"But Mom, She's a Girl!"

The words I hear frequently from my daughter these days -- "But MOM, she's a GIRL!"

"She," of course, is Hillary Clinton.

Being a member of our family, there's no doubt that if my eight-year-old daughter could vote, she'd be casting a ballot in the upcoming Democratic, not the Republican, primary.

And she knows that Mommy LOVES her some politics! But she's confused over my support for John Edwards. Not because of any lengthy discussions on issues or policy statements we've had after school. There's only one thing on her mind that matters -- girl power!

So, her logic goes, since Edwards isn't a girl (at least not that we know of!), "girls" shouldn't be voting for him -- we should be voting for the "girl" candidate. Granted, the political sphere of an eight-year-old girl is somewhat limited by definition, though if Hannah Montana or Ashley Tisdale were running for office in 2008, I have no doubt that PunditGirl would be completely up to speed on the issues of concert tour dates and long hair!

A perfectly reasonable political philosophy when you're in second grade.

I know it's confusing for her that the mommy who tells her she can do anything she wants and be anything she wants to be isn't on the forefront of supporting the first viable woman candidate for President of the United States. I have assured her that if HRC is the Democratic nominee I will obviously vote for her. But it's hard to explain subtle policy differences to my mini-PunditMe when in her experience the equations are:

Girls = good
Boys = bad (with the exception of her dad, of course!)

I know she is going to keep lobbying me on this one, just as I've been lobbying Mr. PunditMom for my personal choice.

Whoever I end up voting for when our primary is held (I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more than two choices on the primary ballot), I'm taking PunditGirl out of school for the time it takes me to vote.

Even if I don't check the box for her candidate, I want her to see the "girl" candidate on the ballot in the voting booth for herself.

You can find Joanne at her personal blog, PunditMom. She's also a Contributing Editor at BlogHer.

Follow Joanne Bamberger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PunditMom

Comments

[TommyMcCarthy]

Your daughter makes alot of sense.....­I think I'll support the girl too.......­..........­..tm

[remc]

The important message isn't "girls can be anyone they want to be" but "ANYBODY can be anyone they want to be". That said, as a kid I handed out buttons for McGovern (because I did think he was right) but mostly to tick off my staunchly Republican folks. Politics can be fun! Good for your daughter.

[glenniac]

PunditGirl and my second grade son are of one mind. He tells me Hillary should win because "it's a girl's turn."

[LeeFromVA]

I used to think the Hillary haters were insane, now at least I understand them. I used to worry that Hillary couldn't win in a general election, now I'm scared she could win. Seriously folks, it would not be a good thing for this country. Even if you like Hillary, you have to agree that she brings some major problems with her. I for one am tired of all the drama.

[StrategicThinker]

Glad that you are supporting the best candidate running on the Democratic side.

The one who will expand the electoral map in 2008, and sweep overwhelming majorities of Democrats into the U.S. Senate and House.

Now if only Congressional Democrats themselves could understand that.

[cynara]

"A perfectly reasonable political philosophy when you're in second grade."

Oh, don't limit this political philosophy to second grade girls. We got a blogfull from Erica Jong about how we should support Hillary on the important values/pol­icy/experi­ence criteria of her being a woman:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/seeing-sexism_b_80916.html

That said I agree with the other grown-ups, a decision as important as leader of the free world needs to be taken based on a lot more criteria than our genitalia. I want the best leader for the job, regardless of their gender!