Women just vote for another woman without really checking facts. There are many good women in politics today but Hillary Clinton sure is not one of them. Senator Obama would do more for you than Hillary every would. She's strictly pro big business despite what she said. She was handed a senate seat in New York. She didn't live in New York. Think about it.
I was one of those young women who got pregnant at 19 in the 60's and was terrified. I gave birth to a beautiful son who is now 42 years old and one of the most decent human beings on the planet. It was very hard for women back then.
Do you realize that Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and Hillary was all for it; he signed the telecommunications bill which allowed television stations and newspapers to be owned by the wealthy few. He also put a tax on social security [85% of it is taxed] unless your income is down near poverty. You cn bet the shieks in Saudi have donated plenty to the Clinton library.
Sorry for the long post. I got a little carried away.
We Are Hillary's Women
A mother who took her daughter to the polls reflects on what Hillary meant
On the afternoon of the California primary, my daughter Isabel skipped from her kindergarten class, her blond pigtails bouncing. She was wearing her public school uniform: khaki skort, white uniform blouse. Pinned across the entire heart-half of her chest was her proudest possession: an oversized Hillary button.
Months have passed, and Hillary Clinton's image was so battered in the road rally of her candidacy that she began to resemble a big beautiful car from the gasoline days that had been in too many fender benders.
Those of us who voted for her early became increasingly disappointed by her fear mongering, the gas tax ploy and the negative campaigning that gave her a temporary boost in the polls but ultimately cost her the public's trust. Almost always her speeches seemed limp, whether delivered before or after Obama's mountaintop exhortations.
But there was also greatness about her. Her wit in the debates. Her practical solutions. Her tenacious -- isn't that the word everyone used -- spirit. Her comeback smile. And more than anything, there was history.
I, like a few other mothers I know, took my daughter to the polling place to share the landmark moment: voting for a woman running for the presidential nomination.
Isabel was the one who asked to wear a Hillary button to school, and she didn't take it off all week. I wasn't sure if it violated the uniform code, but no one said anything.
The only person who engaged her in debate was the playground monitor. She asked Isabel why she wasn't voting for Obama (perhaps hoping a six-year old might provide some clarity in a choice that befuddled many).
Isabel smiled. "Because Hillary is a woman, and I think a woman for president would be a good thing for once. Don't you?"
A woman would be a good thing for once.
Not once had I voiced any sentiment about voting for Hillary because she was a woman. And yet, as we drove the three blocks to the polling place, and as I circled the parking lot a second time (What? No spaces at the polls?) I thought to myself: I am, in fact, about to vote for Hillary in large part because she's a woman.
I smile when I hear younger women who supported Obama say that the gender of the candidate wasn't an issue for them. Graciously, they often add: "But," the "but" a strange and telling qualification, "we owe our success in the workplace to the women in the generation before us."
Women my age -- in our late 40s and early 50s -- said the same thing. The whiptail of the baby boom, we acknowledged that the previous generation made our freedoms possible. But those of us at the lower chronological reaches of the "Hillary demographic" have more in common with our predecessors than our successors. We're at the-Hillary cut-off point for a reason.
Unlike the next generation down -- even women only a few years younger -- we still remember what it was like to have radically fewer choices as a woman.
Many of us voted for Hillary Clinton in large part because she's a woman, and we're proud of it, and for the most part, still very proud of her.
For us, the new world of opportunity - and, it must be said, added drudgery -- started becoming manifest just as we were moving out on our own. It was a time of rapid change, and we rode the headwaters.
For us, back alley abortions were not historical anecdotes. We heard our mothers whispering about them. Girls who got pregnant in school were shipped off before they showed. In grade school, we were only allowed to wear pants on cold days, and only under our skirts. Later, some of us went to work for women bosses, but we were still required by their male bosses to wear skirts to work.
In high school, most of us were huttled by our counselors into teaching careers ("easier to have a family"). Some of us who competed in sports were banned from using the weight equipment, reserved only for boys.
College hit like a mallet.
I carried a NOW card, styled my feathered bangs a la Gloria Steinem (Farrah Fawcett no longer), and participated in the consciousness klatches. I maskingtaped ERA on top of my mortarboard at my college graduation. I was shocked when the amendment didn't pass. I remember one particularly amusing CR session I attended on toy stereotyping. The young mothers in the group were buying their little boys dolls. The girls were getting balls. At the time, many of us refused to believe there was anything but the slimmest relationship between destiny and biology.
