Angry White Women
Since it became clear that Hillary Clinton would likely bow out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president, the dominant narrative has been the angry white women who are holding back from Barack Obama. Some even suggest that John McCain can make a major play for these disaffected Clinton supporters. The problem with this narrative is that it is mostly wrong, ignoring history and failing to understand Obama's real challenge among women voters.
No doubt, there are some Clinton supporters who currently find it difficult to contemplate supporting Obama, but most of these women are highly engaged, progressive Democratic voters; it is difficult to imagine them ultimately supporting McCain, who has a career-long, anti-woman record.
In fact, Obama is actually doing better than John Kerry with women voters; Kerry won them by 3 points, and according to polling from Democracy Corps research, Obama is currently winning them by 6 points. Obama's improvement over Kerry comes among college educated and younger women -- the most progressive voters in the electorate.
Obama's real struggle is with white blue collar women voters -- the same group that challenged Kerry. Currently, Obama trails McCain among white women without a college education by 19 points, 37 to 56 percent; according to Democracy Corps, Kerry lost these women by the exact same margin, 40 to 59 percent. Some argue that Clinton solved this problem because of her performance with white older women in the Democratic Party. But not only is it a mistake to extrapolate from primary results to the general election, Clinton would also likely lose to McCain among white women without a college education, albeit by a smaller margin.
The key to reaching these women voters is two-fold. First, Obama needs to communicate with them about who he is, including his values and his life story. He and his family actually have more in common with these women than they know. Second, he needs to address their real economic anxieties. As I noted in the American Prospect in 2004, Kerry actually led George Bush with older white women when his campaign was talking about healthcare, retirement and other domestic economic issues. But when he allowed the issue terrain to shift to Iraq and security at the expense of his economic message, he lost ground.
The economic situation is even more tenuous for these women today, with rising gas prices exacerbating their financial squeeze. John McCain has a history of opposing the very policies that would help these women -- including opposing pay equity and raising the minimum wage -- and supporting policies that are unlikely to appeal to these voters such as tax cuts for the wealthy and privatization schemes for health care and Social Security.
McCain is not going to win over women who supported Clinton in the primary and Obama can certainly improve his chances of beating McCain in the general election if he makes inroads among non-college educated white women voters. He can do so by offering a personal narrative that reflects shared values and a family background that's far from the elitist he is alleged to be, and delivering an economic message that highlights specific proposals designed to help ease the daily financial pressures of white working class women.
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its not what was done, it was the way it was done, and how it will be the way to treat women in the future obama administration, if he wins.
sorry, there is no way to kiss and make up on this issue.
You hit the nail on the head. The media, the delegates, the super delegates, the senior democratic leaders have all stepped on my last nerve. Their arrogant, condescending treatment of women is not something I can ignore. I will vote my conscience, and Obama is at the bottom of my very short list.
If you people can just tell me and I promise to leave the subject alone after this. Can you tell me what the heck did Obama do? If you can answer that truthfully then I will rest this case because I think you are a bunch of racist bigots if you ask me.
I think your last nerve needs Obama.
But, if not, go where you can be happy. And, McC does not seem to fit. I would think that a man who calls his wife a c*** would severe that last nerve like a chainsaw on a twig.
Have you considered that the superdelegates - more specifically Dean, Pelosi and the leaders of the DNC simply saw an opportunity to get rid of the Clintons. They were not against Hillary because she was a woman, they were against her because she was a Clinton. Thats just hard nose politics, nothing to do with sexism. Thats not to say they believe Obama cant win, they just used the opportunity to perform a coup.
You don't happen to mean the way the DNC followed the rules? Those rules were agreed upon by Harold Ickes and Hillary in the beginning. If you do, then there is nothing to your statement about how Obama will treat women in his administration because he followed the rules fairly and squarely. If that is what you mean, then I suppose that means you won't vote for Obama, or you will vote for McCain, or not vote at all for President.
