was telling one of your producers before the show started i can remember her getting out there, doing the electric slide during the south african state dinner with bobby brown and whitney houston . so this is --

>> do you have video of that? that would go viral. that would go viral for sure.

>> there are pictures somewhere. but she's been cool for a long time. so i'm really so happy to see people getting to see what a lot of us have always known about her, that she is a hard worker, she is a great leader, she is truly a brilliant woman. she has, you know, done so much i think to change the way people understand and think about women and how we balance work and family and, you know, you can be beautiful and smart --

>> but also she changed the way people think about her. richard alluded to this. in 2008 there were websites, kelly , devoted to hating hillary clinton .

>> absolutely. she was one -- and karen will concede this, too. one of the most polarizing women in america. that has been an issue for her throughout her career. it was an issue in 2008 . it seems gone, is that polarizing sense. you see she's the most admired women . we hear this a little bit at ivillage too. women who didn't like her before chris. and they didn't vote for her in 2008 . now they say i really admire her. she's the most traveled secretary of state we've ever had. she's worked so hard. and people are sort of saying that they really see her a lot differently now.

>> and first, karen , as you know, they were talking about her swapping out for vp with joe biden , becoming secretary of state. now the 2016 buzz is building and building and building.

>> yeah.

>> what do you think? you think there's a chance she'll run?

>> i don't think so. i actually think -- i think what president clinton said is right. i think she's worked very hard and now she's ready for a new chapter.

>> but after six months of resting she's just going to start knitting?

>> but you know what? this is a woman with very diverse interests and issues that she really cares about and would like to be able to dig down deeper into. and don't forget, this is a tough job, and this woman has worked very hard. one thing i want to say to what kelly said, though, is fact that the polarizing figure was a media-constructed and reinforced narrative about her and what was polarizing about her, i can tell you, in 1992 was the fact that people could not believe that a woman could go to the hill and talk about health care reform and come back and plan a state dinner . they didn't think women did stuff like that.

>> i should also say i was out there in the very beginnings of her senate campaign and you know, she took so much heat for being in new york and so on. and you saw that when people actually met her, when you meet her face to face and you see her working a crowd, she's got a lot of those same skills that her husband had. let me also show you something that we heard just yesterday, that she was talking about osama bin laden and that moment in the sit room. we have that fantastic picture.

>> that infamous picture.

>> where they were trying to figure out was the raid to get osama bin laden going to succeed. here's what she said.

>> i'm not sure anybody breathed for, you know, 35 or 37 minutes. and for me the worst part was when one of the helicopters' tail got stuck and it was not flyable. that had been planned for, but it was still somewhat, you know, worrisome.

>> and if we can go back to the picture, can we show that picture? because there she is. you know, a room full of men. and there's hillary . hillary clinton .

>> when you read maureen dowd 's column, she talked to the photographer who took the picture with the sunglasses and the blackberry, and she said that the photographer got a letter from a woman saying, "i showed this to my daughter because i want her to see this."

>> she said she had chills down her spine, i think what she said, when she saw that. that showed so much power. i mean, this woman, international figures behind her, a stateswoman, and also i think hillary clinton and karen knows this, too, got a lot of criticism after that photo, the night of the bin laden -- that people saying oh, she looks emotional, right? she's holding her -- and i think we cringe at that as women . she's real. she is powerful. do think that what we are seeing now is that so many women really are so excited to see someone so powerful in this position. and although karen knows her so much better than i do, of course, i just had a chance to cover her a little bit, i can't believe she might not, karen , pursue the chance to become the first woman president of the united states . you know, after the six-month rest, right? eight-month or twelve months . it is out there for the taking. and i just think that so many women see her almost cracking that glass ceiling in 2008 and would love to see it happen.

>> i just wish i had asked you all to bring your blackberries and sunglasses because we could have gone out on that.

>> i know. we could have been so cool, right?

>> i think she wants -- no pressure to chelsea as i say this. i think she really would like to be a grandmother. i've got to tell you.

>> no pressure.

>> o'no pressure, chelsea.

>> karen finney, kelly wallace, thank you so much. great conversation.