A lot of people, mostly men, just don't seem to understand why so many of us, and we are not all women, are so upset about the treatment of Hillary Clinton. It is not just because she lost, although of course many - myself included - wanted her to win. Nor are we suggesting, as some commentators have speciously suggested, she lost because she is a woman.
She lost because of serious mistakes in her campaign and because she allowed herself to be outmanoeuvred by the unexpected star candidacy of Barack Obama. What we are upset about is the way the American (and much of the Australian) media became foot soldiers for the Obama campaign in vicious, hate-filled and often gender-directed coverage that denigrated and damaged Clinton's candidacy.
Rather than being congratulated as the most successful woman in American political history, she has been scarified for not leaving the race sooner. In previous contests, second placegetters Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson and Jerry Brown all stayed in the race until the very end, longer than Clinton, but were never subjected to a similar pelting. In fact, the pressure on Clinton to be a good girl and get out of Obama's way started back in March and continued unabated despite her winning nine of the 16 contests since then.
She could not take a trick with a virtually unanimous media putting the most negative spin on her every utterance. She was accused of being manipulative for crying, of "pimping" her daughter by having her on the campaign, for denying her gender by wearing pants suits and of being racist for simply pointing out the fact that millions of white people had voted for her.
She had to endure one male television commentator calling her a "she-devil", another stating she reminded him of "everyone's first wife standing outside probate court"; one who found her "castrating, overbearing and scary" while another fine specimen of the American punditocracy said, "When she comes on television … I involuntarily cross my legs."
None of these comments go to her policies or her political skills. They are outright misogyny. They infuriated fair-minded people who have been distressed at the way sexism has become a political weapon in a way we've never seen before - and which Obama did nothing to discourage.
Clinton ran a flawed race. From being the presumptive candidate in January, she found herself outpaced by Obama with his strategy of positioning himself as the candidate for change, of going to the grassroots and winning caucuses and by tapping millions of individuals for small donations on the internet.
( from a Hillary fan )
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Clinton intentions remain a mystery - Latest Barack Obama news and views
the narrow but decisive loser of the Democratic nomination for president, is refusing to quit refusing to quit.
Her defiant victory speech Tuesday night and her campaign’s silence this morning have Clinton’s aides and supporters asking the same question she asked herself last night: “What does Hillary want?”
“She’s holding out for something – but I’m not sure what it is,” a usually well-informed campaign advisor who spoke to Clinton yesterday told Politico.
Other Clinton supporters, meanwhile, pressed her case for the Vice Presidency in a variety of forums, with congressional supporters led by Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida considering a letter to Obama pressing that case, Wasserman-Schultz’s chief of staff said.
But they were slowed by the lack of a clear signal from the candidate herself.
Clinton is the strongest runner-up in the history of Democratic politics, a status that gives her an unusual amount of leverage on her rival, Barack Obama. But she’s also hemmed in by the reality that to be seen as a half-hearted campaigner for Obama, or worse, as causing his defeat, would be political suicide.
She especially needs help restoring support from an African-American community that had been her base – assistance that can only come from Obama’s fulsome embrace. She could use Obama’s help raising money to retire her debts, something she signaled with an aggressive online appeal for cash last night. Her supporters assume she has earned the prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention that Obama can bestow.
Those around her say that beyond the mundane negotiating points – a half hour in Denver, help raising money – there is a more personal, less tangible demand that she be accorded the respect she feels she earned in an historic bid that brought her closer to the nomination than any other second-place Democratic finisher.
Despite sending a strong signal Tuesday afternoon that she’d be open to a vice presidential nomination, Clinton aides said yesterday that while she may want to be Vice President, she understands that she can’t force Obama’s hand.
“It’s not something you can demand,” said an aide.
Nevertheless, Clinton appeared Tuesday to free her supporters to press her case, and Wasserman-Schultz wasn’t the only one considering an appeal. Aides made no effort to intervene in former Clinton aide Lanny Davis’s impromptu press conference Tuesday night, at which he announced he’d be circulating a petition to put Clinton on the ballot. Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson told the Washington Post that Clinton herself cleared his own appeal to House Majority Whip James Clyburn for a joint ticket.
“There’ll be an intricate tango between the two campaigns as they figure out a way to choreograph this so that she has her held high,” said Jonathan Prince, a former Clinton aide who advised former Senator John Edwards this cycle.
Her defiant victory speech Tuesday night and her campaign’s silence this morning have Clinton’s aides and supporters asking the same question she asked herself last night: “What does Hillary want?”
“She’s holding out for something – but I’m not sure what it is,” a usually well-informed campaign advisor who spoke to Clinton yesterday told Politico.
Other Clinton supporters, meanwhile, pressed her case for the Vice Presidency in a variety of forums, with congressional supporters led by Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida considering a letter to Obama pressing that case, Wasserman-Schultz’s chief of staff said.
But they were slowed by the lack of a clear signal from the candidate herself.
Clinton is the strongest runner-up in the history of Democratic politics, a status that gives her an unusual amount of leverage on her rival, Barack Obama. But she’s also hemmed in by the reality that to be seen as a half-hearted campaigner for Obama, or worse, as causing his defeat, would be political suicide.
She especially needs help restoring support from an African-American community that had been her base – assistance that can only come from Obama’s fulsome embrace. She could use Obama’s help raising money to retire her debts, something she signaled with an aggressive online appeal for cash last night. Her supporters assume she has earned the prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention that Obama can bestow.
Those around her say that beyond the mundane negotiating points – a half hour in Denver, help raising money – there is a more personal, less tangible demand that she be accorded the respect she feels she earned in an historic bid that brought her closer to the nomination than any other second-place Democratic finisher.
Despite sending a strong signal Tuesday afternoon that she’d be open to a vice presidential nomination, Clinton aides said yesterday that while she may want to be Vice President, she understands that she can’t force Obama’s hand.
“It’s not something you can demand,” said an aide.
Nevertheless, Clinton appeared Tuesday to free her supporters to press her case, and Wasserman-Schultz wasn’t the only one considering an appeal. Aides made no effort to intervene in former Clinton aide Lanny Davis’s impromptu press conference Tuesday night, at which he announced he’d be circulating a petition to put Clinton on the ballot. Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson told the Washington Post that Clinton herself cleared his own appeal to House Majority Whip James Clyburn for a joint ticket.
“There’ll be an intricate tango between the two campaigns as they figure out a way to choreograph this so that she has her held high,” said Jonathan Prince, a former Clinton aide who advised former Senator John Edwards this cycle.
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