By Deborah Siegel and Rebecca Wallace-Segall
It started like this: "I was torn, but I finally decided. How 'bout you?
"Oh, I'm not torn."
"You're for Obama then, right?" said resignedly. We're young, progressive, possibly subversive...It seemed like the current predictable choice.
"You're kidding? Didn't you get my email?" said disbelievingly.
"What email?"
"The spiel on why I 'm voting for Hillary...I assumed you didn't respond out polite discomfort.
"No - no! I never got it! Didn't you read my blog?"
Squeals and joy erupted through the phone lines across the boroughs. And there it was: we had come out to each other as two of the only young Hillary supporters in our social circle. It was a relief to know that each of us was not alone. There's been an explosion of fervor for Barack Obama, a very strong candidate as well, in our progressive enclaves as of late. So much so that when we out ourselves as Hillary fans, we're often met by bafflement followed by suggestions that our position is galvanized purely by emotions, especially when we dare to admit that the fact that she is a woman inspires us.
It's not the charge that is completely off-base. Rather, it's the assumption that voting is ever an emotion-free act. Drew Westen, a psychologist and author, suggests that voters are more driven by emotions than informed interests. Interestingly, the subjects of his studies were all men.
Consider America's present collective emotional state: George W. Bush poisoned our trust in our government to such an extent that many of us progressives now feel suspicious of legacy of any kind. Some of our friends and family say they don't like Hillary because they distrust establishment altogether. Others are focused on her 2002 vote in favor of invading Iraq, a war that was instigated on the basis of government-fabricated evidence. And then there are other emotions: the belief that she is riding on her husband's coattails; the fear that she is unelectable because she is a woman; or, as one of our progressive (and beloved) fathers puts it, "I just don't like that woman."
Popular talk stigmatizes women who vote their gender, but men clearly vote their gender too. In fact, in Iowa, more men voted their gender than women did, noted quantitatively-oriented sociologist Virginia Rutter. While we believe that gender plays an inspirational role, sometimes invisible, for both men and women, we also believe that Hillary is the more qualified and electable of the two talented, exciting candidates. We believe in Hillary, and we believe that, based on her experience, she has the ability to get the job done more efficiently than her opponent.
But in overwhelming numbers, our progressive friends and some family members are inspired by Obama's clean slate, bold moralism, outsider status, audacity and hope. We also think these things sound great, but untested, they are mere phrases gracefully turned by a particularly winsome wonderboy whose actions will inevitably disappoint as he is forced to contend with political machinery designed to limit his powers.
Hillary herself once said she's a Rorschach test, as people tend to project on her their hopes and fears. We think Obama is a Rorscharch too.
We are voting for the most qualified candidate who is also, momentously, a woman. She is the most qualified whether her husband was president or not. She is the most qualified candidate whether she voted in favor of war or not. She has made the forward-looking pledge to end the war as president. And we believe she is the most qualified candidate to do so. To say she is unelectable seems a self-fulfilling prophecy. We envision Hillary at the helm. We both believe that her experience will hold up better against McCain.
While we fear that Hillary-hate may be more powerful, in the end, than our desire for her to win, we have the audacity to hope that public statements of support have the power to tip the balance. It did for one of us.
And we hope it might for you.
Rebecca Wallace-Segall is a freelance writer in New York City and the Director of WritopiaLab.
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Hillary Clinton is a terrifical
I could understand this anger/hate if aimed at our present government
And all because she is a strong woman. This is her time to be elected.
Hillary go after the Brownies, Campfire Girls the Girl Scouts Not Just The Older Women but the Young Girls and Women that could really have a Fair Playing field in their Future. The experience Hillary has is exactly what will allow for change, you can talk all day and all night about HOPE , CHANGE, DREAMS, etc.but if you have to take the first two to three years learning enough about what it takes to be President all the Would Be Hopes and All The New Change Sounds Good, BUT IS NOT REALISTIC, especially when you also have to be dealing with world crises, from day one.
ONLY EXPERIENCE can make the wheels turn in the right direction for the Real Change we need in America as well as the World Stage. Its Idealistic and Naïve to think otherwise (Obama helping put youth groups together in Chicago is fine, But it isn’t what we need to bring countries together
Come on, subversive
The Obamamania is uncomforta
Are you voting for Hillary the personalit
Hillary the woman?
Hillary the resume?
Or Hillary the myth?
I was about your age when I voted for Bill Clinton, the inexperien
I figure a lot of the Obama supporters feel that same way now.
The reason I ask about Hillary the myth is I wonder what you really remember about Hillary's time in the White House (aside from the impeachmen
But I'm not here to crush any dreams. I think its time for both candidates and their supporters to emphasize what is positive about being a Democrat, and their candidates
THIS woman will not represent YOUR interests - economical
If you really researched her various positions, you would soon see that Ms. Hill is:
Lobbyist friendly to the max.
Military/I
Family Finances tied up with Bush Family Finances in such a way that the two "Dynasties
SHE IS A DLC CHICK.
She's a K-Street Chick.
She's a Yalie spouse.
She ain't DNC in the least.
This is from an old chick who does her homework.
I would LOVE to vote the first woman in.
Just not THIS woman.
if being a first lady is giving you experiance to be president than i say why no voting for barbara bush & nancy reagan.
The USA needs a woman president but not hillary clinton.