Feminists for Clinton

We are women who support Hillary Clinton for the presidency of the United States. We do so because we believe that she will be the best president for the entire country. And as feminists, we also believe that Clinton is the best choice for attending to issues of special importance to women.

We write to you now because it's time for feminists to say that Senator Obama has no monopoly on inspiration. We are among the millions of women and men who have been moved to action by her. Six months ago, some of us were committed to her candidacy, some of us weren't, but by now we all find ourselves passionately supporting her. Brains, grace under pressure, ideas, and the skill to make them real: we call that inspiring. The restoration of good government after eight years of devastation, a decent foreign policy with ties to world leaders repaired, withdrawal from Iraq and universal health care: we call that exciting. And the record to prove that she can and will stand up to the swift-boating that will come any Democratic nominee's way: we call that absolutely necessary.

Clinton's enormous contributions as Senator, public servant, spokesperson for better family policies and the needs of hard-pressed women and children are widely known and recognized -- even by her opponent. Her powerful, inspiring advocacy of the human rights of women at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 was heralded around the world as a stunning departure from the normal anodyne role of First Lady. Corporate special interests managed to defeat the health care program she advocated in 1994, and her own leadership opened the plan to attack. But she kept on fighting, acknowledging her mistakes, and in ensuing years she succeeded in winning expanded coverage for children. Now she has crafted the only sensible and truly universal health care proposal before the voters.

On the Iraq war, many of us believe she made a major mistake in voting for Joint Resolution 114 in 2002 -- along with the 28 other Democratic senators, including John Edwards and John Kerry. But we also note that her current opponent, when asked about that resolution in 2004, responded that he did not know how he would have voted had he been in Congress then. We do not know either. But we do know that at the time, his opposition to the war carried no risks and indeed, promised to pay big dividends in his liberal Democratic district.

Now, the two candidates have virtually the same plan for withdrawal from Iraq. And on the critical, broader issues of foreign policy, we believe that Senator Clinton is far more consistent, knowledgeable, modest, and realistic -- stressing intense diplomacy on all questions and repairing our ties with world leaders.

We are keenly aware that much is at stake -- not just on national and international security, but on the economy, universal health care, the environment, and more. Our country needs a president who knows the members and workings of Congress, and has a proven record on Capitol Hill of persuading sympathizers, bringing along fence-sitters, and disarming opponents. There is an irony in her opponent's claim to be able to draw in Republicans, while dismissing her proven record of working with them as a legislator. We need a president who understands how to make changes real, from small things like the predatory student loan industry to large things like the Middle East. Hillary Clinton has the experience, knowledge and wisdom to deal with this wide range of issues.

Our country also needs a president who has a thorough mastery of "details" --yes, details -- after eight years of Bush and Cheney. The job of restoring good government is overwhelming, and will require more than "inspiration" to accomplish it. We believe that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Justice Department, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many more can be restored to full and effective functioning only by a president who understands their scope, regulations, personnel, problems and history. Knowing these "details" and acting on them are essential to begin the healing and recuperation of the country.

How many of us have heard brilliant and resourceful women in the workplace dismissed or devalued for "detail-orientation" in contrast to a man's supposed "big picture" scope? How many of us have seen what, in a man, would be called "peerless mastery," get called, in a woman's case, "narrowness"? How many women have we known -- truly gifted workers, professionals, and administrators -- who have been criticized for their reserve and down-to-earth way of speaking? Whose commanding style, seriousness, and get-to-work style are criticized as "cold" and insufficiently "likable"? These prejudices have been scandalously present in this campaign.

With all this in mind, we believe that Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for president, because she is the surest to remove the wreckage and secure the future. Politics is not magic. Hillary Clinton as president promises what government at its best can truly offer: wise decision-making and lasting change.