When we got jobs and babies, that's when the hard learning began. That's when we learned "having it all" didn't come for nothing.
Eventually, I ditched the teaching degree and became a journalist. I even interviewed Hillary Clinton when she was first lady.
I didn't like her a lot, though my quick assessment probably wasn't fair, as we only had a short time together, and I was the press, the enemy. But even if I didn't feel much warmth, I had no question I would vote for her. She had the best health care plan. She's tough and smart, and she knew how to put the votes together in the Senate. More than any of the other candidates, I could envision her as president.
I also had no doubt that Obama would make a great president. I knew he would expand, not shrink, the opportunities available to women. But given the choice between equally good candidates, I, like many of my female friends and neighbors, picked the woman.
As we entered the polling place, my kindergartener padded beside me, somber and watchful. She plastered her "I voted" sticker cock-eyed on her lapel.
She stood beside me, waiting while I made my choices, and then as she saw me put my hand on the big red button, she suddenly reached up and pressed it with me. COMMIT TO VOTE.
When we parted the curtain to leave the box, Isabel had a big, loose grin on her face. I wiped away my tears, but more kept on coming.
"Mommy," Isabel said, her smile tensing into worry. "Why are you crying? Did Hillary lose?"
I squeezed her hand.
"No." My voice cracked. "Just promise me you'll remember this moment."
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This article is just about as uplifting for the image of women as June Cleaver cleaning the refrigerator in heels and pearls.
This article was touching, but it doesn't change the fact that you're basically voting for Hillary because she's a woman. If Obama and Hillary were the same in every way possible except Obama was still male, you would still vote for Hillary? The correct answer is that you wouldn't know who to vote for. Gender, and race for that matter, shouldn't factor into your decision making. Voting for someone because of their race or gender is no better than voting against them because of their race or gender. The bottom line is you're either rewarding or penalizing a candidate for something they had no control over. And what kind of message are you sending to your daughter. I don't care how well-intentioned you think you are, this is just wrong. Hillary is a poor role model for young women and since younger women are breaking for Obama, even they realize that Hillary would make a poor President and they're not about to reward her for her gender. If I were a woman, I would resent any woman candidate who expected me to vote for her just because we're the same sex.
You were Farrah. Then Gloria. Now Hillary. When do you become Laura?
So your voting in part based on gender...that's sexism. As one Californian woman to another, I ask you to think the implecations of sexism.
I'm a 53-year-old white woman who has always been republic and I am supporting Obama. These women who are supporting HRC are immature and full of crap. HRC is not a feminist who cares about other women. If she were she would have left bill years ago when and maybe even before Arkasas when he started abusing women and there are many. She would have made a career on her own merits. These women who have made this a gender race are showing their ignorance and are just as desperate as their candidate. HRC cares nothing about other women. She cares about a legacy as the first woman president and will do and say anything to get that legacy. W.V. KT. show me how someone who makes 109 mil relates to you. Show me how someone like HRC who sits in a huge house with health insurance and anything at her disposal relates to you. The rest of you tell me how someone who can't even manage her campaign or finances could manage this country? Tell me how HRC has any experience in war other then a few sniper bullets that she had to duck? (In her dreams) Republicans for Obama are hanging tight in hopes that the Dems will put an end to this. Shame on any woman who lets their daugther think that HRC is a woman who should be looked up to!
In spite of your harsh tone, I do agree with you that I would be appalled if my daughter were to idolize Clinton. There are many amazing women who would be infinitely better role models.
Hillary's "solutions" are nothing more than not paying bills for 3 months. The summer gas tax holiday, the suspensions of home foreclosures for 3 months. How does this rectify the problems? She would run this country just like she ran her campaign into the red, and always put off paying. She hasn't learn how to budget like most of us. She hasn't learn how to sacrifice and make decisions like paying for your groceries and foregoing the cable tv. No Hillary charges and charges everything she needs, and pays for what she wants but can't get without cash upfront.
Identity politics is a sham. Look at the person's voting record. Are you against the Iraq War and the Patriot Act? If so, why would you voted for someone such as Hillary Clinton who voted for both?
Obama also voted to renew the Patriot Act.
The thrill of pulling the lever for a black man was as great for this white woman in her forties. As a New Yorker, I'd already voted for Hillary for Senator. You should all know, however, that an experienced, capable, genuine New Yorker, Nita Lowey, who had already begun HER senatorial bid, stepped aside for Hillary, by decree of the New York Democrats, particularly Charles Schumer. Hillary then grandly swept into office twice, both times against stuffed yet empty republican suits.
