Life Without Hillary Clinton
People assume that I’m a Clinton supporter because I’m writing my thesis on her. It took me a long time to make a decision, but I eventually came down on the side of Obama.
With Obama making plans in Iowa for Tuesday night - presumably to claim the nomination - it seems a good time to reflect on the campaign and prospects for the future.
The problem is that I love Hillary Clinton. I think she’d make a great president, which is why it’s been so painful to see her campaign struggle and wildly misjudge the electorate. She undoubtedly faced a hostile press, but seemed unable to stop herself and her surrogates from continually harming her campaign.
Yet, Kate Zernike’s short opening question in her Week in Review piece laid bare the deep sorrow I’ll feel when Clinton seemingly inevitably gives in:
If not her, who?
And how long will we have to wait?
It’s not that I think a woman will necessarily represent me better than a man - just as I resent the media for assuming I am a woman candidate’s natural constituency - but I do sometimes wonder how much of a difference it would make in the lives of American women if we had a woman president.
Might some glass ceilings be shattered? Might some laws about women’s bodies be prevented? Might this never-ending cycle of women as ‘firsts’ be broken so that it stops holding back other women who run for office?
Anyway, looks like we won’t know this year.
But for many women, whether or not they support Mrs. Clinton, the long primary campaign has left them with a question: why would any woman run?
Many feel dispirited by what they see as bias against Mrs. Clinton in the media — the “Fatal Attraction” comparisons and locker-room chortling on television panels.
…
For this reason, [Karen O'Connor] said, she doesn’t expect a serious contender anytime soon. “I think it’s going to be generations.”Others say Mrs. Clinton had such an unusual combination of experience and name recognition that she might actually raise the bar for women.
In fact, the biggest point of agreement seemed to be that there is no Hillary waiting in the wings.
Except, of course, Hillary.
I find this article almost absurdly depressing. I feel like Clinton and I have both let each other down.
Confidential to Hillary Clinton: If we’re wrong about Obama, you come kick his ass in 2012, okay?
Links:
She Just Might Be President Someday [NYT - Week in Review]
Obama to Return to Iowa, Possibly to Claim Victory [NYT]
May 18th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
see you in 2012 be ready for a ass kicking if we are still alive.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I should add, as a caveat, that she’ll need to run a much, much better campaign to deliver it.
Thanks for reading!
May 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
chelsea?
May 19th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Maybe, but she’ll be answering questions about Monica Lewinsky for the rest of her life.
The article mentioned Lisa Madigan, IL’s Attorney General. She kicks ass, actually - must have been morose yesterday.
Btw, I still have a small part of my brain working on parabola puns, but I think it’s a lost cause… Numbers are shit!
May 20th, 2008 at 1:31 am
drudge, of all people, has up the nicest picture of hillary i’ve seen this entire campaign. (even tho it is an article about her being subdued)
May 20th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
“Numbers are shit!”
really? i’m very pro-numerals…
that’s all I’ve got…even i’m getting sick of it…more math jokes from you would be a welcome… addition
May 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Wow. Stealing my math joke?
That really puts you in a null set.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
By the way, Dan - that’s probably why it’s a nice photo. The Dems have finally gone on ‘the last trip to take the family pet to the vet.’
May 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
I think it’s because she’s not doing her usual car salesman smile
May 21st, 2008 at 1:17 am
It’s almost impossible to judge Clinton based on the photos that the press decides to print. Does she have her mouth open with an arm pointing 24-7?
They take hundreds of photos of the woman everyday and only certain ones are selected. I’m not saying she’s the most photogenic person on Earth, but there are reasons why some photos are selected over others.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:49 am
They do love selecting those though, don’t they? Did you read huffington’s take on the campaing, she seems to have the same presuppositions but concludes viable women contenders will be more forthcoming in the wake of Hillary.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/hillary-clintons-defeat-a_b_102418.html
Although, I don’t really agree that ‘Hillary has transformed the Clinton brand into one that represents working-class Americans.’ I do think that by ‘going the distance’ with or without a victory, it can be considered a victory for the egalitarian evaluation of female candidates. Heck maybe even moreso with a loss; if she could somehow win it would be seen as a backhanded victory rather than a valorous loss.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:31 pm
That’d be nice. I fear, however, that the feeling might be, “Well, if she couldn’t do it…’
Awww, I should go write the actual frickin’ thesis.