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Ten Reasons Why Women Should Unite Behind Obama If He's the Candidate
Should Sen. Barack Obama emerge as the Democratic candidate, women have compelling reasons to support his candidacy. Here are my top ten:
10. Nearly half of women voting in the Democratic primaries already support Sen. Obama's candidacy. CNN compiled exit polling data from all the states that held primaries before West Virginia. Averaging the percentage that each candidate received from women voters in these states, the two Democratic candidates were only three points apart (46.6% for Obama, 49.6% for Clinton). Sen. Obama won the women's vote in 13 states, compared to 16 for Clinton -- and that's not counting the caucuses where he won decisively, including among women.
9. Support for Sen. Obama among women is not surprising. His stands on issues important to women, from fair pay to reproductive justice to support for paid sick days and paid family leave, are strikingly similar to Sen. Clinton's. He'll be not just on the right side but a champion for gender justice. Above all, he has shown his commitment and ability to galvanize grassroots movements -- the key to moving our agenda.
8. He has attributed his understanding of gender to the strong women in his life, including his mother, grandmother and wife Michelle. Having been raised by a single mother, he has insights into the lives of those who need food stamps to feed their families or have to choose between seeking health care or paying the rent. As an engaged father he understands the reality of work-life conflicts, but he also sees how these fall disproportionately on women, and how much more difficult they are for women without resources.
7. Our anger at the sexism that emerged in this campaign, from low-life hecklers to high-profile pundits, should stoke our determination but not determine our vote. At the same time, we must all oppose the racism that emerged in both blatant and coded ways and recognize that breaking that glass ceiling is also a blow to the Big Boys, one that weakens them and strengthens us.
6. Women can set an example of unity to build a stronger party that draws on the unprecedented turnout in the primaries among African-Americans, women of all races, young people and others who have too long been left out of political decision-making. Such a coming together will not only power an election victory, but lay the groundwork for significant social change in the coming years.
5. John McCain on the war: Sen. Obama's early judgment opposing the war in Iraq puts him in an excellent position to take on John McCain, who has not only supported the war from its onset but professed to having no problem should troops remain in Iraq for 100 years. Women can't afford a president who thinks "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" is a stance to brag about.
4. John McCain on the right to abortion: not only does he oppose it, he's pledged to fill any Supreme Court vacancies with justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade.
3. John McCain on health care: McCain voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years. His health plan provides $2 billion in tax cuts to the top ten health insurance companies, while allowing those companies to exclude people with pre-existing conditions.
2. John McCain on valuing families: When Congress was considering the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, McCain voted to suspend it unless the federal government certified that compliance wouldn't increase business expenses or gave employers financial assistance to cover any costs. He supports a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and campaigned for an Arizona constitutional amendment banning any legal recognition to gay couples.
1. John McCain on fair pay: He opposes the Fair Pay Restoration Act on the grounds that it will create too many lawsuits (this is like opposing OSHA inspections on the grounds that too many violations will be found). He also opposed raising the minimum wage and safeguarding overtime rights.
And did I mention John McCain?
Those of us who have been supporting Obama welcome the passionate, hard-working supporters of Sen. Clinton -- as we will support her should the campaign turn out differently than expected. Every woman angry at the way in which gender discrimination has robbed our pay, crimped our opportunities, devalued our work in the labor force and in the home, minimized our pain and trivialized the barriers we face, now has a great opportunity to determine the outcome of this election. We also have a great responsibility, to ourselves and the women who follow.
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As an over50 feminist, Hillary embarrasses me. Those of us who are professional women face sexism everyday (and some of us also face racism from white women), yet we handle it with intelligence. We do not use the gender card throwing around the term seixist to get our way. It does not work.For the most part we are very successful but when we are not, we learn and become stronger.
We do not rely on our husbands to get positions for us and certainly not to fight our battles. We have always been fighters...every women. I am tired of Hillary yelling that she's a fighter as though this is some kind of novelty for women.
