Damned if She Does

So there it is. The dreaded emotion card. What will we do with a woman in the white house if she becomes -- gasp -- emotional. The reaction to Hillary's moment of "welling up" is offensive to me; only one step above concerns over how a White House would function with a leader who gets PMS. Puuuullleeeease.

Is the measure of a successful leader that they become an automaton? A robot? Do we want our future president never to display emotion or anything resembling a humanoid? Do we expect of them unlimited energy, or that they will never experience fatigue? What might that say about a candidate if they could run a grueling campaign and never let us see those emotions, successfully conceal them from all of the voters?

I, for one, like my leaders with a little humanity peeking out of their stuffing. A little frailty. OK. I could do without world leaders shooting people. Perhaps Dick Cheney took it a mite too far on that ill-fated duck hunting expedition.

But why the Hillary headlines over a moment of honesty?

We could rifle through history and find many a world leader who has had a misty-eyed public moment. Doesn't this make them more like us? More likeable even?

It seemed just a mere moment ago, Hillary was being taken to task for her famous "I'm not gonna stay home and bake cookies and stand by my man Tammy Wynette" statement. She took a drubbing for being too tough, too much of a bra burning feminist, bashing housewives everywhere who had chosen to tend home and hearth exclusively. So which is it? What exactly do we expect of our female leaders and how double is the standard?

I can't imagine the excruciating, constant pressure of a campaign trail. You suffer some slings and arrows and even though your spouse may be screaming to set a record straight, a political advisor somewhere tells you what is "prudent." Just keeping an even keel with your emotions publicly deserves an Oscar nomination. I'd be tempted more than once to let loose at a heckler, really dazzle 'em with a few choice words; do a "Howard Dean." Boy that would feel blessedly human.

From campaign trail hot dogs and bad fried food to late nights and pressing flesh so frequently you must just want to take a bath in Purcell at the end of the day, you have to be committed. You have to want it. And nothing less than perfection is expected. One false move, one misstep, and an entire press corps and your opponents will rain criticism down on you like rice at a wedding.

I've seen tears in George Bush's eyes as he asked about the wounded from Iraq. Were those tears okay because they were shed for the honorable? Do I think he is a Nancy boy? If Condi Rice cried watching re-runs of Brian's Song does that make her unfit to help forge foreign policy?

If we are looking for candidates devoid of emotion, then we are looking toward a hollow and soulless future as a country. We will not be attracting the best and brightest. I say bring on the emotion--good and even bad. Let me see a little life in the future Commander in chief, whether or not their cup size is found in their jock strap or their blouse.

Comments

[isis]

She once said that she had the heart of a Democrat and the mind of a Republican. I don't like her mind because I have come to see Republicans as selfish and manipulative and worshiping power.

[TwoCentsWorth]

Woodruff: A great post!

There are a number of bloggers who write about the women voters changing there vote to support Hillary in the NH primary --

As I recall, one report I read stated that:

1) Hillary won the women's vote by about "12" percentage points, and
2) Obama won the men's vote by about "11" percentage points.

If this is accurate, then why were all the pundits positing a "women's gender gap" vote for Hillary while not even mentioning the "men's gender gap" vote that went to Obama?

Scholar bloggers, please weigh in with the facts on this point.

[monique]

Nice writing, and reasonable, legitimate points.

I find it sad that because people are so smitten with their own candidate, that they find it impossible to respond to this incident with anything but venom and ugliness.

Like Huckabee--whom I would never vote for, but who I do not feel compelled to spew hate towards either--said "Give her a break."

So many Obama supporters feel so strongly about their candidate that they feel they must hate Hillary, and say such downright brutal and unnecessary things. I doubt Barack would agree with the unkind way in which his supporters are behaving.

I may prefer Hillary over Obama this time around (I'd rather elect Obama in another 4-8 years when he is more seasoned) but that does not mean that I dislike him. Quite the opposite. And my impression is that he is not vicious like so many of his supporters online are behaving.

Remember--his message is one of hope. How can people embrace such a positive message, and yet display such negative and self-defeating qualities?

Her tears were real, and I don't think they were just about her. They may have been released because of fatigue, but I believe her determination to fight on is rooted in altruistic values, and not self-centered ones.

