Tears in my ears
“…Heeeeeeelp!”
(Anyone else remember that song? “I’ve got tears in my ears, from lying on my back, crying over you”?)
I don’t care for Hillary Clinton. I don’t feel as strongly about it as I used to, but I don’t care for her. That said, headlining a story about her campaign with the fact that she got choked up at the podium? I don’t care for that either, because I can’t say for sure that an “emotional” male candidate would get the same headline, or have the same attention paid to his voice breaking, or get saddled with the same Muskie references. Getting visibly upset now and then and having the presidential stones to get the job done are not mutually exclusive concepts; if W. “got something in his eye” now and then, maybe we’d live in a different world, but then again, maybe we wouldn’t, because it really has nothing to do with anything…except that it’s girly, I guess, and I guess girly is still bad, in 2008 for God’s sweet sake.
Howard Dean’s screeching, or shrieking, or whatever pejoratively feminine-flavored verb they put on him — I didn’t get that either, that that was bad. Don’t we want these people to show us how they feel? Isn’t that a good thing, that they take the shit seriously and freak out now and then? This isn’t student council; we’re talking about running a superpower that happens to be in some bad fuckin’ trouble in just about every corner of the lot. It’s a big job, it’s a scary job, and if you’re fixing to do it for four years, it seems to me you should give a shit, and if that means you cry or yell once in a while, well, my God, join the club and good for you.
As far as Dean went, he was exhausted and fed up, and I felt the man at that time. As far as Clinton getting misty on the campaign trail, I can’t say I like her more because she cracked a little, but a lot of the time with Clinton, her ambition can feel so clinical. I know what politicians are, I know how they do; if she’s more about winning than about the job itself, big whoop, they all are. If people are more grossed out by it in a woman, that’s on them. But she really wants to win, she has done everything to put herself in position to win that she can for eight years, and to see that frustration come through a little bit when it’s not working out for her…whatever her motivations, whatever her compromises, whatever else you can say about her, whatever she actually cares about, she cares. She is not fucking around. I think that should get respectful headlines, not vaguely gossipy ones like it’s the fourth grade and she sat in melted chocolate at recess.
I would also like to read more headlines about Giuliani getting his head handed to him, and that one delegate he got, standing there all, “…What? I lost a bet!” But on behalf of many New Yorkers, I will settle for thanking the great state of Iowa for administering the polling equivalent of a flick in the head. I will also thank Elizabeth Kolbert for her piece on Giuliani in a recent New Yorker issue, which delivered a succinct “and you, sir, are dismissed” without resorting to any mean or overtly superior phrasing; I always enjoy her reporting, even when her articles on the environment fill me with creeping dread. Well done, Kolby.
Tags: city living news politix
Exactly! I keep hearing interviews of voters (both men and women) saying that their concern with voting for a woman is that she might be a bit emotional when making big decisions as president. What’s wrong with emotion? We’re not robots! Sometimes cold hard logic is wrong and the only right answer is to listen to your heart.
And why is it heart warming when a man sheds a tear thus revealing his vulnerability, but it is a sign of weakness when a woman tears up?
This is the 21st century right?
Amen!
John Edwards’ reaction to her tearing up?
“I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also tough business.”
As in, go back to New York, little lady, leave the campaigning and the presidency to us big boys.
I agree with Sars; simply the fact that Hillary is a woman running for the presidency should not in and of itself make us vote for her (her goals for the presidency and ideals are important too), but to call her out for her ‘womanly’ emotions is insulting.
When she learns to dry her eyes and moisturize her lips, then she will get the respectful headlines she deserves. Like, maybe they’ll do some crow’s feet projections, showing the adverse effects of the White House on aging.
And I know Giuliani likes to wear 9/11 like a big magical talisman that silences any and all criticism, but I really hope that people see him for the shady motherfucker that he is.
Thank you; I was just trying to explain my dislike of Hillary to my Hillary-boosting mother on the phone last night (I believe I indeed even said “It’s a visceral thing, Mom”); now I can point her to your 2000 article.
I agree that displays of emotion from candidates, especially female candidates, are made too much of.
However, as soon as I read that Hillary said the following:
“Some of us put ourselves out there and do this, against some pretty difficult odds and we do it, each one of us, because we care about our country. But some of us are right and some of us are wrong.”
I felt my gut harden again. Aaargh. Yes, let us all weep for Hillary, for her great sacrifice in campaigning for US, because she wants to lead us in the right way as only she can do. Oh, FUCK that disingenuous martyr shit. Boo-hoo.