She is setting such a poor example for our next generation of feminists. Her lack of character and integrity is appalling. I started out as a strong advocate for Hillary. Now that I have listened carefully to her and have watched her actions, I realized that she is indeed the empty suit and is a poor leader. She would be a terrible president. It saddens me; I had hoped for more. But, afterall, it she was not Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, and, instead, Hillary Smith, she would not be a presidential candidate.
I will have to wait for the first "woman" President.
What doesn't much get mentioned is that a lot of people supporting Hillary crossed over from being Republicans or independents this year and many others are Democrats who had been voting for Republicans (as in WV and KY).
How many of these people who say they won't vote for Obama voted for Bush? Twice? Such voters won't be much missed by the Democratic Party as they were only here to vote for the woman or against the black guy.
These people don't much care if Roe gets overturned or if any of the Democratic agenda moves forward. They were here for other reasons.
I AM A WOMAN AND I WILL NEVER SUPPORT OBAMA - I WILL VOTE MCCAIN
How did you vote in 2000? 2004?
Obama is a flawed candidate. He is untested and unvetted. He gives a great speech but can't think well on his feet. Of the two democratics candidates, he is the least qualified. I will not vote for him in November. I'll write in Hillary's name on the ballot. I urge others to do so as well. Will McCain win? Maybe. But that's what happens when the democrats put out the flawed candidate.
I really don't get your logic. You think he's flawed. Okay. But you're gonna vote for McCain just because Obama is "untested and unvetted"? That's why you're gonna vote against women's rights, gay rights, and for more war?
Just because Obama studders doesn't mean he doesn't think well on his feet. He means he studders when presenting his thoughts. And most of the stuff he studdered about had nothing to do with the presidency, anyway. He studdered about junk accusations, not policy.
But, again. Would you mind explain to me how Obama's "flaws" make him worse than McCain?
And all of us women who were denied promotions only to train less qualified men should vote for Obama, why?
1 - I don't see what your job has to do with presidential elections.
2 - I guess whether or not Obama is qualified is a matter of opinion. But I do hope your opinion is based on independent research and not Clinton's campaigning.
3 - If Clinton goes back to the Senate, who's more likely to sign a bill she's crafted? Pres Obama or Pres McCain?
Because this isn't about you, that's why.
This is about our democracy and, no matter what you think, Obama is winning fair and square.
If you can somehow justify to yourself that you can put a man in the white house who not only calls his own wife a vile name but would happily pad the Supreme Court with judges who want to take away our fundamantal right to control our own bodies, who is against paying women fair wages, who will take away health care from women and children, who will send the future of our nation (our kids) to war then please don't ever call yourself a feminist.
Some Clinton supporters with the mentaity of CindyV need to get over themselves and remember that this election isn't about them, it isn't about Hillary--it is about our children, our country, our place in the world, and our future.
How selfish this mentality is! No matter how wronged I felt personally I would never, in a million years, put my own feelings over the well being of my kids and all the other kids in this world who are relying on us to create a future for them.
So you're not going to vote for him because you lost promotions? And you speak for all women?
And they said that Hillary was the victim of sexism? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle African-American. Her a-hole boss was a man, so all men suck? Great! So are you also not gonna vote for him because OJ killed Nicole?
Perhaps because he is not less Qualified. Hillary has served 8 years in elected office. Barack has served 11 years. He had the right judgment on Iraq, and many agree the right judgment on foreign policy in general. Hillary voted with George W Bush on almost everything until 2006. She supported withdrawal form Iraq only after her huge losses in February to Obama.
Hillary Clinton entered this race with a nearly 150 Super delegate lead. Most in the DNC were Clinton supporters. This did not make her more qualified, it made her more well known. The race was hers to lose. If you can think back 5 months she was condescending and downright smug.
Obama ran a well-organized grassroots movement, taking no lobbyist money. Most his supporters gave less than $100. Hillary relied on lobbyist money and corporate contributors to fill her war chest. Barack's movement amused her, but she knew she would seal the nomination by Super Tuesday. Her campaign had no plan B when she lost.