Ellen Carol DuBois, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

Christine Stansell, Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago

Gloria Steinem, writer, New York City

Michele Wallace , Professor of English, Women's Studies and Film Studies, City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center

Faith Ringgold, artist and Professor Emeritus of Art, UC San Diego

Robin Morgan, writer, New York City

Janet Holmgren, President, Mills College

Deborah Nelson, Director, Center for Gender Studies, University of Chicago

Jennifer Baumgardner, writer, New York City

Peg Yorkin,, Chair, Feminist Majority Foundation, Beverly Hills, CA

Heidi Hartmann, President, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Washington, DC

Catherine Stimpson, Professor, New York University

Judith B. Walzer, former Provost and Professor of Literature, The New School, New York City

Margot Canaday, Society of Fellows, Princeton University

Ellen Chesler, Director, Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative at Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College, CUNY

Blanche Wiesen Cook, Professor of History, John Jay College and Graduate Center/CUNY, New York City

Sonya Michel, Professor of History, University of Maryland, College Park

Alice Echols, Associate Professor. University of Southern California, Department of English

Vivian Gornick, writer, New York City

Wendy W. Williams, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History, Baruch College & The Graduate Center, CUNY

Morgan Lawley, film director, Los Angeles

Clare Coss, playwright, NYC

Jean Baker, Professor of History, Goucher College

Batya Weinbaum, Writer, Empire State College, Saratoga Springs, NY

Ellen McCormack, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago

Deirdre Bair, biographer, NYC

Esther Rothblum, Professor of Women's Studies, San Diego State University

Amy Richards, writer, New York City

Ann Snitow, Eugene Lang College

Megan Marshall, biographer, Boston, MA

Irene Tinker, Professor Emerita, University of California Berkeley

Kristen Timothy Lankester, former United Nations Deputy Director for Women's Rights

Florence Howe, Publisher, Feminist Press at CUNY, NYC

Cynthia Harrison, Associate Professor of History, Women's Studies, and Public

Policy, The George Washington University

Gloria Feldt, writer

Laura Karpman, Film composer , UCLA, Los Angeles

Anne K. Mellor, Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles

Beth Baron, Professor of History, City College and Graduate Center, City University of New York

Marilyn Boxer, Professor of History, San Francisco State University

Ellen McCormack, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago

Marjorie J. Spruill, Professor of History, The University of South Carolina

Louise W. Knight, biographer, Evanston, IL

Karen Offen, historian, Stanford, CA

Claire Moses, University of Maryland

Marla Stone, Professor of History, Occidental College

Carrie Menkel-Meadow, A.B. Chettle Jr. Professor of Law, Dispute Resolution and

Civil Procedure, Georgetown University Law Center

Judy Lerner, International Committee of Peace Action at the United Nations

Carmen Delgado Votaw, President, Pan American Liaison Committee of Women's Organizations, Bethesda, MD

Rochelle G. Ruthchild, Professor Emerita, The Union Institute and University,

Cincinatti, OH

Chin Jou, graduate student, Princeton University

Abby Arnold, Santa Monica, CA

Roberta McCutcheon, Chair, History Department, Trevor Day School, New York City

Helen Tilley, Assistant Professor, History Department and African Studies, Princeton

University

Linda Frank, Graduate Student, UCLA

Barbara Gershen, Program Manager, Program in the Study of Women and Gender, Princeton University

Vivian Endicott Barnett, New York City

Barbara Gault, Silver Spring, MD

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., Clinical professor of psychiatry, UC/San Francisco

Beverly Wildung Harrison, NYC

Anne Goodwyn Jones, Whichard Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, East

Carolina University

Dr. Marcia Synnott, Professor of History Emerita, University of South Carolina

Dr. Judith S. Weis, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University

Maribel Morey, JD, graduate student, Princeton University

Cynthia Boiter, Lecturer in Women's Studies, University of South Carolina

Nancy P. Moore, South Carolina

Alida Black, Editor, Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, George Washington University

Artemis March, Director, The Quantum Lens, Cambridge, MA

Sandra F. VanBurkleo, Assoc. Prof. of History; Adjunct Prof. of Law, Wayne State

University

Linda Stein, New York City

Lauren Sklaroff, Assistant Professor of History, University of South Carolina

Greta Krippner, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan

Heather Arnet, Pittsburgh, PA

Mary Shorba, Chaplain, Phoenix Hospice, Mendocino County, CA

Linda Jupiter, Jupiter Productions, Fort Bragg, CA

Jean Twitty, Republican officeholder, Springfield, MO

Suzanne Roberts, Columbia, South Carolina

Susan Deller Ross, Professor of Law, Georgetown University

Carter Heyward, Cambridge, MA

Susanne Smith, Principal of Student Services, Spackenkill Union Free School District, Poughkeepsie, NY

Pamela Ellen Ferguson, Austin, TX

Lois Rudnick, Chair, American Studies Dept., University of Massachusetts/ Boston

Cynthia Burack, Associate Professor of Women's Studies, The Ohio State University

Chocolate Waters, New York City

Glenna Mathews, Visiting Scholar, Starr King School for the Ministry, Berkeley, CA

Laurie Swindler, Normal, IL

Jayne Baron Sherman, New York City

Marianne C. Fahs, Professor of Urban Public Health, Hunter College, City University of New York.

