Gender Card -- Poke Her -- Old Maid -- War

Coming out for Hillary Clinton in one-on-one or small group situations still reminds me of coming out as a lesbian. I'm the lesbian, not Hillary, contrary to the sledge-hammer innuendos of Ann Coulter. Though we wish the best for everyone, Hillary may not be a lesbian. And that's okay.

And, is it just me, or does Ann look a lot like the young, recumbent and recently unwrapped King Tut?

Approaching the declaration for Hillary is like approaching that triple-solcow moment in a skating routine. Have I got the strength, the torque, the momentum, the sequins to come out to this person? Since I don't want my inner Dick Button murmuring disappointedly, "Aw, she only did a double," I declare my orientation for Hillary and prepare myself for the inevitable Hilla-phobia blowback.

The other night at my study group dinner, it happened again. About eight of us meet monthly to discuss some dense, progressive policy book we all claim to have read. I'm generally seated at the kid's table. Before we got into the book discussion, we were doing our usual recap of recent political events. Several members always end up moaning and thudding their foreheads on the table in the 'dovening for democracy' portion of the evening.

When we got to discussing the presidential campaign, my dear partner asked everyone to go around the table and announce who they were for, and cruelly looked at me to start. I took what I knew would be my last bite of mushroom risotto for the evening and declared I was for Hillary.

A fine expectorated Chianti mist was settling from my friend's mouth, as she bleated in horror, "Why?"

"Other than the fact that I think she would make Bill O'Really's head blow up and that she is the most qualified for the job. . ," I started. "WHAT has she done?" my apoplectic friend silent screamed. I continued, "I support her just so that I can get into fights with people about the appalling levels of sexism in the world," and daubed a small bit of mushroom off my neighbor's cuff.

Full disclosure: at the gym I've been listening to the audiotape of Susan Falludi's The Terror Dream on my iPod. Falludi reports so extensively and bloodlessly on the uses of 9/11 to restore "traditional" manhood, marriage and maternity that she has gotten hysterical, vicious reviews which prove her point exactly. The men at the gym seem genuinely unsettled by my mirrored glowering at them.

It was as if I were one of those Dixie Chicks of Bridge and had held up a hand-made sign at an awards ceremony. Talk about gender card. I started to lay them out on the table. In South Carolina, a woman, perhaps Ann Coulter's grandmother, called Hillary a bitch and John McCain didn't cut her off. He has, no doubt, heard or even said worse. Maureen Dowd never met a woman she liked, making her a worthy NY Times columnist. Katie Couric can't catch a break.

My friend rebutted from east, west, north and south. Perhaps I overtricked, when I endplayed her with, "Why do you hate yourself so much?" I'm not proud of it. Let the conversation continue.

Comments

[IntrepidReader]

Since I was alive in 1992 and clearly remember exactly how rabidly the Republicans hated the Clintons from 92 on, I would say that Hillary will bring out a level of viciousness no other Democrat candidate would receive.

Hillary Clinton was not just hated, she was compared to Al Capone, Satan, Jezebel...you name it, she was evil incarnate in the eyes of not just the right wing fringe, but many moderate Republicans as well. The moderate Repubs looked at her the way Democrats looked at Nancy Reagan; they weren't as extreme in their expressions of distaste, but they made it clear they didn't like this cold, bossy, power-hungry woman.

In other words, I believe Hillary brings more negative baggage with her than all the other presidential contenders combined.

I was very relieved to see Bill Clinton's second term end. Not because I didn't like President Clinton, but because I was so damned tired of the constant drama and nastiness that the very name Clinton seemed to invoke. I don't want to relive that, and I'm not interested in voting for the one I know was always the "even more hated Clinton".

[pdxuser]

Kate, I love my former mayor Vera Katz and my former governor, Barbara Roberts. I voted for them both. But I do not support Hillary. And it's not because she's a woman. I also don't care much for Katie Couric, and it's not because she's a woman. I also disagree frequently with Dowd, and it's not because she's a woman.

You disagree with Dowd, a woman. Why do you hate yourself so much?