But just remember that McCain publicly called his wife the "C" word. And I would like to know what makes you think MCain would treat women any better in his administration than he treats his current wife or treated his first wife (he divorced her) after she became overweight due to a severe motor vehicle accident?
Yeah? Well Oblahma supporters called Hillary (one that is of their own party) WORSE than THAT on a DAILY BASIS on the blogs and tv shows. uh-oh I guess ya'll forgot about that now that you forced this LOOOOSER on us as a contender for the WH huh.sigh.
Can you say President McCain?
"It's not what was done, it was the way it was done." You mean with class, reason, and fact? That's the way you object? Wow, what would you approve???
You need to worry less about us who have happily defected and more about making up for our loss finding new voters. Methinks your Wonderboy has tapped out and peaked months ago. Only the superdelegated, dazzled by Obama cash failed to see this. The rest of us packed up the Dem tent and left the school grounds. Bye.
"its not what was done, it was the way it was done, and how it will be the way to treat women in the future obama administration, if he wins."
You know how McCain will treat women in his administration? He'll draft them. it's the only way to create the troop force necessary for a multi-lateral invasion of Iran while maintaining our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sure hope it's your son or daughter getting the call... since, after all, there is no way to kiss and make up on this issue.
You are absolutely right, there is no way to make up and scolding and using specious arguments is a waste of Obamaton's time. Instead go find Dem voters to make up for all the ones you lost.And the more you change your stripes trying to find these voters, the more you will sound like McCain. I am going with the real goods, not the Obamination version of himself callously trying to get elected at any price.
grumble, grumble, grumble
It seems to me that the anger of HRC's supporters is misdirected.
Why be angry at BO? He appears to have won the thing fair and square.
What about the folks that ran a campaign into the ground that had started with near insurmountable momentum? Don't they deserve some credit for their own debacle?
What about all of Bill's heavy handed comments? What about Hillary's ducking bullets in Bosnia? What about a campaign that ignored all those states? What about Hillary's flip-flop on Iraq? Don't the Clinton's deserve a little credit for their strategy and their behavior?
Are the Clinton's victims of a vast left wing conspiracy or was it just their own incompetence? Are you going to ignore their failed strategies and everything else? Do you think that BO has interfered with the divine right of Clintons? Are you the liberal version of ditto heads?
See, the problem is that the target audience you're discussing isn't willing to learn--I'm not referring ot their uneducated status here, because there are plenty of stupid PhD's and intelligent high school dropouts.
This is the willful ignorance of only having one news source and believing insular their prejudices without even checking deeper, the permitting of cognitive dissonance to filter out anything that might go against their bigotr and amplify anything that might in some obscure and backwoods-English way mean something negative about the person they don't want to see as trustworthy.
The people Obama can reach through what you suggest, he's already preparing to do what will demonstrate to them that he is an excellent candidate. The people who consistently vote against their own interests, who prefer and idiot they can relate with in charge over an intelligent and thoughtful person they can't, won't be swayed by anything Obama can say or do.
They take one look at his skin, and they are primed to believe the lies about his religion, his past, his lack of patriotism, or whatever other appeals are being made to their fearful mistrust of change and loathing of any black person in a position of authority, even when it was earned through the kind of hard work to which they can relate sometimes better than anyone else.
egal writes
These ignorant racist bigots are incapable of learning .
Classy!
Hello.....
A vote for simple mccain is against your own best interest.
And certainly a waste of all your hard earned efforts for your fave candidate.
Please believe and I do mean BELIEVE this......
Voting for InSAIN would be .......... voting against Hillary.
Put your anger aside.
No matter how hard it is.
OBAMA 08!!!!
White 52 yr old female ..........
I was for Senator Obama after Rep Dennis Kucinich and Senator Joe Biden left the race.
I was a Republican for 40 years and I started voting for Democrats when George Bush started the second Iraq war. I was against the war because I thought that the war was a bad idea. I was right.