Fran Diamond, California League of Conservation Voters, Los Angeles

Linda Lucks, President, Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, Los Angeles

Sally Miller Gearhart, writer, San Francisco

Tobe Levin, University of Maryland in Europe, Frankfurt, Germany

Sheriden Thomas, Tufts University, Medford, MA

Kathryn Yandell, Professor Emerita, Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, TX

Holly Elliott, Washington D.C.

Jane Gurko, Professor of English, San Francisco State University

Marlene Springer, President Emerita, College of Staten Island

Dr. Susan Corso, Somerville, MA,

Margaret Sears, Essex, MA.

Manette van Hamel, Woodstock NY

M. J. Bridge, , Alexandria, VA

Claire Reed, New York City

Kate Black, Willits, California

Keithe Bisnett, Cathedral City, CA

Naomi Williams, Encinitas, CA

Rose Mary Mitchell, San Francisco

Zoe Ann Nicholson, President, Pacific Shore, CA NOW

Jenny Warburg, Durham, NC

Anita Taylor, Professor Emerita, George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Jan Levy, New York City

Donna Deitch, Desert Heart Productions. Venice, CA

Beth Holmgren, Professor, Duke University

Daysi Morey,, Miami, FLA

duVergne R. Gaines, Los Angeles

Mary Lee Warner, Radio Kansas Public Radio, Lawrence, Kansas

Margaret Moore, Director, National Center for Women and Policing, Feminist Majority Foundation, Los Angeles

Michele Kort, Journalist, Los Angeles

Sandra Saathoff, Medical Lake, WA

Linda Fowler, Asheville, NC

Dorothy Haecker, San Antonio, Texas

Melissa Sue Kort, Professor of English, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa CA

Valerie Fields, Member, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education

Linda Hunt Beckman, Professor of English, Emeritus, Ohio University, Athens, OH

Kate Ullman, Palm Desert, CA

Margaret Blanchard, Professor Emerita, Graduate Studies, Vermont College of Union

Institute & University

Lesley Stein, Bradenton, FL

Susan Rennie, Emerita Professor, Vermont College of the Union Institute, Montpelier

Kathleen Herrington, Montpelier, VT

Judy Murphy, State Coordinator, Vermont NOW

Ruth Cooper Reidbord, American Institute of Certified Planners, Pittsburgh, PA

Linda Boyd Kavars, Editor, Inside/Out, New Paltz, NY

Kristin L. Bishop, Chair, Women's Political Action Network, Riverside County, CA

Karen Storey, President, SuccessStory, Inc., Palm Springs, CA

Sally Apfelbaum, New York City

Anne Cognetto, Hudson Valley, NY

Lauren Levy, Catskill, NY

Elizabeth W. Oakman, Columbia, SC

Patricia Wilson, Ossining, NY

Rona Fields, Washington, D.C.

Barbara Ottaviani, Hunter College, New York City

Jane Dreher Emerson, Columbia, SC

Veena Talwar Oldenburg, Professor of History, Baruch College and Graduate Center/CUNY, New York City

Deanne Upson, Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Quinn, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY

Nancy Moore, Folly Beach, SC

Stephanie Rex, Slippery Rock, PA

Joyce Berkman, University of Massachusetts/ Amherst

Lisa M. Brennan, Stratford, CT

Victoria M. Capozzi Stratford, CT

Jan Whitman, Director, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY

Heidi Li Feldman, Professor of Law, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown

University

Katheleen Loughlin, Professor of History, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN

Mollie Camp Davis, Professor Emerita, Queens University, Charlotte, NC

Lupe Anguiano, Director, Stewards of the Earth, Oxnard, CA

Marie Deyoe, Schenectady,

Lucia Petrulli, Belmont, MA

Vivian A S Power, Mendocino College, Ukiah, CA

Corin R. Swift, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Syd Whalley, Executive Director, Western Center of Law and Poverty, Vallejo, CA

