Hillary as Snow White: The Making of a Meme

Who says New York Post writers take their talking points from Rupert Murdoch? Sometimes they just take them from other writers.

Here's Washington bureau chief Charles Hurt on last night's debate:

On stage last night was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.... Obama, playing "Happy" the dwarf, tried a couple times to gather his rage but managed only a few squeaks at her. "Grumpy" John Edwards, who played "Happy" during the 2004 presidential race and is trying out a new role this time, came closest to sullying "Snow White's" dress.

But Hurt's not the only one getting mileage out of this conceit, though some other writers at least have the decency not to try to pass it off as their own:

Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, Sept. 28, 2007: "Someone's already dubbed the race Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

John Dickerson, Slate, Sept. 25 2007: "Hillary Clinton will take the debate stage in New Hampshire on Wednesday night with the other Democratic presidential candidates--Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

Nicholas Wapshott, the New York Sun, July 25, 2007: "As it turned out, like every previous Democratic debate, we were left watching Hillary and the Seven Dwarfs."

Who originated this meme? The first reference I could find was in the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., which noted, in August 2006, "In most national polls, Clinton has such a wide lead that the early Democratic primary is, as one Iowan put it, 'Clinton and the seven dwarfs.'" But, then, the Democratic candidates in the 1988 presidential primary were also sometimes referred to as the Seven Dwarves.

Hey, politics writers, maybe it's time to get a new joke?