Each time Rep. Kucinich has tried to impeach Bush he has been unsuccessful. Rep. Kucinich was against the war too.
Hillary should have voted AGAINST the Iraq war.
I will not vote for anyone who voted for the Iraq war. Think about how your children and grandchildren would have been better off if we did not have the Iraq war.
Senator Obama has promised to get us out of Iraq. Senator Hillary Clinton has voiced her support for him. As a registered Democratic, not only did I vote for Barack but I campaigned for him...with my 59 year old girlfriend. She is white, has no college education and is as determined as I am to see that Senator Obama is our next President. You should think about what will happen if Senator Obama loses and John McBush McCain wins.
OBAMA 08
Writing Hillary in will be the Nader vote of 2008.
Would it? I think she would have a much larger voting Bloc. I am not an expert so I would like to know.
It might just teach the henchmen at the top of the party a lesson. The playground rules have changed and we have choices. Unfairly take away those choices and we fight back. I agree it's a non-vote - but - I think it's a message and maybe it's time a message is sent straight to the top. Since nothing is ever addressed on a personal level and all that is given is a "welcome to the party and contribute reply," this might be the time in history when the write in vote actually makes sense.
Some states do not allow write in votes, so they either go uncounted or will be listed for Obama. You'd have to check with your state to see if this is indeed the case. Personally I do think Clinton would have had a more stable voting block as in the early months of the primary not only was the Rev. Wright connection not known, but republicans and independents were voting against Hillary because they saw Obama as the weaker candidate. With the Press firmly behind Obama though, I'm not sure what the outcome will be...it would just be a guess on anyone's part. As polls have been shown to be incorrect so many times.
"Would it? I think she would have a much larger voting Bloc"
Writing-in mitigates against it. Not every state has it, and voters are essentially too lazy to do it. That's why it's extremely improbable for write-in candidates to work. Whatever Hillary's following is, you can only expect a fraction to go to the trouble of writing in her name.
Anna, rereading your post I hear a call out to Obama people to phrase his life in companionship and commonality to blue collar women. Private schools and Occidental undergraduate, etc.... it just is not gonna happen.
The family migration also took Obama's Mom to High School on Mercer Island here in Washington State, this is the most affluent suburb Seattle has to offer.
She may have been on food stamps for a bit, who knows under what file that is in.
Anna , may I call you sweetie? Or perhaps bitter? Guns? religion? And that is just nothing of what the McCain people have in store for us.
The rust belt does not have Nadhmi Auchi buy their back yard for them thru Tony Rezko. Or ties to the most hate filled "God Damn America" spiritual advisors Chicago has to offer.
So, I think they would have a massive job on their hands, joining the working class poor with Obama.
"He can.......
Anna sweetie, In order for Obama to win this competition, it is crucial that he share values with ALL the working class. This country may have been colonized by Whitey and you may be the majority, but remember Brown people, Asian people and Black people can make or break elections. Keep your perspectives straight and stop spreading rumors that Obama has to kiss ass to poor white women. Let's ease the daily financial pressures for ALL people. Don't worry so much, he'll watch your back too.
I have never known about presididental candidate to share his values with you guys. He should share his views and what he is going to do with the country. Forget the angry white women. I am sick of the myself.
I think Hillary got a lot of votes that would have gone to McCain because she is a women. Why wouldn't a lot of these women support her, they may not agree with her on the issues but would love to see that "Glass Ceiling" shattered. They would never vote for Obama. I would love to see a poll of Democratic Women only. That would be a true figure of how much work Obama has to do to win over Hillarys Angry White Women. Articles like this do not give us a true picture of the challenges Obama faces trying to get this vote. It (article) only gives us useless information.