This Illinois mama’s for Obama.
I don’t really have strong feelings for Clinton either way, but I’d much rather have a President who shows emotions than one who doesn’t. Give me passion over no passion any day.
For me, it’s this:
No, I don’t want them to show us how they feel. Not on the campaign trail; not when asked a simple question about the campaign itself. When we’re talking about mass murder or something, sure, but…
I want a President who can control his or her emotions. If you have to cry or yell, sure–but you do it in private, you go into a room and scream into a pillow or punch a wall or something. My God, anyone who’s made *middle management* in a company has mastered that: I don’t think it’s too much to expect the future leader of the free world, or whatever, to have done so.
And yeah, maybe a guy wouldn’t have gotten the same reaction, and that’s a problem…except Muskie *did*, and Muskie was way more justified, given the situation. So, yeah. I do think it’s important. I do think it’s negative.
Amanda Marcotte just posted about this very thing. Clinton is damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t, and it’s fucking depressing. I don’t agree with her on everything, but I understand the tightrope she walks, and she keeps getting crucified on stupid bullshit like this.
I think Clinton and Dean having public emotional reactions produce similar results. If a presidential candidate can’t hold it together in front of a venue full of Americans who presumably support them, who’s to say they won’t lose their shit in the middle of negotiating peace terms in the middle east, or talking turkey with North Korea or Iran over nuclear arms?
Seriously, we don’t need that. Not in the middle of two international conflicts.
Izzy, I feel you, but the thing is, in the crazy-ass week between Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidates literally don’t have a private minute in which to cry or punch a wall — it’s back-to-back publicity events from 5 a.m. on, every single day. I’d bet none of them (except maybe Thompson, who seems to have adopted a campaign strategy of “que sera sera”) is getting even 3 hours of sleep, never mind any alone time.
I don’t think the Muskie comparison is a good one. That was 35 years ago (and man I HOPE times have changed since then) and, from what I’ve read, he was, like, unable to complete sentences he was so emotional. Clinton’s voice got tight for like 30 seconds, she took a deep breath, and went on with the Q&A. For Clinton to be getting a similar reaction for showing less emotion in a (theoretically) more enlightened era should be pretty solid proof she’s not being treated the same as the guys, rather than evidence that the coverage is fair.
Sars, you are too smart to ever run for office, but if you did, I would be first in line to vote for you.
I wish this country weren’t so salaciously obsessed with gossipy headlines, gender, and race. While I’m wishing, I’d like a pony and world peace.
@Chlorie: “[W]ho’s to say they won’t lose their shit in the middle of negotiating peace terms in the middle east, or talking turkey with North Korea or Iran over nuclear arms?” Well, nobody, but 1) it doesn’t necessarily correlate (I will cry over little shit, to let off steam, much more easily than when the pressure is really on), and 2) it’s not like Bush’s hard-ass demeanor is doing wonders for us abroad, either on the ground in Iraq or in the esteem of the international community.
A candidate who is Ricky-from-Project-Runwaying all over the joint is perhaps not my first choice, but the odd display of intense emotion now and then doesn’t worry me.
Interesting about Hilary. I wasn’t aware of it, but it’s interesting that this is a big deal for people. This lady doesn’t seem to ever get a break. They criticize her for displaying emotion–yet people are always complaining that she comes across as cold and unfeeling. I think this is a woman-thing. People don’t make these comments about men, do they?
I don’t like Hilary Clinton either, but I don’t know why. Part of it is that I’ve wanted Obama to run since I read “Dreams from my Father” two or three years ago. Part of it is that I want her to express more regret for her vote to authorize the war and part of it is that I don’t like that she keeps insisting that being first lady gave her so much more experience than the other candidates have. Now, I certainly think she was doing more than most first ladies, and she may have been giving Bill way more advice than he admits. For all I know, she could have been to Bill what Cheney is to Bush. My mother has always said that she voted for Bill because she wanted Hillary to be president (I wasn’t old enough to vote until the 1998 midterm election). But I just don’t think that qualifies as experience.
Other than that, I don’t know why I don’t like her. It’s not that she shows emotion, it’s not her clothes. She’s no more bitchy than the male candidates are. I just don’t like her. If she gets the nomination, I’ll vote for her. But the longer this goes on, the more I dislike her, but I still can’t pinpoint exactly what it is.