Hillary was a dilettante who made good, because she is a hard worker, in the Senate (if you discount certain votes against unnecessary wars and for flag-burning amendments). But she blighted Nita Lowey's career. I wouldn't get all teared up over her great advance for womenkind without remembering Nita Lowey.
Hillary was,as we know now, "positioning" herself for a run for the presidency. Unfortunately, that meant running over a few good people, something she's shown herself more than ready to do. Hooray for three-testicled Hillary. I'm so proud.
OOPS. I meant votes FOR unnecessary wars and flag-burning amendments.
"Many of us voted for Hillary Clinton in large part because she's a woman, and we're proud of it, and for the most part, still very proud of her."
Being proud of voting on the basis of bias, and trumpeting the fact, is stunning to this woman. Being female has nothing to do with being able to govern, does it? It is neither a detriment, nor an asset. Like eye color, height, shoe size. Right?
The flip side of this celebration of wrongheaded thinking is the fact that voting for a candidate because that person has an attribute of birth that contributes nothing to his or her ability to do the job means you are voting AGAINST those who lack that attribute. Imagine the men in this forum echoing you, saying, "Oh, I know just where you're coming from. Many of us voted for Barack Obama in large part because he's a man, and we're proud of it...." Or AA, saying, "Many of us voted for Barack Obama in large part because he's black, and we're proud of it...." People would immediately pile on in the first instance and call the person chavinistic, and in the second, the person would be branded a reverse racist.
The female sexism this contest has flushed out is appalling, second only to the rank racism.
As a member of the true Hillary demographic, I remember the days of Gloria Steinem -- and as a baby journalist, I interviewed her in 1971. I don't recall that our grand vision included invading or obliterating other countries, disseminating lies about our opponents, serving Wal-Mart or race-baiting for personal advancement. Most of all, it didn't include hitching a ride on the coattails of a powerful man.
The problem is that Sen. Clinton didn't make it to this point on her own steam. She is Bill Clinton's wife, the most recent ex-first lady. Does that in any way bother you? Do you think about where she would be if Bill Clinton wasn't her husband? A true female trailblazer will make it on her own merits, not on her daddy's name, not on her husband's merits, not on her brother's money, but on her very own merits, just like Bill did, during his run. It is important to some of us to have a leader that rises to that position because of their own talents, charisma, intelligence and abilities. Being a president's wife and the name recognition that goes along with that, along with voting for someone based on their sex or race is just not enough for me. That being said, she is a fighter, I'll give you that.
Especially when her main justification to vote for her is if you enjoyed the 90's peace and prosperity, then vote for me (another Clinton). Even though when her husband is out making money (a lot of it) with Colombia, China, Dubai and others promoting policies which Hillary would say publicly that she is opposed to (as her joint accounts are getting fatter). She simply says that no two spouses agree on everything. Well, if she and Bill are so different politically, then why does she insists that she would bring about the same conditions as when her husband was in charge? Also, I think Bill was for having a balanced budget - Hillary is all for getting what you want now, and paying for it later.
I'm a new father to a little girl (I already have a little boy) and I can see what the author is saying, but I can definitely get what you're saying. But maybe the good thing is that he little girl will feel inspired by Hillary's run and get there on her own merits.
Personally, I hope there's a woman working her way through the political pipeline now who will help us break that ceiling even sooner.
Whatever the case, I still think Hillary's ethics leave much to be desired in a role model for my daughter and I won't be boasting of this election to my daughter when she's old enough to appreciate it. There are better examples out there of strong, powerful, intelligent women who also display the sort of integrity which I believe Obama has demonstrated.
Peace,
Kelly
This was a great post. I as a black man felt the same way getting to push the plunger down for Obama. But Voting for him because he is a person who looks like me was the icing on the cake. I didn't vote for Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton as they were running as "Black Candidates." They were running for show whereas Obama is running to win.
Hillary would have made a great president and having Bill Clinton as First Lady would have been a great added bonus. The reality is I haven't had a candidate in my lifetime (Clinton included) that has truly moved me. If Barack Obama's name were Robert O'mally and he spoke of the American Dream and our ability to make change as he did, I would still have punched the card for him.
Geraldine Ferraro is right, the only reason Barack is in this race is because he's the young black candidate that appeals to a large number of segments. The reason why he's WINNING this race is because he was the BEST candidate.
I have a seven year old niece.
