After Hillary: Bitterness?

In the six weeks between the Mississippi and Pennsylvania primaries, the campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination deteriorated into trench warfare. When the dust cleared, Hillary Clinton won a single-digit victory in Pennsylvania, one that moved her no closer to securing the nomination. And, the struggle between Clinton and Obama left a trail of bitterness.

A recent Pennsylvania Quinnipiac poll found that 25 percent of likely Clinton voters said "they will vote for Republican Sen. John McCain in November if Obama is the Democratic candidate." This mirrors an earlier, national Gallup poll that found 28 percent of Clinton voters avowed to support McCain. Given that Clinton and Obama have virtually identical positions on most issues, why would a supporter of liberal Clinton switch to conservative McCain - a reprise of George Bush?

Some of this shift is attributable to racism - voters who don't want to see a black man as President, but a substantial component may due to the angry feelings of female Clinton backers. When I talked with women who supported Clinton, I found their complaints fell into three categories:

Hillary Clinton has been subjected to gender bias. All the women felt the press has been prejudiced against Senator Clinton because she is an assertive female. They believed Senator Obama has garnered uncritical acceptance - at least until he made his infamous "bitter" comments. They noted the apparent glee with which the press - particularly MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews - greeted news of Clinton's eminent demise in the New Hampshire primary. The consensus was that the male members of the press don't like Hillary and root for her to fail.

In a January New York Times Op-Ed Gloria Steinem noted "Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life." The women I interviewed shared this sentiment and noted that while it would be groundbreaking for a black man to be President, it would be even more momentous for a woman to enter the oval office. They also observed that women are more likely than men to vote - in 2004, 54 percent of all voters were women and the percentage is expected to go up - while African-Americans are approximately 11 percent of the electorate.

My contacts described Hillary Clinton as smart, experienced, and hardworking. They believed that if she were a man she would have already secured the nomination, but because of gender bias, she will now likely lose it. They noted that while Clinton is an effective speaker and has unusual command of the facts - and Obama can be a halting speaker with a distant, professorial tone - the press often describes her as shrill and condescending, while they reserve none of these descriptors for Obama. (Indeed, research on gender bias indicates successful female managers are often characterized as "more deceitful, pushy, selfish, and abrasive" than their male counterparts.)

The nomination rules are prejudiced. Several women opined the rules for the Democratic primaries are unfair and, therefore, have disadvantaged Senator Clinton. They said the rules allocating delegates for the states are so complicated few understand them and that's why Clinton won the popular vote in the Texas primary but Obama received more delegates. They observed that Clinton usually won primaries while Obama generally won caucuses because the caucus process is arcane. All were outraged that the votes of Michigan and Florida voters were not counted; from their perspective, the male leaders of the Democratic Party disallowed these results because they favored Obama. They felt women and "women's issues" have been marginalized in the Democratic Party and women rarely have power within the Party itself.

The women I interviewed noted that at the end of March, senior Democrats - all men -- called for Senator Clinton to withdraw. They felt that if it had been Senator Obama who was behind, rather than Senator Clinton, there would not have been this rush to prematurely end the competition.

There's no likely female Presidential candidate in the wings. The most common complaint was the most poignant: women have waited 88 years for a female President and, if Senator Clinton loses the competition for the 2008 Presidential nomination, they may have to wait many more years. The women I interviewed observed that Hillary Clinton is by far the strongest female candidate to emerge in their lifetimes and they do not expect another comparable female contender to emerge in the near term.

In summary, the women I talked to are upset: they see Hillary Clinton as the best chance to have a female President in their lifetime; and the feel the Democratic leadership has disenfranchised them. Some of them are angry enough to consider voting for John McCain. They are bitter.

Comments

[irishgawdess]

As a 50-something white, female voter, I'm embarrassed for my gender. I've studied both candidates' positions on the issues and made my decision to vote for Obama. Also, instead of vehemently denouncing Bill's (and others) racist statements, Hillary remains silent, giving them her implicit approval.

Electing *this* woman to be the first female president of the US is not worth throwing my values as a human being out the window.

[Kishadawn]

The kicker here is that HRC really does have positive policies. The differences between the two's policies really are semantics! What's left this "BITTER" taste in my mouth is how her campaign has been run. The fact that she allowed her campaign to take on these Rovian tactics is beneath her as a candidate and a woman.

I agree with aricogfj 's comments that if Obama were in HRC's position right now they would have shown him the door.

[apoyo]

As a woman I am ashamed for all these women backing Hillary because of gender.

They are rabid.

They should think of their children, their sons and daughters. What role model do they want for them? What future do they want for them? A woman will be president someday soon. A woman with integrity and dignity, compassion and even hope.

[S1m0n]

Hillary Clinton might be smart, but hers must be the type of intelligence that precludes accomplishment, because she has none to boast of.