Shauna Lani James, Government Department, Harvard University

Sharon Isbin, The Julliard School, NYC

Ana I. Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Texas/ El Paso

Sandra R. Levitsky, Department of Sociology, University

of Michigan

Sally Schindel Cone, Greensboro, NC

Rachel Lulov Segall, New York City

Patty Mooney, Crystal Pyramid Productions, San Diego CA

Mary Warshaw, Beaufort, SC

M. Junior Bridge, Alexandria, VA

Nina Sundell, NYC

Nieves M. Zaldivar, M.D., Delmarva Foundation, Washington, DC

Pat Cohen, Farmingdale State College, Farmingdale, NY

Liz Snow, NYC

Marion Browning-Baker, Portsmouth, VA

Margaret McKean, Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke University

Adele W. Miccio, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and

Disorders, The Pennsylvania State University

Angie Sadeghi M.D. Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los

Angeles

Barbara Helmick, Washington DC

Barbara Bonfigli, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Bethany C. Tronsky, New York City

Carole Emberton, Assistant Professor of History, SUNY-Buffalo

Carrie Bills,Green Mango Real Estate, Austin, Texas

Charlene Ellis, East Dummerston, Vermont

Christine Steiner, Los Angeles, CA

Ellen Gavin, Brava/Theater Center, San Francisco

Esther Rothblum, Ph.D., Professor of Women's Studies, San Diego State University

Gail Rogers, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies

Janet Sunter, Molecular Virology, University of Texas at San Antonio

Susan Swinney, Colchester, Connecticut

Mia Mildred Yang, Colchester, Connecticut

Judith Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Women's Studies

Pennsylvania State University

Julie Young, Santa Barbara, CA

Kathy Weber, Artistic Environments, Santa Monica CA

Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Dept. of Religion, George Washington University, Washington

D.C.

Kirsten Grimsad, Professor, Antioch University Los Angeles

Gay Cheney, Browns Summit, NC

Kathleen Daugherty, Newport Beach, CA

Jo Oppenheimer, NYC

Wendy L. Kahn, Washington, D.C.

Paola Dussias, Department of Spanish, Italian, Pennsylvania State University

Mitt Seeley, Topanga CA

Judith G. Miller, French Department, New York University

Elisa Gonzalez, San Antonio, TX.

Stephanie A. Shields, Professor of Psychology & Women's Studies, The Pennsylvania State University

Donna Fairfield, Greensboro, N.C.

Juanita Castro, Miami, FLA

Jane Kinney-Denning , Pace University, NYC

Barbara Posner Beltrami, Setauket, NY

Jan Doerler, Vermont Woman newspaper, South Burlington, VT

Ashley Bogosian, NYC

Carolyn J. Brown, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Daphne Uviller, writer, NYC

Gretchen Gross, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Vermont

Manuela Soares, Pace University, NYC

Daniela Gioseffi, writer, NYC

Kay F. Turner, Performance Studies, Tisch School/ NYU, NYC

Miriam Grace Monfredo, writer , Rochester, NY

Eileen Kessler, OmniStudio, Inc., Washington DC

Judith Johnson, Professor Emerita, English and Women's Studies , SUNY/Albany

Beverly Salerno, North Caldwell, NJ

Deborah Siegel, Woodhull Institute, Ancramdale, NY

Kathleen J. Hancock, University of Texas, San Antonio

Eileen Andrade, University of California /Berkeley

Carolyn T. Green, Executive Director, Piedmont Senior Care, Greensboro NC

Elaine D. Ingulli, Professor of Business Law & Women's Studies, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Marilyn E. Vito, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Dorothy Goldeen, President, Dorothy Goldeen Art Advisory.

Pam Turkett, Piedmont Senior Care, Greensboro NC

Frances Sjoberg, Literary Director, University of Arizona Poetry Center, Tucson, AZ

Mary Anne Ferguson, Professor Emerita, English and Women's Studies, University

of Massachusetts/Boston

Geri Critchley, Washington, DC

Lisa Mullenneaux, Penington Press, NYC

Jil Clark, Boston, MA, Albany, NY

Lily Rivlin, NYC

Carol Leung, Texas Teachers Retirement System

Judith Lorber, Professor Emerita, Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, CUNY, NYC

Dorothy O. Helly, The City University of New York

Jillian Denby, artist, NYC

Stacy J. Mara, Little Chute, WI

Adrienne Marcus, Lexington Center for Recovery, Hudson Valley, NY

Karla Tonella, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, The University of Iowa