So please, do not suggest Hillary who has gone bankrupt twice in this campaign is a superior candidate. Only Karl Rove can share that logic. Her whole campaign since Super Tuesday has been to politely point out " He's black and we do not elect blacks in this country!". Subtle. If you think gender is tougher than being black , you should count the number of Black Fortune 500 CEOs,Governors and Congressional members. Compare that to the number of women.
the only reason he had the judgment because he was not in the senate - if he were he would have probably voted present!!!!!! like he has with everything else. HE IS NOT READY11 I AM A WOMAN AND HE WILL NOT GET MY VOTE!!!!!
Perhaps because he is not less Qualified. Hillary has served 8 years in elected office. Barack has served 11 years. He had the right judgment on Iraq, and many agree the right judgment on foreign policy in general. Hillary voted with George W Bush on almost everything until 2006. She supported withdrawal form Iraq only after her huge losses in February to Obama.
Hillary Clinton entered this race with a nearly 150 Super delegate lead. Most in the DNC were Clinton supporters. This did not make her more qualified, it made her more well known. The race was hers to lose. If you can think back 5 months she was condescending and downright smug.
Obama ran a well-organized grassroots movement, taking no lobbyist money. Most of his supporters gave less than $100. Hillary relied on lobbyist money and corporate contributors to fill her war chest. Barack's movement amused her, but she knew she would seal the nomination by Super Tuesday. Her campaign had no plan B when she lost.
Please, don't suggest Hillary whose mismanaged campaign has gone bankrupt twice is a superior candidate. Only Karl Rove can share that logic. Her whole campaign since Super Tuesday has been to politely point out " He's black and we do not elect blacks!". Subtle. If you think gender is tougher than being black , you should count the number of Black Fortune 500 CEOs,Governors and Congressional members. Compare that to the number of women in those positions.
As a woman, I believe it is far beyond the time in which a woman should have run this country. But what is important is that we can't just fall behind a candidate just because that candidate is a woman. Sen. Clinton was a flawed candidate from the beginning. We, as a country, are facing some very trying times. We are in two wars, one of which Sen. Clinton authorized without reading the NIE report. She lied to the country in order to boost her own resume. She made false promises to the country, i.e. the gas tax holiday, when she knew she had no intention of instituting those promises. It's almost the holiday weekend and she hasn't even introduced that bill yet. This should prove to those who supported her that she was only saying what she needed to say in order to win. Another reason she was flawed was the way she ran her campaign. The senator, her campaign and her surrogates have been very divisive in this election. She has shown that she will do whatever in order to win. As a woman, I know we will have a woman president one day. In 2008, the idea of having a female president was great but the female candidate was just not the right one.
Well said. I have known many fine women who would have made great presidents, but it was not the right time. Now is the right time, but Hillary is not the right candidate. It is truly not sexist. I adore women and would vote for one in a heartbeat for any office, if she has the qualities I admire. Honesty, for me is the first. If you are deliberately dishonest - and both Clintons are - you lose my vote before we even get to policy.
Her health care plan also is horribly deceptive, benefiting HMOs and insurance company's far more than those who need but cannot afford health insurance. She wants mandatory health insurance and will offer some subsidy for the poor, but they will still have to pay for it. Direct health care, something no candidate has proposed , is the most effective. Reopen the clinics and community hospitals of the fifties and expand them and make them better. Medicare and Medicaid was a boondoggle to make money for private hospitals and doctors. Federal and state health care should have never entered into a support system for private profiteers.
One more reason: As a woman, it's plain embarrassing to listen to women who will vote against our own interests just because their first-choice nominee didn't win. It reinforces every caricature that misogynsts have of us as being too hormonal to be competent.
I'll give you an 11th reason to show your support for Obama now: Hillary, Ferraro and their hardcore women supporters are hijacking the voice of women to use for political gain, and it is only hurting the image of women, and future opportunities for women to run for president:
http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/05/geraldine-ferraros-sexism-neo.html
I totally agree with you. Hillary is exploiting feminism for her ambition. Not to mention racism. It's shocking.
I would hope that one day there will be a woman who will give me a good reason to vote for them. These "hardcore" women supporters do not speak for me as a woman. They actually worry me.
You are so right! Ferraro is the Reverend Wright of Womens Issues. Both she and Wright are locked in the past and unable to even see the present, much less the future.