Hmm – I hadn’t thought about it in terms of lack of privacy, so thank you for that insight. But my problem with Hilary choking up isn’t that it’s a man or a woman thing, so much that, when it happens the day before the vote, it feels contrived. They think I’m a robot, then I’ll choke up a little to show them I’m not. It just doesn’t feel genuine to me.
Also, if one more candidate says “making change” I’ma lose it. Grocery clerks make change, not presidents.
I, too, have been dubious of Hillary in the past, and agree that her show of emotion should not be viewed as some kind of indicator as to her ability to run the country. It boggles the mind that people would react to it in that sort of gender-related fashion.
But because of my past feelings that she is as disingenous as her husband, my first reaction after reading about it was that it was all a ploy to show she’s not a robot. After seeing the actual moment I didn’t feel that way, but it almost seemed like the emotion was closer to self-pity than anything else. The Edwards has to sound off like a jack-ass, and I almost have to pull for her. Thankfully, Obama hasn’t said anything stupid like that and remains, in my opinion, the most sincere of any of the candidates.
I thought about you when I heard the news this morning of Obama’s latest poll triumph.
Speaking as a British girl of African descent, I find it an interesting turn for race relations in America but I also can’t help thinking that the Hillary Clinton factor surely has ramifications concerning a feminist political agenda. And while I rejoice at the former I can’t help but feel sad at the latter.
And yes, there’s a lot about Hillary to be dubious about, but this implication that women can’t be leaders ( “I mean, what would they do when it was their time of the month? Horrors!”) gets right up my nose.
I am feelin’ you on this Sars. I’m not a Hillary supporter, but good goddamn if I hear ONE MORE PERSON make a big hairy deal over her “emotional outburst,” well…my foot is going to have an emotional outburst up someone’s ass.
Like Ashley said up above in the comments, Hillary is so often getting crap for being cold & unfeeling (which has always bothered me – she’s running for PRESIDENT, not for DEN MOTHER), and now that she gets a little choked up, that’s no good either.
I would not be at all surprised if I woke up tomorrow to see “CRYBABY HIL GETS PERIOD; LOSES SUPPORTERS” splashed all over the front page. Give me a break, John Stossel.
Sars in ’08!
My first thought, upon seeing this “news” story, was a sardonic “Oooh! Hillary showed an emotion!” and then I realized that my thought was probably a tossed off headline somewhere.
My dislike for Hillary’s politics is her lack of humility – to me she seems to think that the presidency should be handed to her just because she’s wanted it and worked for it for so long. I’m no politician, but I don’t think that’s how it works.
Sars, you hit the nail on the head. I’m not a Hilary fan — another Mama for Obama here — but jeebus, let’s not make a federal case out of her having a moment. At least she has feelings, unlike some of these hard-hearted morons who’ve been running the country.
Ouch: http://gawker.com/342102/first-new-hampshire-votes-are-in
Well, from Iowa, we accept your thanks. Although Rudy couldn’t be bothered enough to campaign here.
I do know that I have lived in fear of a Clinton/Rudy matchup in November. I hate Rudy with the heat of a thousand suns. And while I don’t hate Hillary, I do hate the idea of a Bush or a Clinton as president or VP for 32 years a lot. I figure it is time for a change. And although my candidate of choice (Edwards—it’s hard to figure out why no one likes him) is out of it, I can at least rest easy knowing that it probably won’t be Rudy.
I have always maintained that the American people will elect an African-American man president before they will elect a woman of any race. But I would hate to think that it happened because said woman showed an actual emotion.
Well, yes, ouch, but NH is what, 2 electoral votes? And where is Dixville Notch, anyway?
As to HC, I’ve always felt that while I don’t outright hate her, and I think she’d be a fairly capable prez, I dislike her attitude of “I’m entitled to this” ‘cos no-one is. I have no great opinion of the robot personality, but hers is certainly better than Margaret Thatcher’s, whose robot personality was of the evil variety.
And in a way, I’m also glad that there are multiple ethnic/gender options on the slate this year, as it takes at least a teensy bit of the attention away from their genetic characteristics and and puts it back on their policy issues.
Like Hillary or not, the ouchy part to me is watching this off-with-her-head scenario developing post-Iowa. I’m starting to detect an uncomfortable amount of glee in some of these reports, which makes me want to put my head down and shed a few tears.
Agree, agree, agree. I strongly-yet-vaguely dislike Hilary too–and frankly find the fact that so many on BOTH sides of the aisle share that sentiment pretty damning in terms of potential presidential efficacy. If everyone hates her, how would she ever get anything done? And I agree that making much of her voice getting tight is ridiculous. I also agree that it feels a bit fake (she was in the middle of talking about…doing her hair. wtf?)