Jane Augustine, writer, NYC

Barbara Marks,, Professor Emeritus, UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television &

Jacqueline R. Kinney, Attorney, California Legislature

Deniz Ozan-George, Refugee Services Coordinator, MA Office for Refugees and Immigrants, Boston, MA

Maria Meilan, NYC

Elisabeth Prugl, Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Florida International

University, Miami

Terry Weaver, Greensboro, NC

Diana Festa, NYC

Pat Ashbrook, Flagstaff, AZ

Comments

[Molloy]

REGULAR WOMEN for Obama!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ASwQGwTDII

[eshalom]

Molloy, would you mind defining "regular women" for the rest of us? I always get the impression that Obama supporters have this smug attitude that somehow they are better than everyone else.

I've observed they are usually hypersensitive to racism, even inventing attacks at times when it suits their purposes, but appallingling ignorant about sexism, ageism, and religious and ethnic bigotry.

For example, Obamaphiles eagerly dismiss an entire group of people by labeling them the "old guard" as if to say being an adolescent infatuated with Barack Obama is somehow superior.

[Florida08]

Regular woman?

I don't know what that is but I am betting that a 'regular' woman does not particularly like being called a 'bitch', 'ho', or the c word (don't want to get banned).

Or maybe they don't mind and they certainly don't mind if another woman is labeled as such...so it seems. Just saying.

[standforpeace]

I certainly don't like being called any of those things and don't want Hillary Clinton to be called those names either. But the fact that some sexist pigs are labeling her that way does not entitle her to be president of the United States as some sort of compensation.

[altohone]

There's nothing feminist about pre-emptive wars of choice.

Putting gender over policy isn't feminist either.

Selective quotation actually comes off as Republican, not feminist or wise.

[UrbanHillbilly]

I don't think the evidence of Bill's behavior is that convincing considdering the extent to which conservatives went after the Clintons. What I do have a problem with is feminists backing a woman that is running on her husband's resume.

[mabelle55]

See post above on Hillary Clinton's LONG list of accomplishments. This is what is sexist: you and others like you "assume" that because she is a woman she has no experience, or not enough experience, or it must be her husband's/
boyfriend's/significant other's/boss's accomplishments.

What does it take for you to come out of the cave when it comes to women?

[MrLion]

Not only did Hillary Clinton commit a "serious mistake" in voting for the Iraq war, but she's offered multiple and increasingly lame excuses for that vote.

Bottom line: 23 senators voted no on the Iraq resolution. Either Senator Clinton is dumber than those 23, in which case she lacks the judgment to be president, or she made a cynical decision to back the war to appear "strong on national security", in which case she isn't trustworthy.

[NYC]

GREAT READ on Iraq vote
http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2008/02/01/hillary-and-iraq/

[worldly1]

This 43 year old, white, married, male has always expressed respect and support for Feminism and the movement. Now I must qualify that support with an exception for those that support Hillary Clinton. She has proven to me over that past few months that she is not qualified to be President. There are hundreds of women in this country far, far more qualified, genuine, and capable of the job. I can not understand any feminist supporting her candidacy - particularly after her attempts to label Obama "soft on choice" with the resulting fallout among her, then, supporters for that accusation.

[dearmurray]

I have walked in Take Back the Night marches. I have read the complete works of the founder of all modern feminism, Emma Goldman. I have donated time and money to Planned Parenthood. I have even donated a vehicle before to a women's charity.

You feminists are really convincing, though. I'm supposed to vote with my genitals.

I already cast my vote for Barack Obama based on the issues and the issue of integrity, and the ability to move the country and the party forward, not backward into the divisive 1990s.

I feel really lucky now that I voted with my genitalia like I was really supposed to. WHEW! Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[thatsdebatable]

I used to fight like many other women by taking the stance that gender doesn't matter. But it does.

Most of us can swing a hammer, strike a ball or sell an idea better than the next guy. But there is always someone who thinks se are better off doing our nails rather than hammering them; or throwing a ball like a "girl" rather than batting it out of the ballpark; or buying an idea rather than selling it.

And don't we just love the pat on the leg rather than the back?

[lynnn]

Just once I'd like to see one of these post where a Hillary supporter lays into this blogger w/ "Gender doesn't matter".