No woman can vote Republican. Their party platform is anti women. It does not matter if McCain, Romney or who knows who is their candidate, they are anti women.
Woman must vote for a Democrat no matter he or she.
I am a woman and I'm voting for Ron Paul, even if I have to write his name in. Don't tell me what to do.
Better to vote principle and vote independent. Neither the Republicans nor Democrats serve the needs of women. They exist to serve lobbyist and special interests. Don't buy their facade, nothing will change with Obama. Vote 3rd party and start to take control of your own future. Some will say that will not make any difference, those are the ones that continue to propagate the Republican and Democratic control and continue to enforce the glass ceiling.
iI AM A WOMAN AND IF CLINTON IS NOT THE NOMINEE I WILL VOTE MCCAIN NEVERY OBAMA
Why is it automatically assumed that a woman will be a champion for women simply because she's a woman?
To the women here, do you find it problematic that a long serving NY congresswoman with far more experience than Hillary Clinton had to step aside in the 2000 Senate race to clear the way for Hillary Clinton's run?
Do you find it problematic that women like Dee Dee Myers, who worked in the Clinton White House, told ABC that "Not only would Hillary sort of humiliate you in front of your colleagues or whoever happened to be around...Hillary tended to kind of campaign against people behind their back, and that was certainly my experience..."She was not happy with me, but she never confronted me. She would go call [then-White House chief of staff] Leon [Panetta] in and yell at him and then he'd have to call me in and say, 'Mrs. Clinton is really upset about X. You said Y, and she disagrees with that, and you know, she wants you to fix it,' or whatever."
To the women here, do you find any of this problematic?
In my mind, this race has nothing to do with race or gender. It has to do with issues such as health care, foreign policy, and economic issues that affect all of us.
Thanks Mark77 for speaking out.. Your comments do not surprise me. She is a dictator and power monger!
Hillary has always been the worst kind of feminist. She pours on the tears when she needs to, leans on her man when she needs to , and rallies feminists when she needs to and when she isn't happy, she whines like a baby and asks for the rules to be changed.
Truly strong women play by the rules and make no excuses. Obama didn't beat Hillary. Hillary beat Hillary - like a two dollar mule.
"4. John McCain on the right to abortion: not only does he oppose it, he's pledged to fill any Supreme Court vacancies with justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade."
There it is.
Here's a quick thought that might help in the decision process, too. Who is more sexist, a man who once said "sweetie" (a term of endearment, albeit maybe unprofessional at the time) and apologized for it personally...
or...
The guy who called his wife a trollop and a c*nt in front of a room full of reporters?
Even if you hate Obama, please think about Ellen's arguements. If Ellen doesn't convince you, just keep saying to yourself, "McCain called his wife a c*nt. McCain called his wife a c*nt. McCain called his wife..."
A woman at my bank started this race with Huckabee, when he dropped out she miraculously appeard with Hillary. A couple of weeks ago when I saw Hillary's end in spite of others who have not yet seen it, I asked her who she would set camp with next. To my horror she said McCain. I have a bumer sticker for her and those others who will take this course, "Anybody WHITE 08'.
Thank you for telling the truth about the racial politics here.
Nice post Ellen. I'm one of those Hillary supporters who has vowed to vote for McCain in the GE, if Hillary loses the nomination. Your post will help to heal some of the wounds. At least I thought so until I read the comments. Then I realized again that this is needed (a McCain win) to make others realize that women count too.
Wow. You'd damn the world for generations in order to prove that point that "women count too"?
Remember this: Senator Clinton began this race as the presumptive nominee ... and that wasn't just against Senator Obama, that was against qualified (white) men like Senators Biden and Edwards.
You can't think of any reason other than sexism why she lost the nomination? And you can somehow justify a vote against your own, your daughter's and your grand-daughter's interests as a reasonable act of protest against the glass ceiling?
I happen to think that Sen. Clinton's losing the race on her own merits is the ultimate expression of feminism: she asked to be judged equally versus the men, she was, she lost. I fail to see sexism at work there.
The logic of what you said baffles me beyond insanity.