[katiekat489]

I too would love to vote for a woman and think it will be time someday soon. If anyone really wants to win the general the path is not thru Clinton. I really like what is happening with Obama and what he has said about an open government , net neutrality, Edwards about the corporations, unions and the middle class. I beg someone to tell me what she says other than the same robotic answers.
I am having a really hard time trying to figure out what is wrong with the Dems and progressives that they could so ignore what she has done in the Senate, and now she just blurs the lines even further with each debate. I truly beleive we are in for hell if she is nominated and a lot of it will come from her. This is the best way to get the Repugs out in full force and split our party down the middle because I can guarantee you that she will not get the support that is needed. But if it is a woman issue how about a black person-is it not the time for that also????Clinton/Feinstein would just complete this picture for some clarity.

[InternationalObserver]

The interesting question will be (if Hillary wins the nomination) 'who will she choose as her running mate?' Obama and Edwards would both be excellent, but it seems thus far that the nomination race is going to be a 'bruising encounter'.
So Biden it is??

[CitizenE]

The big fear with Hillary is that people will hate and disrespect her. There is no small amount of misogyny in this, a rather disgusting, but inconvenient truth. Of course, Obama will attract some hideous and open ethnophobia and probably...to be realistic...voting booth closet racism.
How much heat can the left stand is probably the real question. Like many, I wish Al Gore were in the race. Mrs. Clinton worries me because I fear a Republican lite Presidency. Mr. Obama frightens me because I don't know whether he will attract the kind of staffs that will be necessary and be able to administer them effectively. I like the politics of just about all the rest as much if not better than the two in front, but I don't see the landscape changing much. It's really up to Barack Obama to demonstrate that he'll be a better President. He's got a few more months to do that.

[Jjc2006]

Thank you Kate
Wonderful post. I started out supporting John Edwards, and while I still like and support John, and would vote for any of the democratic noms if they are chosen, I have moved over to Hillary support.

I like Hillary. Always have. Don't agree with her on anything but being a woman of the same age I understand a lot of her thinking. Too hawkish? Of course she is. ANY WOMAN who runs for "commander-in-chief" who grew up as Hillary and I did know the facts: to be accepted in that "male" role, the SHE persons must show through rhetoric they can be twice as tough as any man just to prove worthy.
Too close to the corporations? I saw what they did to her when she tried to get the concept of universal health care started...they went after her in way none of us, including Hillary, expected. She learned. Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closers.
As for lobbyists, the purity test is silly. I am a teacher and I have a lobbyist working for me through NEA. Without them, it is impossible for people like teachers, nurses, mailcarriers to be heard. I don't like but those are the rules of the game right now. Until we get someone elected from the left, and a lot more congress critters from the left on board, we can't change the rules.

I like the idea of a woman for president. And yea, gender does matter...always has.
Gender is an issue in running for this office. Race is an issue in running for this office. Religion is an issue in running for this office. If these things were not issues then we would not have had all 43 presidents being exclusively male, white and Christian.

[jarthur]

I don't happen to think Senator Clinton is the most qualified candidate, but that's not the only reason I won't caucus for her in January (yes, I'm an Iowan). It's because I'm sick and tired of the anger and venom and grudges and nastiness that have come to dominate our politics. Like it or not, Ms. Clinton won't only make O'Reilly's head explode. She'll make the collective head of every conservative with a memory dating back past 1999 explode too. And do we really think that Hillary Clinton doesn't harbor a little resentment of her own? I'm not saying she would be purposely spiteful, but emotions come into every decision a person makes, and she is no exception. We need to get out of the gridlock. We desperately need a president who can move us beyond the ugliness. Hillary Clinton is not that person, no matter her gender.

[JamesinPG]

It's clear that Hillary Clinton is a polarizing figure. What is not so clear is exactly why. Every explanation that I've heard so far (insincerity, ambition, etc.) could easily be applied to any of the front runners of either party.

However before all my fellow progressives sacrifice themselves on the altar of idealogical purity and vow to go third party may we please consider the alternative to a united Democratic party in the next election. Republicans are counting on us to self-destruct in 2008. It's the only possible way that they can retain the White House. (Can you even imagine saying "President Giuliani?").

Like it or not democracy is a game of compromise. Other manipulative ambitious triangulating politicians have become President. But what progressive would argue the net gains of Roosevelt's New Deal and Johnson's Great Society and Civil Rights Act.

As President, Hillary Clinton might not always do exactly as we would wish, but certainly she has skills and intelligence and a far greater likelyhood of being responsive to the progressive agenda than any of the Republican disasters-in-waiting that might oppose her. So, if she is the nominee I will support her like the republic depends up on it-because I believe it does.