[JaniceKWard]

There is not space to go into explicit detail regarding the history of aggression of Sadam Hussein, but let me see if I can answer this issue. Hillary Clinton did not vote to go to war. Iraq had a history of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs. He had kicked out the UN inspectors. Diplomacy and world outrage had failed to resolve the issue. Senators Clinton, Kerry, Edwards and others voted to provide the President of the United States the tools necessary to conduct foreign policy on an issue that potentially threatened national security. The goal of the resolution was to get inspectors back in. A resolution for the THREAT of the use of force would have been meaningless. The conditions that the President was required to meet became a mere checklist. The President made speeches using rhetoric to provoke an emotional response. The media irresponsibly wrapped itself in the American flag and pointed us in the direction of the bandwagon for war. In the eleventh hour, the Resolution accomplished the goal that only the real threat of force was able to achieve; Sadam waived the white flag and agreed to let inspectors back in. We declared it was too late, dubbed it “cheat and retreat” and Sadam Hussein was run over by the bandwagon to war, driven by Bush, powered by the media, and carrying 89% of the American people. If you are looking to blame someone for the war, I suggest you look to the media and the 89% who followed them.
Now, Obama has used rhetoric to provoke an emotional response, and the media have wrapped themselves in the flag of hope and pointed us to the Obama bandwagon. How many on this bandwagon were on the Bush bandwagon, mindlessly allowing others to form their opinion, believing without question that Clinton and Obama’s plans are essentially the same, because the media says it is so. The bandwagon looks like it is about to run over Hillary, but this time the ruined nation will be our own.

[diamondprynzez]

Clinton supporters have a habit of having to dismiss an overlook the war in Iraq as an important issue so that their candidate becomes palatable.

And the reason why America was so hawkish in the run up to the Iraq war wasn't because of Bush's speeches. It was because of a widespread campaign by the Republican party to elicit fear out of the American people.

Stop rewriting history!!!

[jstock]

Did you ever think to ask why Iraq, as a supposedly urgent threat, ever even came up? It was patently ridiculous, as Scott Ridder and Bob Graham were trying to tell us all. Hillary (and Edwards and Kerrey)knew that it was a joke, and went ahead anyway, to show how tough she is. Now, I knew it was an ill-advised adventure from the get-go. And I am but a humble citizen. Furthermore, Bob Graham read the NIE (a little home work that Hillary skipped) and warned his fellow Dems in the Senate that if they voted to authorize Bush to take us to war, they'd all "have blood on their hands." And she does. I cannot vote for her, especially since she seems not to have learned anything from it (witness Kyl/Lieberman).
Finally, I don't believe we would've ever had to worry about Dubya ruining this country the last 7 years had Bill shown some freaking restraint and sent Monica packing as soon as she flashed him her oversized thong. He KNEW the righties were after him and he handed them the sword with which to do him in. This, in turn, gave us Dubya. Yes, Gore ran a spotty campaign, there was that Nader fella, etc. But it all began with Bill and Monica. Of course, as a liberal who values privacy (and as one who knows a thing or two about history) I didn't think this was a high crime. And I was and AM a fan of the Clintons, but, had the whole Monica/Impeachment jazz never taken place, we'd all be wondering right about now who would be replacing Gore as president in about a year. One would surely hope this discussion would not include Lieberman, but I digress. Bottom line, I'm done with the Clintons. Obama '08

[starboymikey]

Now, Obama has used rhetoric to provoke an emotional response
_______________________________________________

All you're doing is defining rhetoric. It's purpose is to provoke an emotional response.

[JimR]

Bill Clinton had used a policy of containment after the inspectors were kicked out during his administration. And you know what? It was working.

So either Hillary Clinton didn't know that, which calls into question her "experience" as First Lady... or, she DID know that, but went along with the Bush war machine only so she could look "tough" on these issues when she ran for president.

[ndolomar]

so, here-here for a group of women devoted to empowering women and championing the individual accomplishments of women. here-here to women who diligently have worked their entire lives to show they are just, if not more, capable and talented than their male counterparts. this is exactly why it's important for these women to endorse a woman who's claiming experience based on her husband's administration, who won a u.s. senate seat - after zero legislative experience - because of the last name she garnered through marriage, and who relies on her husband and perceived "feminie" weaknesses (read: emotional displays) to earn sympathy. woo-hoo...feminism all the way!

[thatsdebatable]

This election matters.

[GLU]

Which is why I am supporting Obama.