I am an angry white woman and I will be practicing "the Audacity of Nope," not because Obama stole the nomination, but because the DNC did to us this time what RNC did in 2004. No more voting for Donald Duck. I am sick of the elitism in the democratic party. After 25 years of being a democrat, I will be changing my affiliation into "decline to state." Why should I trust a party that can't run a primary to run the country. Republicans win because they are smarter. BTW, listening to Obama's story about how much her "struggled" growing up, doesn't cut it either. He is a phony and he sure doesn't need my "racist" vote (remember his campaign said the 18,000,000 Clinton supporters were voting against him, not for her). Shame on Dean, Pelosi and Obama for stealing the democratic nomination. Don't get mad, join PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) and get even.
Yeah, invading Iraq was REALLY smart. Deregulating banks -- brilliant! And so prepared for any foreseeable disaster! Prepared with excuses, that is.
Feed your anger, that's fine, your choice. And to tell you the truth, I'm curious where this could lead. A split party, a spinoff? This I'd like to see, because I'm curious what your platform will be. You are a party of one, a personality cult. I'd be happy to see the power spread around more parties. I voted Perot in 1992.
Wow!
All you people must have such pathetic lives, and need to blame something other than yourselves.
Bettysdad says we have a pathetic lives. Let's see if the shoe fits on both feet.
1. If we are able to call women "sweetie" then we should be able to call men "boy" CORRECT?
2. Or if the media is allowed to call a strong woman a "bitch" we should be able to call a strong man a "Bastard" CORRECT?
Is this what you're advocating??
If you didn't see the manipulation going on in the press or at the head of the Dem Party you must be blind, deaf and shall we say brain dead.
Bettysdad writes
you people are pathetic blamers (while we Obama supporters are, must I say it again -perfect)
Persuasive !
What is this "stole the nomination" nonsense? Rush Lumgaugh had hundreds of thousands of Republicans register as Democrats and cast votes for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary. I did not hear Hillary or anyone else "denouncing that little gimmick. In fact the interlopers were readily counted in her "18, 000,000" voter tally. What do you call that? There are people in this country who will never concede to (Hillary) losing the presidential nomination. They are in sad denial. But it is their right and privilege to commit political suicide if they choose to.
And Obama had republicans and independants voting for him because they believed he'd be the easier candidate to beat. I don't see articles calling people things like "angry white women" as helpful to Obama's campaign, just the opposite. I don't see him using the term "typical white people" helpful either nor were the "bittergate" comments or his association and participation in a church run by Rev. Wright with it's racial rhetoric. It's divisive and not united in any way. Senator Obama will address these issues when they face him, hopefully rather then just dismissing them. I know he feels he's said enough about it, but it would probably be best to keep reiterating where he stands and maybe explaining how he could attend a church that has that kind of attitude. If he can overcome this then he has a very good chance of becoming the first multi-racial President.
More important is what specifics he has to make the change he speaks about happen. That to me is more lasting that the tit for tat about whether he was a muslim as a kid. But he will have to address his associates with people like Rezko, Ayers etcetera because the republicans are going to come out using these types of things as weapons. Personally I am a HIllary supported but as she has suspended her campaign as Edward did and asked us to support Obama, I will do so.
Obama stole the nomination by winning it fair and square. Hillary was entitled to it. Didn't you get the memo?
Obama stole the nomination. He should have thought about this when he engaged in every stormtroop, jackboot, hardball tactic of personal destruction and winning at any costs. It has cost him plenty. The destruction of the Democratic party, just when they were poised to win, his arrogance set about systematically to destroy it.
Winning worthless caucuses, red states, buying superdelegates and obstructing all chances for a voter redo in MICH and FLA is on Obama's lap. He stole the votes, but he did not win the nomination.
Who exactly do you think you will be getting even with? Even if BO loses, he will be just fine. He is smart and well educated and has a great job with prospects for even better ones in the private sector if he so chooses under a JMcCreepy presidency. The question is how will you and your loved ones fare under with another 4 years of no equal pay for women, a new draft for the wars in Iran and Syria , and $20 gal or more gas prices those wars will cause? And FYI, by splitting the party in HRC's name, you and your PUMA friends are ensuring that she will never, ever be elected President.