[Ravenlea]

I have very mixed feelings about Hillary. I have been disappointed in some of her decisions, though I think she has been a good Senator. She is my senator so I care more than I might about that. I'm an unabashed fan of Bill. I do think there's baggage there that could be a problem. Mostly, I really like Kucinich, who has, among other virtues, been the one person in Congress to force the issue of Impeachment. It is to our everlasting shame that we have not even tried to Impeach out Criminal in Chief and the Vice Criminal. And however foregone the conclusion may have been, I'm disappointed that Clinton, Obama, Dodd, et al didn't show up for the Mukasey vote.

I think all the Democratic candidates have a lot to offer so if Hillary is our candidate, I'll back her with gusto. But even though I like her and I like the idea of a woman president, I'm not sure she's the one... at least not for me. She'd rise a mile in my estimation if she called for impeachment, but I don't anticipate that happening.

[chucktrotter]

NABNYC pretty much said it all. It appears that, as did her husband, she readily accepts the demise of America's middle class. I say, "Screw lassiez faire capitalism"! Are any of you aware of which senator "did not" vote when the new bankruptcy bill was swept through Congress? Of course, Bill "was" undergoing a critical surgical procedure that day. He golfed the previous day. It would seem that all candidates from both parties have accepted a two-class society. Am I missing something, here?

[progressiveinga]

I'm with you Kate, my sister lesbitarian. Hillary's the one who can lead this country back to its humanity. The response I usually get when I announce I'm a bona fide Hillaryite is "do you really think she can win?" And I just smile and say "damn right".

[Hattie]

Let's grow up. The Greens were fun, Kucinich has those darling funny ears, etc. but we've got a world to save and we have just the woman to do it.
And a big smooch to you, Kate my darling, for speaking up for Hillary in liberal circles. What is wrong with some people? We need the best person, the smartest, the most experienced and that would be she.
What always gets forgotten is that we women, unimportant though we be, each have a vote. And women will vote for her, not just self-styled liberals but all kinds of women.
What a great day that will be. The first woman president!
Yay!

[LeeFromVA]

It's amazing to me that there are still people out there that think Hillary has the best chance of winning. This is a liberal web site and the anti-Hillary posts are overwhelming. Doesn't that tell you something. How hard would it be for the Republicans to capitalize on her negatives? They don't have to convert liberals into conservatives, they just have to energize their base and put some doubt in the swing vote. Hell, 51 percent say they'll never vote for her and they haven't even begun their campaign against her yet. The problem is people think she's the same as Bill. But Bill was likeable, and she simply is not. I loved him and hate her, and there are many like me. This election is the Democrats to lose, and the quickest way to do that is to nominate Hillary. I'm a supporter of Obama, as I believe anyone that read Dreams from my Father would be, but PLEASE, I'm begging you, vote for anyone but Hillary.

[NABNYC]

If anyone wants to support a candidate solely based upon the characteristics of their birth - i.e., she's female - that's okay. Stupid, but still okay. Probably no more or less stupid than, for example, only voting for men, or for white people, or Christians.

But your friend's question requires a serious response, not just the silly O'Really would hate it. Olbermann has already driven O'Really to the brink. We don't need to devote the presidency to the same task.

Hillary has been an elected official for 7 years. What has she done? And please do not tell me what her husband did when he was an elected official because that's nonresponsive. I assume the surgeon's wife is supportive, but that doesn't mean she gets to hold the scalpel.

Hillary voted for the war in Iraq when many of her colleageus in the Senate did not. They realized war had not been justified, and there was some crazy talk and hype from the Bush people which made it even more suspicious.

She supports Nafta and wants it extended. She keeps voting for more war in Iraq, and now for war in Iran. She voted for a law to make it illegal to burn a flag (although clearly it is a first amendment freedom of expression issue and there is no compelling state interest to overcome that freedom - just a little right-wing insanity). She's kissed up to the worst right-wingers in the country including Gingrich and Murdoch. What has she done for working people? Not a thing.

Name one thing Hillary Clinton has done. Other than solicit money from corporations.

Don't vote for Hillary. Vote for Edwards or Obama. Anyone but Hillary.

[blueraven]

I refuse to vote with my genitalia. You shouldn't, either.