I never thought the day would come when a woman would run for president and I wouldn’t support her, but the fact is that IT DOESN’T MATTER whether she’s a woman or he’s black or this or that or whatever. I mean, it matters in the sense that it’s awesome that we’ve finally reached this long-overdue day and age, but it doesn’t matter in terms of making a good president. All I care about is their personality and politics, and hers: no.
The Dean thing felt different from this, though. He didn’t really so much get overemotional, they just (repeatedly and with glee) played a clip of him shouting along with a crowd *without playing the crowd*. People who were AT the event said it didn’t sound strange at all. Totally manufactured moment purely for crucifixion purposes. So unfair.
Jenny- I can tell you why I dislike Edwards, he made his money off suing doctors and nurses for frivolous malpractice cases. I work in professional liability for health care workers and the company I work for doesn’t even offer coverage in some states- like Florida- which is a direct result of huge, unnecessary cases brought by Edwards and his firm. Also, I find him way too slimy and eager, like he’s got some big evil secret he just can’t wait to tell us after we elect him.
As far as HRC goes, I’m in agreement with the bulk of the commenters, I think its gross they way she is attacked. The media should go sit in a corner with a big ‘dunce’ cap for acting like jackasses and perpetuating the female=emotional trainwreck hype.
I second the Sars ’08 motion. All those in favor?
(I miss the caucuses already! I feel sorry for states that don’t get to do it. Primaries must be so boring.)
“Hillary’s lack of experience doesn’t bother me so much, and neither does the tiresome year-of-the-child, bridge-to-the-future crap she insists on spouting. It does bother me that Hillary – a third-rate attorney at a fourth-rate law firm whose greed got her mixed up in a seventh-rate real-estate scam – so clearly values power above everything else.”
I love you Sars.
Bet they were crocodile tears at that.
I was about to say that I can’t run for president because I’m not old enough, but by the time of the general election, I will be. Technically.
However, I still act like a five-year-old AND have a drug arrest on my record, so that’s probably out.
Bill is on TV right now, hammering Obama for some flip-flop or another. I didn’t think he was an A-plus president but I miss that horny man.
When Bunting name-checks an eviscerating profile, you just hafta go read it and, for real, Elizabeth Kolbert’s piece on Giuliani in The New Yorker is pretty awesome.
Thanks for the link, B. I couldn’t find it last night.
Here are my thoughts, enhanced by those of you who have gone before:
1) The main reason I would support Hillary (not sure yet) is to have Bill back. And that ain’t a good enough reason…
2) One question I have is whether or not these “emotional moments” , conversational faux pas and Dean-like meltdowns is going to add more fuel to the fire about this crowded primary system–hell, the whole goddamned campaign system. Should this really be about who can stay up the longest without sleeping? Are we judging them as we would medical interns?? Let’s have a little more respect for the process.
3) I like what Edwards stands for, but please, for the love of God, go home and tend to your dying wife. And if that won’t fly because “she’s such a fighter”? Maybe SHE should be running…
Just read the Kolbert piece on Giuliani as well, and MY GOD, now I’m afraid of him!
Okay, so Hillary gets shit for being a cold, emotionless robot AND for showing the slightest bit of emotion.
I don’t want to be one of Those People, forever complaining that women have it harder in everything that they do, but…damn, that just bugs.
I’m not a huge fan of Hillary, but between her, Edwards and Obama, she’s my choice. Or would be, if I thought she had a chance in hell of winning. As it is, I’m hoping for Edwards, just because I think he actually COULD win. (And because I don’t like Obama. There, I said it.)
HawkeyeGirl—It is easy to say that Edwards made all his money off of sueing doctors, but when looked at people can find very few (if any) cases where there was an outrageous jury verdict (let’s not forget it is the juries that award the money, not the lawyers). Sometimes doctors are liable for mistakes. And sometimes companies are as well. But I can understand someone on the other side of the issue, I just don’t think Edwards is your typical ‘ambulance chaser’ type of lawyer. One of his biggest cases was with a girl whose intestines were sucked out by a pool drain in a baby pool. It was found out that the drain company KNEW (through emails) that these drains were defective and yet they didn’t do anything. Just this year, another kid had the same thing happen to her in Minneapolis.