I agree. There is an elitist attitude in the Democratic Party between people with brains, and those without.
Kiga, I've read your post a few times now and each time it just makes me laugh more. Absolutely ridiculous.
Yes, amomma, I am writing her in. Regardless.
Enjoy the draft.
I see the hate festival has moved over here. Yes Clinton supporters feel they were robbed. Why is that? The Media has told you so. Mostly Fox News, although all the networks had a hand in it. As democrats we have been played by the networks. They have succeeded at driving a wedge between us, playing one against the other.
I have found that both sides have been told half truths about the other candidate. These assumtions have turned into the so called truth. Both Clinton and Obama supporters have been played by the MSM.
Obama supporters need to start acting like adults and quit arguing. Treat the Clinton supporters with respect, they worked just as hard as we did in this primary. And they believe in their candidate just as much as we did.
Clinton supporters go ahead and get your anger out, Then take a look at Obama and McCain to see where they stand on your issues. Do not pay attention to what you are told on here look at their websites, listen to them speak, listen to what they say. Then decide.
Really? where is the childish behavior and arguing from the Obama supporters?
I've seen posts here from Hillary supporters that I wouldn't expect to find anywhere but on the most right-wing, racist sites.
Stop thinking it's a two-way street. I haven't seen anything vaguely close to what her fans are posting from his.
P.S.
What if we write her in?
I am white and 52 years old.
I am not angry,
not feeling like Hillary was beaten down by misoginists.
I don't think the press was unfair to her. I think they were responding to her behavior.
However; I have not heard from any source my biggest peeve.
For many many months
Hillary hit Barrack with everything but the kitchen sink.
For many, many months.
Barrack responded to her barbs defending himself with the truth
He was always gracious and treated her with respect.
BUT IF.....
Barrack had said only 1/4 of what Hillary did say too him......
He would have been kicked out of this race long before it began!
If Barrack had fabricated a story, embellishing it more every rendition.
He would have been tossed out on his ear.
He spoke from his heart with sincerity, and not from a cafe table behind fake tears. (which was the only time I saw hillary do anything that reminded me of a womans behavior)
I do not see how anyone could think hillary should be vp.
A pres. needs to have a vp. he can count on, and Have mutual respect with. (among many other things )
She does not respect him and has not earned his respect,
only a fool would trust someone who hasn't earned it .
Barrack is NO FOOL.
I do admire the fact that hillary did endorse Barrack. I know it must have been very hard.
but I think she brought it on herself.
Obama is the star of embellished stories but when you have the press in your pocket
you get a pass. There is the my parents met in Selma and I was born.....t
he was four when Selma happened. Then there was the Kennedy's brought my parents together.
Not. My mother raised me on food stamps....
his mother was college educated and his grandparents raised him for most of his life. Grandma was vice president of a bank. He also went to private schools most of his life. Then the great liberation of the Nazi death camps.....
Uh, Bosnia Bosnia Bosnia
college educated people can be on food stamps.gra
hi gabbyone,
Just wanted to correct you on a couple of misstatements.
There absolutely were food stamps at the time. I know because i was receiving them. I remember i couldn't pay for dog food with them! The first Food stamp program began in 1943. The next generation of the program was in the spring of 1961 and, while the program has evolved and expanded, it has remained at its core, unchanged.
Second, both my father-in-law and childhood neighbor were brave American soldiers who were part of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. My father-in-law performed high risk bombings over the camps. My neighbor is long-gone and I cannot tell you the name of the specific camp, but I do recall seeing photos as a child that still haunt me. Both men were enormously proud of their accomplishments.
The First Food Stamp Program (FSP) - May 16, 1939-Spring 1943
Pilot Food Stamp Program - May 29, 1961-1964
Food Stamp Act of 1964 - August 31, 1964
Major Legislative Changes - Early 1970s
1974 Nationwide Program
The Food Stamp Act of 1977
gabby~
I think you will be happier on the HRC blog.
