Yes, we can.

[Strangler Lewis]

Hillary. Put it on a Vegas marquee, and you know who's headlining.

Actually, I think you have to go back to Jackie Kennedy to find a first lady who might have been commonly referred to by her first name alone, and I'm not sure the references were always positive. Similarly, when we refer to her as Hillary I think we are embracing a practice first started by Rush Limbaugh that was meant to be dismissive and rude. That is why I am somewhat troubled by Obama's informal use of her first name during debates. Yes, you can say he comes from a generation that no longer bothers with honorifics. Of course, he is a lawyer and a law school professor and honorifics are still used in those situations. Is a presidential debate any less formal?

I think we don't say "Barack" because we don't know him as well yet and because it is an unfamiliar name that does not roll off the tongue. Drawn out too long, it comes across as a sound effect for the conclusion to a long night of drinking.