[lynnn]

Mee too, oh and Hillary's compasionate conservative stance on mandatory drug sentencing (which effects women). But you know I'm form one of those states that don't matter.

[qwr]

I don't understand how academics could be so careless in their language. Neither Hillary nor Obama are offering "universal health care." This letter does not consider the full quote from Obama when asked about the war: "I knew a case had not been made." Furthermore, what is Clinton's "district" if not "liberal
and Democratic"? This is a piss poor argument. Clinton does not have a good Senate record, and Obama in his short time has more accomplishments. All the academics on this list have lost credibility.

[greenpaz]

Several women in my life, including my wife and two sisters, feel very conflicted about not voting for a woman. But, in each case, they asked themselves: Who has a better chance of defeating the Republicans in the fall? The answer: Obama.

[apcalc]

Obama will be sliced and diced by the time the election comes around if he is nominated. The Republicans are going to paint him as a far left Socialist. They are going to pounce on his middle name, and show that he doesn;t even salute the flag. He will be a Muslim sympathizer. They are merciless bastards. He will absolutely collapse under the weight of their smear machine. He'll be the next George McGovern.

[laughingcoyote]

Yawn....

[MollyS]

And no one will be yawning when they quote Louis Farakhan.

[HowardRoarke]

"On the Iraq war, many of us believe she made a major mistake in voting for Joint Resolution 114 in 2002 -- along with the 28 other Democratic senators, including John Edwards and John Kerry."

The problem is Hillary Clinton doesn't believe that vote was a mistake. You can believe what you like, but your candidate continues to this day to deny her vote was a mistake.

"But we also note that her current opponent, when asked about that resolution in 2004, responded that he did not know how he would have voted had he been in Congress then."

Obama said what he said when asked by a reporter at the 2004 convention about his well known anti-war stand, and how it contrasted with Kerry's voting for it. Obama could have stood on a soapbox and taken credit for his well known anti-war stand, but he downplayed his stance to support our candidate. The fact the reporter even asked the question shows Obama's anti-war views were widely known and deeply held.

If you didn't know you were spinning a half-truth - specially designed to blur the anti-war differences between Clinton and Obama - you certainly should have. A group of such pedigreed and titled women should have known better. Or is it that you will do or say anything to get Hillary elected as the first woman President?

Which matters more to you - honesty and integrity or a misguided view that a Hillary presidency is some sort of "win" for feminism?

[diamondprynzez]

Thank your showing how this race isn't about feminism: it's about the failed policies of the Bush adminstration, to which Senator Clinton signed her name.

[shortgirl]

It's too late! She has not been a leader. Period. If she would have would have given the speech she gave in Virginia 2, 3 or 4 years ago, I would be knocking on every door in my town for her. Now I don't trust her. I don't trust her corporate ties. I especially don't trust her husband. I don't think she will stick up for the "people" because she just hasn't & now it's too late. I gave her a chance to fight against telecom immunity. She didn't. The last straw was trying to seat the Florida & Michigan delegation. Self-serving makes her Bush-Cheney.

I am so done with the Clintons!

[laughingcoyote]

I actually kinda like Hillary...too bad she has filled her staff with bottom-feeding political hacks like Mark Penn and Lanny Davis...her choices are a revealing preview of her 'managerial style' and demonstrate consistently bad judgement....Obama si....Clinton NO !

[lynnn]

Good point.

[Ides]

That's a nice list, but it's far less people than voted for Obama in my apartment building (not including the floors above me).

Universal mandates are not universal health care. Universal mandates are universal PUNISHMENT for not being able to afford healthcare. How is this Progressive?

[TheKiddy]

Ides - you are for Obama consistently and that is fine. however, it would be nice if you could read through the various health care plans and see how mandates work (or even look at Medicare as an example of mandated enrollment). The mandates that John Edwards proposed and that I believe are pretty much the same in Hillary Clinton's proposal do not carry punishments. If you are not enrolled and show up at the hospital for example, they enroll you. If you are poor enough not to be able to afford insurance, you are on Medicaid probably. if you are in the nether world of too much money for Medicaid and too little for private insurance, then Universal Healthcare is what you need. if to make the system work, membership in it is mandated, and if there are no penalties (assuming that the Republicans are prevented from creating them) then where is the beef? You can love Obama and abhor the thought of 15 million people going uninsured. It is possible to be for a candidate but not for every idea his advisors come up with.