There is a wonderful post on Huffington today detailing why Baby Boomer women have lost their minds and explaining why one Boomer in particular is a long time Obama supporter. Her reasons are all similar to ones expressed here before. Hillary:
- Is untrustworthy - seems like she's hiding something
Another issue is, you don't know what she really thinks. Did she vote that way on the war because it would make her look tough? Or is she really such a hawk?
This whole thing about being vetted: what's the hold up on her White House transcripts? Why withhold tax records, info on fundraising at the presidential library? Somehow I fear something lurking there in the bushes, pardon.
- Plays the victim
I hate when women identify as victims, act like victims, and love victims. And Hillary, as strong as she is, wins as a victim. That is the trajectory of her career. I am a victim. Punch. So why are women whining and the identifying with being the victim again? This is so un-Tina! Hillary was the victim of an oppressive media? Of being asked the first question? Poor baby. All that good coverage on Obama was about being the victor of 11 primaries in a row -- excuse us! And is Barack playing the victim of a real calumny? On Clinton's answer to the known question: "Are you a Muslim?" "Not as far as I know?" Are you not ashamed?
- Is Negative
What I saw that ugly week with Tex/Ohio, was a woman yelling, shrieking, mocking, changing her strategy every day. I can understand the desperation, but I can't understand smart women mistaking that for strength. When she said shame on you, I was ashamed.
And now she is the killer of Hope. (It was just too delusional to manage). We are not that multi-racial post-oppression society that shocked the world and for a moment was its wonder. We are, thanks to Hillary's kitchen sink and staff, the same old America they thought we were. The racially charged, fractured America Bush & Rush left us with that Obama has the prescription to heal.
All of these quotes are telling. But one point I particularly liked was the counter to the idea that women have to vote for Hillary because she's the first real chance we have to elect a female President. This logic is tainted with a frantic sense that if we don't seize on this opportunity another won't come along for a century or two. To again quote Ms. Obst:
What about my generation's desperation that there will never be another female candidate? Why? Is our gender about to die out? Do you all know something I don't?
This concept is of course ridiculous and also insulting to the class of amazing female leaders out there - Kathleen Sebilius and Claire McKaskill to name just two. I love the idea of a female President. I am confident that this final ceiling will be shattered in my lifetime but I am not willing to settle for Clinton when I know in my gut that she isn't the strongest candidate.
I owe it to the country and to my daughter and every other woman to pick the best leader and Hillary Clinton has not shown she can lead. On the contrary, her campaign is a disaster of overspending and infighting with a message that changes daily like a nifty desktop calendar. What Hillary Clinton has shown she does best is not lead but bully, threaten and attack. I've had plenty of that kind of "leadership" over the last 7 years.
Choosing Hillary Clinton just because she is a woman doesn't do justice to the feminist cause. Especially if she turns out to be a mistake.
Say she wins in November (and I still truly think if she's our nominee she loses to McCain hands down). The odds are her coattails won't carry into Congress the increased majorities possible. The Republicans in Congress will make it their personal mission to once again do everything they can to destroy the Clintons and since she relishes war with the Republicans, war is exactly what we'll get. So after two years of war the midterms could very well see the Democrats lose the majority. And the result is that the first female president could be running for reelection in four years after being beaten and abused by Congress, having accomplished nothing on her agenda and looking all too vulnerable in the voting booth.
How exactly does this picture help the feminist cause? It isn't exactly the way to say "See there, a lady can run the country."
Does this country need a female President? Absolutely. But not just any female - the right female and Clinton isn't that woman. And not only is she not the right woman, she is not the right candidate to heal our country. And healing is what we so desperately need at a time when our economy is hurting, our foreign standing is hurting, our collective egos are hurting and our partisan relationships are all but dead. Hillary and Bill Clinton are lightning rods for division and polarization. She can't even win the nomination without destroying her own party from the inside out.
So, all of this considered and said - the idea that any woman should vote for Hillary Clinton out of a sense of feminine loyalty is just plain absurd.