Which is why she has spent the entire election either claiming credit for Bill's accomplishments in Office or lying about her own.

[stellanoir]

Baloney

There are plenty far more appealing, talented, women with leadership qualities in this country, who wouldn't lower themselves to throwing kitchen sinks around, mismanage their campaign, their finances, or threaten to obliterate countries.

Her Rovian tactics have been thoroughly reprehensible. She's had lousy discernment in hiring.

Sure I'd love to eventually see a woman president but not one who masquerades as a hawkish male playing "old politics."

This land once lauded as "the land of the lively discussion" was never intended to get stuck in intractable divisiveness or governance of dynasties. Hilary doesn't get that at all. Obama does.

She is self righteous and ruthless.

In as much as there is all this rancor over racism and sexism, I really feel ageism will ultimately be an overriding factor in this election.

[katefranklin]

These are the Al Sharptons of the feminist movement. While Sharpton experiences everything through the lens of race, these people see everything through the lens of gender. Completely absent from their assessment is a basis in reality. If Obama had lost 11 primaries in a row by an average margin of 18 points, he would've been coerced out of the contest after Wisconsin. Media bias? Raise your hand if you thought the last debate was not heavily titlted in Clinton's favor. The delegate math is numeric and unemotional, but her supporters are not. There will always be defectors. We just have to hope the Clintons have the decency to not do McCain's bidding and destroy the party on their way out the door.

[Bertrude]

Yeah those women getting hosed down and German Shepards released on them while trying to gain their rights was horrible. Actually there are more women elected in the senate than there are African Americans. Seriously both have face their hardships in this country and I can see the GOP laughing at both minorities, because in any other election they both would be rooting for one another. Now they will destroy eachother like crabs in a bucket, instead of joining forces to take our country on a better path.

[RationalDem]

I don't buy that Hillary's feminist supporters would back John McCain. Not with Roe v. Wade on the line. If so, they are just spiteful and don't care about their daughters and granddaughters.

[irishgawdess]

Good point.

[chefrasta]

And this is Obama's fault? Give me a break.As a African American I supported the Clintons but with one vote, the vote for war not only was it immoral but she and everyone else who voted yes abdicated their constitutional duties.Her votes and positions are not whats best for democrats but what is best for the Clintons.Dont blame the nominating process blame that shyster Mark Penn who stole her money and ran a f@ck up campaign. And to think that women has it worse than blacks.I have never seen a white women pull over by the police just because she is a women.When the prison system incarcerates white women in greater numbers than their peers for the same crimes committed then I get my violin out.

[aricogfj]

As a female and African American I can relate to some of these comments. However, does anyone believe that if Barack Obama, had been in the postion where the math was where it is, in pledged delegates and popular vote, that the establishment would not have written his confession speech within 48 hours of those facts becoming evident? This is the real problem, Hillary started out losing, from Iowa on she has been behind. She has never been ahead, at thats not the fault of the media. Do you not think Barack had to overcome tremdeous odds to overcome The Clintons, give me a break!!!!

I could say I feel the say way about the proespects of another African American candidate coming along soon. But the reality is, the Barack came out of nowhere, and I have faith that can happen again for either a Black, Women, Hispanic or a Disabled.

We need the superdelegates to do there job and not fracture the party.

[SharpenDC]

I agree with this assessment - I think if Obama had been runnning with the numbers Clinton had in previous primaries, he would have been urged out the door. I'm a white woman, so let's not anyone get their assumptions of biases in a twist

In part, people voted for Clinton in PA because they could. She and Bill have certainly added to the bitterness that may make others go to McCain. In a general election, though, people would not necessarily leave the Democratic candidate to vote for McCain, especially as people like Rendell and Nutter would be working for Obama then instead of against him.

How can people choose one statement over a 2-year campaign to focus on? Obama has more than 20 years of commitment to a Christian church and Christian causes. This country is not supposed to have a religious test for office, but he satisfies it far more than Reagan and many other Republicans or Democrats ever did.

Why does Clinton get such a break for persisting in her story about Bosnia, when it was wrong and challenged numerous times? she's the one who's been whining about media treatment for months.

I like Obama's approach - he didn't complain about the debate's questions, just that they didn't focus on real issues. He's right about that.

[irishgawdess]

"... Barack came out of nowhere, and I have faith that can happen again for either a Black, Women, Hispanic or a Disabled."

aricogfj, this shows an incredible insight on your part, IMHO! It would be wonderful if "we the people" can change the two-party system and get rid of superdelegates, pledged delegates, as well as the electoral college to allow an up-and-coming, amazing dark horse, an Independent or a Green Party candidate, a Kucinich, even a Ron Paul (in all fairness) to actively participate in US elections.

It will all happen as Americans are getting tired of the elite ruling class determining who our next president will be.