Opinion: Union leader says Hillary Clinton has real, uh, ‘testicular fortitude’

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LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Ever since her campaign in Ohio in early March, Hillary Clinton decided to adopt the ‘tough’ approach. Regardless of what polls showed to be a growing negative attitude toward her, she still won in Ohio and Texas.

Six weeks later in Pennsylvania, her chief backer in the state, Gov. Ed Rendell, hijacked the ‘Rocky’ theme song and attached it to the Clinton campaign. She won again.

Now, in Indiana, the ‘tough’ theme is continuing, though a local labor leader gave a unique description for the New York senator that is not likely to show up again on the campaign trail.

At a union-hall event in Portage, Paul Gibson, the president of the United Steelworkers Local 6787, was selected to introduce Clinton. Gibson tried to tidy up his remarks for a mixed audience the best he could. Clinton, he said, is the kind of leader with the ‘testicular fortitude’ to make hard decisions.

‘I do think I have fortitude,’ Clinton said to laughter and applause. ‘Women can have it, as well as men.’

-- Rick Pearson

Rick Pearson writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune’s Washington bureau.