Shaking the head
In the wake of a second bout of pre-primary tears, Andrew Sullivan nails it on Hillary Clinton.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a Clinton supporter and, understandably, attributed much of said support to her own personal feminist views. I said I respected that and even said that Clinton had impressed me greatly the past week on the campaign. But, crying again is rather pathetic.
As someone who supported and defended the Clintons for many years and holds a great deal of respect for Hillary Clinton, their whole campaign has been one of the most disappointing spectacles I've witnessed in quite some time.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a Clinton supporter and, understandably, attributed much of said support to her own personal feminist views. I said I respected that and even said that Clinton had impressed me greatly the past week on the campaign. But, crying again is rather pathetic.
As someone who supported and defended the Clintons for many years and holds a great deal of respect for Hillary Clinton, their whole campaign has been one of the most disappointing spectacles I've witnessed in quite some time.
posted by Jmac at 7:57 AM
8 Comments:
I don't see it that way, JMac, either your support or your take on Hillary Clinton.
I'll buy that you supported the Clintons, but not Hillary Clinton since very early in her campaign.
Second, I don't see the Clinton campaign as depressing, but I've been thoroughly dispirited about lots of people, as well as the media in general, as it pertains to the campaigns. Why am I voting Clinton? Because I like her policies. I like her ability to admit when she's been wrong. I like her healthcare plan. And I think she's got brass balls, which she will need when it comes time to take on a non-Democratic Party contender.
As for feminism, it's really not the most important factor in my decision, or even a significant part of my decision. As you all know, I've been on the fence for a very long time, and it's because I don't believe in voting based on whether I "like" candidates or not. I like the idea that someone who brings more diversity to the executive palette might actually have a shot at winning. But I'm not going to vote for someone based on that if I don't think they're going to be the most capable.
But I am incredibly saddened by the criticisms leveled at Clinton that are sexist, or cheap, or would be unacceptable in an equivalent leveled at other types of minorities. I am fucking sick of hearing about "the Hildebeest," "Shrillary," etc. I am tired of hearing people pick on Hillary Frickin' Clinton because she is a woman and a wife and she handles her affairs slightly differently than people want women and wives to handle things. I'm sick of hearing about how she looks. Bill Richardson, not a fashion plate. But how many people based their criticism of Richardson on his dark skin or his appearance in general? Not nearly as many as feel comfortable lambasting Hillary Clinton for failing to live up to their aesthetic, personal, whatever standards.
Why am I voting Clinton? ... I like her ability to admit when she's been wrong.
All due respect ... really?
One of my primary concerns is that she does the exact opposite. Everything is calculated and managed to the point that you never know if she herself thinks she's right (her answer on Iraq in the California debates reinforces this point).
Of course, this is a minor quibble with your overall argument, which is fair enough. Whether or not you think I've supported Hillary Clinton is something is fine, I suppose. I have a great deal of respect for her and her policies. And, if she's the nominee, she'll have my support because she'll be the better of the two in my opinion.
My criticism has been with her conduct during the campaign, which I think has been rather disappointing. Personally, I think she thought she'd win or place second in Iowa, saw Obama take off and then took the gloves off because she felt this was her race. Her attacks and criticisms were misleading, dishonest and personal which, coming from the source, made me even that more sad.
Does she face ridiculous criticism? Absolutely. Is a large portion of it because she's a progressive and outspoken woman? I think so.
However, it can be argued that Obama has faced, in his brief campaign, a considerable amount of false and petty identity based criticism as well (Muslim charges, 'not black enough', 'Barack Osama', etc. and etc.). My support of him, however, is not based on a refutation of those inaccurate stereotypes, but rather a belief in his power to offer a transformational presidency coupled with enthusiastic support for his proposals to develop a green economy, provide a competent foreign policy and combat poverty.
Why am I voting Clinton? ... I like her ability to admit when she's been wrong.
I'm with you on this point JMac. It seems that the one thing that she cannot bring herself to say (unlike Edwards) is that the vote on Iraq was a mistake. Well maybe the only thing worse is (as Wolf Blitzer suggested) that she was simply naive!
I have to agree with you, Jmac. I was a very big supporter of Bill Clinton and can even remember in 1992 thinking that Hillary Clinton was a brilliant and inspirational woman in her own right. But the way she has run her campaign and the depths both Clintons have stooped to in their efforts to win the nomination have turned me off so hard that I can't believe I ever supported either of them.
I don't consider myself a feminist necessarily but I have wanted to see a female president for as long as I can remember. But I don't want to see the first female president get elected because voters want to give her popular husband a third term. And I don't want to see her get elected because she cries on the trail and people reflexively feel sorry for her. I want her to be a strong candidate in her own right regardless of who she's married to and I want people to treat her just like they'd treat a male candidate.
Unfortunately, I just don't think Hillary Clinton would even be a candidate for president right now if she wasn't Bill Clinton's wife. And I certainly don't think people would have reacted the same way to her tears if she were a man. Both of those things bother me greatly.
And then there's the whole complete inability to admit she voted to authorize war with Iraq for political cover. John Edwards showed how you just admit straight out that the vote was a mistake and that you shouldn't have supported the war. But she just can't bring herself to do that, and it infuriates me. We all make mistakes, but unwillingness to examine our mistakes and admit to them leads to, well, George W. Bush has demonstrated pretty well what that character flaw ultimately leads to. Do not want any more of that.
The other possibility is that she doesn't think she was wrong, which is equally troubling.
She admitted she was wrong on healthcare. Which is not a small issue in my hometown (disastrous state single-payer system/private insurance hybrid) neck of the woods.
Her stance regarding her actions on the war is just plain wierd to me. But it's not unique. It's rather similar to John Kerry's. But again, the war is low on my list of issues -- and both candidates pledge to end it.
As for criticism, it is not the same. Both Obama and Clinton have been criticized in ways that are unique to their qualifications as minorities. However, the attacks on Obama have received far less coverage, and been less mainstream because sexism is far more socially acceptable than racism. So you have an email campaign tying Obama to muslim causes -- but you have Hillary Clinton being derided as shrill, grubby, ill-groomed, and cackling on a variety of mainstream news channels. The most mainstream smear on Obama is the "not black enough" business, which appeared in a variety of locations -- but its strategic purpose is more complicated than merely eroding support. And its main proponent was Debra Dickerson who, well, doesn't exactly enjoy huge market share.
Anyway, no matter. I'll vote for either of them. But I don't consider their media treatment to be equal.
Nicki,
Did you see this? http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html
It certainly speaks to what you are saying here.
Yes, thank you. I agree about 95% with what is said there.
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