Tuesday seems to have been something of a draw, but if Hillary scoops up delegates the way she did last night she just might win this thing. By "this thing," I mean the primary — I am nowhere near convinced she could ever get elected President. Put aside all the vitriol the Republican party still has in reserve for all things Clintonian or the fact that she's arguably too centrist for the liberals and too liberal for the Independents, and the elephant in the room is still the most salient point to me: She's a gaddam woman. The U.S somewhat mystifyingly remains way behind other governments it likes to feel superior to when it comes to letting a female run things, and I'm incredibly skeptical that HRC will be the one to turn this around.
This NYT op-ed is from a month ago, but I heartily recommend it. There is, in my opinion, no way to put too fine a point on this, and the issue hasn't at all been rendered obsolete by this week's events. When I picked up "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" in high school, Gloria Steinem's voice was a revelation to me. It flew in the face of every stupid cliche I'd been told about feminists; she wasn't humorless, she was bemused and often amused. She didn't sound angry, she sounded simply determined and above all clear as a bell. In short, she dodged all of the asinine minefields that were created to prevent people from taking her seriously. If Hillary makes it to November, I want to believe that she can do the same, and that America's response will surprise me.
Women Are Never Front Runners - Gloria Steinem (login required)
The Slits - Typical Girls
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A.C. Newman - The Town Halo
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As great as a chance to see a woman be president of the United States, there’s the political reality that comes with a Hillary candidacy. Although incredibly sharp, Hillary does not really possess those interpersonal qualities and as a result is nowhere as popular as Bill is beyond Democratic circles. To the point that she despised for many reasons - but what is often is cited is her willingness to use her husband’s name to try to run roughshod over policy making and to feed her own ambition. Her negative ratings range between 45-50% - where the majority says they will vote against her. A presidential candidate has never won with negative ratings anywhere as high as this. The Democrats have an addiction of putting up candidates that are smart and competent but incapable of winning general elections. At some point, the Democrats have to put up a viable candidate who can not only win but expand the party’s base to capture a working majority. Unfortunately, this is an impossibility with Hillary as the standard bearer of the party.
It may not be fair that Hillary suffers from a chauvinistic backlash. But I find it ironic that a feminist icon like her has her husband do her dirty work as the campaign attack dog and puts up with some embarrassing and humiliating infidelities to boot.
Just think about it, by last fall - Hillary with all of her advantages (money, name, institutional pull) and air of inevitability was running against a virtually unknown African American (well, half at least) with a Muslim sounding name. 2 weeks before Super Tuesday, Hillary polled 20 points higher than Obama nationally. And now, they are in a virtual dead heat. It demonstrates an inherent weakness of her candidacy where she was fortunate enough to have begun where she did and still be in a fight for her political viability (and also speaks to what a tremendous political figure Obama has evolved into). In a general election, she would enjoy none of the advantages that she currently enjoys (read: enjoyed) in the primary. As much as the GOP and many independents are not enamored with McCain...they loathe Hillary more. It would be nothing short of a gift for her to have the Democratic nomination to the GOP.
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