I do agree that I already miss the caucuses. It’s something that you have to expirence to know what it is like. The mail, phone calls, and commercials get old fast. But we get a chance to meet the candidates early on. And if you start early enough you can get into it before the crowds take over and really get a chance to talk to them. I keep hoping that they leave Iowa alone because I think we do a pretty good job choosing candidates.
What gets me is not Hillary’s ambition but the fact that she tied herself to Bill’s wagon instead of earning her own way. She was valedictorian at Wellesley; she might have had a fine career on her own.
I also read the Kolbert article. Good stuff. Equally scary was the piece in GQ, “An Oral History of Rudy Giuliani’s Temper.”
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2008/01/an-oral-history.html
Yes, it’s disgusting that any display of emotion from a woman in politics is automatically deemed “weakness” by the media, but my initial gut feeling was that she did it intentionally in order to counteract the “unfeeling robot” attacks. I wouldn’t mind if I thought she was genuinely having a “moment,” and it might even soften me towards her…but I don’t believe it for a second. The woman is a cold fish. In the sixteen years she’s been on the political scene, I’ve never once seen her show a human side. Even during the cigar scandal, she was completely stoic – no emotion whatsoever. And *that* is why I won’t vote for her; I’m an Obama mama for sure!
So… wait. Did Romney’s two crying/choked up moments only get covered in the Boston papers? One of them was in that televised Big Speech On My Religion thing he did, wasn’t it? People did talk about it, if I recall.
Which, mind you, does not mean that I don’t agree with you, Sars. I think the coverage of this “emotional moment” of HC’s has been irritating as all hell, and tinged with a *very different* sort of tone than the lesser coverage of Romney’s recent tears. So there you go. I’m just surprised not to see more comparisons being made about how his tears were covered, versus hers.
Also, I don’t want to downplay at all the amount that I think this is due to her gender. But I think it’s also a Dem vs. Rep coverage thing. I fully believe at this point that *no Democrat*, of any race or gender, can afford to cry, in terms of how it’s covered and the spin that’s put on it. A Republican? Apparently can cry. Because they somehow remain all manly and sincere, whereas if a Dem does it, it’s just proof of their lack of cojones. *That* is what’s making me nuts about the news cycle. Republicans failing to get pinned to the wall for things that they cheerfully pin the Dems to the wall for. (And yet… grrr… that’s the thing, I agree with you that *neither* should be pinned to the wall for this. It’s stupid.)
(Saying this as a Dem who at the moment is not primarily pulling for Hillary. Don’t hate her. Just don’t love her wrt policies and so on. Think I’d prefer Obama at this stage. But make no mistake, will support whichever Dem takes it, including HC.)
Sars, you make an interesting suggestion: “if W. ‘got something in his eye’ now and then, maybe we’d live in a different world, but then again, maybe we wouldn’t, because it really has nothing to do with anything…except that it’s girly, I guess, and I guess girly is still bad, in 2008 for God’s sweet sake.”
You’re right, it doesn’t have to do with anything, and here’s the thing: we wouldn’t live in a different world, because W. gets stuff in his eyes all the time, and enormous lumps in his throat, and it is never remarked upon by the media. He’s as maudlin a sentimentalist as anybody. I remember watching W. give his 2000 election victory speech in Texas. He told the crowd that he and Laura would be sad to leave the Governor’s mansion and positively blubbered when he cried, “It won’t be our home, but Texas always will be.” At the time I thought, “oh, boy, somebody’s a little freaked that he actually got the job.”
They all have their self-pitying moments, but contrast W.’s with Hillary Clinton’s, who, it can’t be denied, wants the responsibility.
W. has choked up on a number of occasions since then, most notably in my memory when memorializing 9/11 emergency workers or service personnel killed in Iraq. I seem to remember some of these tears even at the State of the Union. Quite a formal setting, full of pomp. (I mean, looking across a sea of suits to lock misty eyes with … Henry Hyde? Tom Delay? as opposed to a supportive and seemingly warm-hearted voter in New Hampshire?)
Although I normally would like to punch W. in the face, I think it is entirely appropriate, even for a Commander-in-Chief, to have that kind of reaction. When I feel cynical, though, I think W. cries for a Hollywood-ized idea of a masculine hero, and not because his conscience is in any way pricked by these real deaths.
Imagine the uproar — imagine — if Hillary Clinton, as Commander-in-Chief, shed those kinds of tears.
The savaging of HRC annoys the hell out of me. I’m not her biggest fan in the world (though I could cheerfully support her for president if she got the nomination), but the viseral hatred she gets from people, including the media disturbs me. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s more because she’s a Clinton or a woman or equal parts of both.