I am a male, and as her uncle would like her to enjoy every opportunity life can afford her. But she must do things the right way, and must learn the rules of fair play.
The presumption that a woman deserves a job based on her sex is just as myopic as saying a white male does. And the fact that neither you, nor those who voice similar sentiments don't see that as the ultimate hypocrisy bodes very ill for equality in our lifetime.
The day when her gender isn't an issue, when Baracks skin color isn't an issue, is the day we will have real equality. That day should be celebrated.
But now we're in the glass ceiling breaking phase, and there has to be a prototype. Tell your daughter race baiting is wrong someday, when she's able to understand the insidious nature of Hillarys tactics.
Oh, if you need to tell her a man like Mark Penn, or the man he emulated Karl Rove were responsible, but women have to make choices when playing in the all boys club, and are culpable for those decisions ( like voting to go to war )
My niece deserves a president with a working moral compass in office. She deserves to feel safe, and hopeful, not fearful that an African American as president would allow harm to come to her. Which is a preposterous notion.
Ah, this could only be written by a man...
I, too, am of Laura Saari's age, and these memories sure ring a bell for me. When I look at Hillary, I see someone who totally gets that you can't win if you're genuinely yourself in a misogynist world. You have to compromise yourself and grow a thick skin when they call you a ballbusting bitch or a big baby turning on the tears to manipulate people even though all you did was choke up for a moment like any man might do (and of course, a man would be highly praised for his sensitivity). I cringe when Marianne Williamson calls BO the real feminine force in this race, because I know if he were a woman he'd never, ever have gotten so far.
When I read such obtuse comments from men, I just try to remember we came a long way from the open hostility and contempt for women I remember so well in my youth. Now it's just as vicious and unfair, but covered over with a smile and an insistence that "it's not that she's a woman, it's that she's a bitch." Uh huh.
HRC remains the best candidate. Her being a woman has zip to do with my voting for her. Her being a woman who came out of it all tempered like steel, readying her for the toughest job in the free world, is the reason she has my vote.
you are wrong compromising ideas are one thing but you never compromise values. and my feeling is as fr as you're concerned anthing that comes out of a male voice will viewed as obtuse.
Senator Clinton would have been better served if she had been herself. She was my Senator for several years and I still have no idea who she is.
Is she:
The young idealistic lawyer who passed up high paying jobs to work for some social organization?
The lawyer who sat on walmart's board and actively worked against working citizens?
Is she a caring mother?
Is she a seasoned diplomat who "went places too dangerous for the president"?
Is she combat tested, by virtue of dodging sniper fire? With her daughter?
Is she someone who supports the racist comments made by her surrogate Geraldine Ferraro, as evidenced by her lack of a repudiation and denouncement?
Given her participation in a right wing extremist prayer group in DC, is she someone who is going to let extremist religious views affect her executive decision making?
Is she someone who was against NAFTA before she was for it before she was against it?
Is she someone who will get our troops out of Iraq?
Is she someone who voted to send troops to Iraq without reading the damn intelligence first?
Is she someone who favors cluster bombing civilians?
Is she someone who will run the country responsibly, given her inability to control campaign debt?
Her being a woman who resorted to race baiting and fear mongering seems to be conveniently overlooked by your ilk, precious.
Almost as if you had an insane sense of entitlement to the White House, based on years of oppression. Never mind the fact that she attempted to sink a rising star in the party, and outright said he " CAN'T WIN"/
Well why is that exactly. Would you care to elaborate? Or posit a hypothesis?
Because he's inexperience fighting 8 year old girls wielding ostensibly lethal potery on Bosnian tarmacs?
Say something substantive next time. And thats not a dig at your sex, just you.
I'm someone of "Hillary's Generation", but I do not support her. For all the reasons that have been mentioned sooo many times, she is not THE woman. I refuse to vote for her simply to be able to have voted for the first viable female candidate. It has been an historic campaign for both candidates. We've had a glimpse into the content of their characters and we've each made our own choices.
There is much to admire about HRC, but I don't believe she'd be the great change agent we need. But it remains to be seen what kind of deals will be made before its all over.
This serious time in history needs us to vote with our brains and not with our hearts. Certainly not out of resentment. We must be united; just think of the alternative.
Supreme Court
Rowe v. Wade
Iran / Middle East
Lobbyists
Corporatism
Bluster
Bravado
Recession
War Casualties
Environmental Degradation
The Constitution
younameit
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Posted May 20, 2008 | 03:59 PM (EST)