If not having Hillary on the ticket "disenfranchises" women, who did you vote for when there were only men on your ballot?
This year we decided not to make that mistake again.
there are other smart and intelligent women or is this about hillary'
Oh, this year you decided.
So if there are no women on any ballots in the future I assume you won't be voting again.
Makes sense to me.
Yes, angry white woman here. This one is college educated, life long Dem., and "upper class". Hate that term, anyway, gas prices are not going to effect my shopping at Whole Foods.
So here is the thing, this anger is due to the behavior of our dear Dr. Dean, who rammed a candidate down our throat starting at day one. As if we just dumped her some where the people could focus on the good candidate.
I am shocked at press who flocked like huge gapping gaffs, to dump momma from the train.
Also felt like I was listening to my kids scream at me for not giving them the keys to the cool Corvette just yet.
Here is to you angry white woman, especially those who are blue collar, do the invisible scut work of the nation. Who raise kids by an exhausted thread. Here's to you. I am not voting for him either.
Oh, You go vote for John McCain who knows better than you what your family should look like. You vote for McCain and watch who he appoints to the Supreme Court. Good Luck with that. By the way....? Many women have been elected to the highest office in western countries, but this is the first time a black person has a chance of being. So he is every bit as a historic candidate as H. Clinton was.
And I saw it differently, being for Senator Gravel. I saw the media shape which candidates were seen as dwarves and which weren't. Hillary was NEVER a dwarf, never a potted plant, never excluded from a debate or cut off mid answer. Compare the talk clocks between Hillary and other candidates like Kucinich, Dodd, Richardson, Biden and Gravel. In the beginning she was portrayed as the inevitable nominee -- Jon Stewart just did a recap that you can see here on HuffPo: http://www
One more thing, every time I hear Hillary people complain about her treatment in the press, I think ha! In fact, I think ha ha ha, which was her response to Senator Gravel's "I'm ashamed of you Hillary" for her Iran war enabling vote she had just cast (Kyl-Lieberman). Ha ha ha. What a moment. After that, NBC excluded Gravel from the next debate on criteria they made up to snag him and only him. NBC and the DNC *protected* Hillary, at the expense of democracy and my candidate: http://www
And as an angry white Democrat, UPPER CLASS (WOO HOO, lucky you!) I'm sure YOU won't be sweating it when your MIDDLE/LOWER CLASS sisters and their families are denied national health care, tax breaks, union support, financial assistance for college, a better education, lower drug costs; when soc. security is privatized, the elderly aren't given a pass on paying income tax on their social security, when their sons and daughters are sent off to die in a groundless war, when a minimum of 2 Scalia type justices are appointed to the court, as civil liberties continue to be diminished with warrantless wire taps, the American brand is defined by warmongering, TORTURE. Women like you remind me why I've always mistrusted my female friends; the old "woman scorned' adage never rang truer. As a 43 year old white woman who had to claw her way up the professional ladder, whose immigrant family struggled to provide a decent life for its members, your selfishness, your self absorption, your need for revenge, sicken me. Your childish behavior, embarrassing. I would have happily voted for Hillary had she won the nomination, despite the way she treated O during the campaign. But enjoy your brief moment in the spotlight, it will be a very brief moment, for sure. The Republicans will be laughing their heads off should McC be elected, delighting in the knowledge that so many emotion and revenge driven, "hysterical," irrational women could be so easily manipulated.
As someone who suffered the wrath of feminist "lowest-co
OK OK perhaps I come off a little on the obnoxious side.
I don't think Obama will lose. I do not think he needs my vote.
Donna Brazile said as much. This will be the new Democratic Party.
Also Universal health care is the thing I want the most for my kids. This was Hillary's baby.
Obama just stated he is teaming up with Elizabeth Edwards on this.
Amomma~
Ok, we get it.
No one is forcing you. to do anything you do not want to do.
Sheesh~ take your money and go to Europe for a vacation. (But, beware they like OB there.)
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