Will women count more or less when you lose the right to legal, safe abortion, no paid maternity leave, no fair pay, even more expensive and harder to get health insurance, additional cuts in programs that provide for the poor, particularly children and women (all to pay for tax cuts for the most profitable corporations in the country), and finally, your children and/or the children of those around you will be less safe, less educated and raised in an ongoing state of fear and uncertainty as the environment crumbles around us?
My god, what are you thinking? Who exactly are you going to teach a lesson to? McCain is counting on people to ignore the evidence and vote against their own best interests, but wow. THIS is what appeasement looks like. You'll trade your future to teach Obama a lesson?
Misogyny is a red herring. Logic dictates no sexism on Obama's part; he was raised and lives in a houseful of women he adores and who adore him. Someone like "frustrated" who will vote against her self-interest like this is hopeless. She must be one of the seventy persons in the U.S. who are better off than they were eight years ago.
Interesting logic, evaluating a candidate on what 'some' of their supporters say. Given the recorded comments of some West Virginia Hillary supporters...."I can't support anyone who's black, we've had too much conflict with that race", "I can't vote for a Muslim", "I've had enough Hussein", I guess that means that I could never support Hillary for an office, despite her qualifications.
Yikes.
This type of reaction feeds the perception that women never learn how to play on teams - that we never learn how to accept gracious defeat and support the winner. It feeds the belief that women will let emotional reactions overrule logical choices.
What I regret most with this campaign is the bitter invective from women in the Clinton camp against women in the Obama camp. I am concerned by older supporters retorts that since they are past pregnancy risks and child rearing, well tough shiskies for the younger Obama supporters.
African Americans and Native Americans have been treated far worse than women, contrary to what NOW would have you believe. Some of these "feminists" ought to visit the ghetto or reservation to see how deep seated the problems are for people hopelessly mired in poverty and self loathing.
And if these feminists think they are so oppressed, let them visit some Islamic, African and Asian societies to see how good they have it.
I have sympathy for women's issues, but let's get real here. They are not the victims they portray themselves to be. Radical women's groups like NOW should realize that two wrongs don't make a right.
GREAT POINT!!
THIS Jewish American and "FORMER" Clinton Supporter AGREES!
Who said we are victims? we are standing up and saying enough is enough. We have seen what our male counterparts (black, white, yellow and red) are doing to this world and our children (boys and girls) and we can't take it anymore. Mother nature is calling.
Really, and how does a vote for McCain help do anything for this world? Are his values the ones you identify closest with? How is a vote for McCain making the statement that women will not be ignored?
Catherine the Great, anyone? Queen Elizabeth I? Catherine De Medici?
Women control most of the wealth in the world. 80% of discretionary income is spent by women on themselves. (Just look at a Sears Catalog, or the shops in the mall. 80% is devoted to women - and they do not devote space for anything but making money). Most households are dominated and controlled by women - and always have been.
It is true until the 1980's, most men got to go to work and hand over their paycheck to their wives. Some refused to do so, and they were vilified. Were some men abusive and controlling? Absolutely. But so are many women. Who abuses and murders more children - women. FACT. Ever notice that male homosexuals are still vilified while lesbians ( Ellen, Rosie O'Donnell, Cynthia Nixon, Suzie Orman, Portia Derossi )are now mainstream?
Facts are stubborn things. Just because we may not hear them, accept them or like them, doesn't make them untrue.
Only when women are fully liberated will men be. That's why I have always supported the ERA.
I have to strongly disagree! Men (of all ethnic groups, tribes and peoples) have been fighting other men (of all ethnci groups, tribes and peoples) over power, wealth and land for our entire human history while their women have been subjected to slavery, rape, prostitution and domestic entrapment. It wasn't until the 20th century did women begin to gain rights as anything but the property of men and second class citizenship. Read your history dude! The role of powerful women in the history of humanity is far LESS recognized and seen as men. And the common woman of almost every age (except ours) has suffered GREATLY under the partriarchy!!!
I'm a Black woman and a feminist. Racism and Sexism BOTH affect me simultaneously, and they are both major problems. We don't have to choose one or the other. We have to fight both of them.
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