[Spookcatcher]

"hollow and soul-less country". If you read the bestsellers and the predominance of bloggers they are very vocal atheists and evolutionists, so welocome to the New World Order. Emotions should be legitimate tactics because it may bring her personal gain and that resembles capitalism and that qulifies it as legitmate. No need for a soul, how passe.

[voice08]

The history of Clinton's shows that they always could turn negative criticism on them from the media and the right wing into a sympathy vote. It is a see-saw relation.
With Obama's positive campaign, they are stuck. So, we see;
1) Dont believe hope. It is false
2) See, Obama is making her cry
3) Please dont fall for Obama's speeches. It is a fairly tale.
Never have I seen such a portrayal of positive things in a person or campaign to be negative.
It takes a person of courage to acknowledge the good in the opponent.

[londubh]

Isn't Hillary post-menopausal? So I don't think she's not going to get PMS anymore, but I could be wrong. It has nothing to do with Hillary's gender. She's a beltway insider, she voted for the war in Iraq. Trying to frame this as a sexist issue when it clearly isn't is disingenuous.

[DRaymond]

We can speculate forever about whether it was manufactured or not, but even Hillary admits that it most likely boosted her win.

Prior to the incident Obama was portrayed as the one being passionate about bringing change to the divisive attitudes in DC and Edwards was the one described as being passionate about fighting corporate influence. But what was Hillary being described as being passionate about? She was mostly described in terms of being cunning and calculating, the current helmsman of a political machine.

It wasn't the tears per-se, but the dropping of the ice queen persona that did it for her.

[kiddub]

I do not like Sen. Clinton, but I love the fact that she is being treated as a serious candidate again, only when she displays a "feminine" character about her. I don't know which is more sexist: the media's harsh treatment of her as an aggressive domineering bitch, or the publics swelling acceptance of her since4 she showed a sign of softness. For some reason, both reactions rub me the wrong way.

[eustiscg]

I do not doubt the authenticity of her tears. I do not doubt the depth of her feelings.

HOWEVER, if you look at what she was saying, she was crying FOR HERSELF. That's what rubbed me the wrong way--the overwhelming element of self-pity.

That said, Chris Matthews and the rest of the misogynistic MSM are 20 times worse than Clinton will ever be. Period.

[sgs23]

Ms. Woodruff, did it occur to you to ask were that humanity was when Senator Clinton gave George Bush her blessing in going to war with a country that had done nothing to us. Did she go home that night and cry her eyes out, knowing that thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, (babies Ms. Woodruff) would be killed, maimed, and psychologically scarred for life. How many tears has she shed for the men, women, and families, of our military. The dead the physically and emotionaly scarred. What emotion and humanity has she been able to muster for them. If she were to break down under the strain of that burden, and responsibility, I would most certainly as a human being feel for her. But is seems the only show of emotion is for herself after losing the Iowa caucus, and things not looking good in the New Hampshire primary. What you fail to understand Ms. Woodruff is that some of us want a leader with emotion, and feeling, for all humanity. This unfortunately is not available to us, man or women. This phoney crap your speaking of is meaning less in a world of true suffering. If you want to talk about offensive, puuuullleeeease...

[BirdsEatCats]

Since Mrs Clinton is in fact 60 years old, I think we can dispose of any worries we might have had about PMS.

[kali4niadazed]

Whoa Hillary showed emotion. We women take care of everything. Less a man show emotion he is a sissy. We Woman take care of the kids, house, finances, Who the Hell says we can't take care of the country. You go Hillary. I know how it feels men thinking they are superior to us. They need us for everything. Keep up the good work an can't wait for you to come to California. lol HILLARY 4 PRESIDENT!!!!

[BalancedEgg]

There is nothing new or newsworthy about this incident whether real or calculated. It was simply the opportune moment to trot out the "why women can't handle power" sexist drivel. This crap sells because it is ingrained in the culture to believe it is valid discourse. The same thing was done to Patricia Schroeder when she was considering a run for the White House. One tear and the whole pile of ancient patriarchal BS came down on her. Evolve already, America!

[sonofloud]

Yes I agree. Since when is having emotions a crime?
It's similar to the media frenzy of Howard Dean showing emotion and trying to get a room full of college students energized at 3am.

[Pandu]

I have more respect for a woman who assists her husband than for a woman President. In civilized society, women are protected, kept out of public life. Protected, not protectors. Instead in the USA we have mostly society women, working in the world like sophisticated prostitutes.

Win or lose, it won't be the last of her crying.