Bob Somerby makes note of how she is treated by the press.
And Glen Greenwald shows just how bad it’s really gotten.
And now they’re piling on with the “tears” storyline? I’m starting to think that Obama’s biggest asset is a media and washington intelligensia that hates the Clintons as much as comedian Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts…
at Anna: I think the Clintons made up their minds a long long time ago what they were going to do. I don’t think Hilary’s been working at this presidential run for eight years. I think she’s been working on it for life. So who hitched onto whose wagon? She’s not riding her husband’s coattails into the white house. Whatever else might be said about her, she clearly does things on her own terms. And I certainly don’t see that she expects the job of president to be just handed to her, as another commenter implied. I see a person who has busted her ass to get where she is, who is forthright, honest, smart, diplomatic and candid. She knows more than any of the other candidates, as she proves over and over again in the debates. She’s smart. She’s passionate. She’s got plans. What’s not to like, exactly? No one knows, apparently. They don’t like her, but they don’t know why.
Well, I suspect that the primary reason we all think we dislike her is because we’ve been conditioned to think women who unabashedly show drive and ambition are a turnoff. She can’t win for losing, not when she’s damned for being robotically unemotional and somehow ALSO too soft and irrational to run a country at war.
This “dislike her but not sure why” viewpoint has been repeated to me so often, and it’s ramped up quite a bit lately, that it’s completely lost any meaning it might have once had. Dislike her, okay, but find the real reason. Vague, half-formed impressions are no way to pick the person who cleans up the mess left behind by the Bush administration.
As a Scottish man, who has spent some time in America, indeed in Noo Yoik, I’d just like to throw in my two cents worth.
Hillary Cliton: Would love to support her, for many reasons. Firstly, she was the brains behind Slick Willy’s presidency, and Governorship. The woman is (possibly) too smart for the job of CiC, because she would not sign off on things like the invasion of Iraq without a very long National Q+A.
Secondly, she should’ve got the nomination beore Bill, but that’s just the way your country was at that point, and possibly still is now. Hell, even Britain elected a female Prime Minister before you guys. Not the best example ever but, you know….
Unfortunately, Hillary isn’t getting the free ride to the White House that we all expected.
Obama.
Can a Black man Ever become the President of the United States?
Of course he can, much in the same way that a Catholic became POTUS, ie, how far can you distance yourself from your roots, how much money can you raise to promote yourself, how much can you appeal to the Middle Class of America by promising them the world, and not scaring/offending them too much by offering the working classes too much. Hell, who cares, the working Class vote for who they are told to anyway, so screw them for not paying attention.
Obama Barak is not a Black American in the same way that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are Black Americans. Their memories of the Civil Rights protests, what Black Americans went through to get to the point where they were allowed to VOTE, are of a totally different generation, indeed world, from that which Obama exists in. Lucky man.
As things stand, I don’t think Hillary has much chance, Barak has the upper ground in having the Left- (and Right)voting Middle Classes on his side. I don’t know if he has the experience to follow through on his campign retoric. Here’s hoping.
Frank
(This all comes from the experience of being a Left voting person, who watched the Labour Party in Britain abandon their Working Class roots and overhaul their Right-Wing opposition by becoming them. The reason they got elected is because they stole the clothes of the Conservative Party. Traitors.)
the first reason that i did not like hillary clinton is that she is a carpet-bagger. i understand that she went to new york as a strategic move, but i resent that it was done. if she was living in arkansas before she lived in the white house, she should have returned there because (1) those were her constituents, and (2) when you count them up, a vote from a senator from new york is equal to a vote from a senator from arkansas. (i know there is more to it, but it just felt so DIRTY. and i hold a grudge.)
clearly, she has always aspired to become the POTUS, but i think that being first lady is not an actual qualification, just like being a die-hard, obsessive, well-informed sports fan will not make you a better coach than the jackass who currently leads your team.
as a woman, part of me is sad that i don’t support hrc for president. i thought i’d support a woman in higher office. actually, i thought a woman seeking higher office would be someone i COULD support. and, for the record, beyond being a woman herself, i don’t think she has any kind of feminist agenda. being a woman who seeks power does not a feminist make. i think that hrc is so institutionalized by the political machine and the political process that she cannot be taken seriously as an “agent of change.”
but, in her defense, i think that hillary HAS been showing emotion lately, but mostly because people haven’t been recognizing what she believes as her greatness. i think THAT is more telling than the fact that she did get emotional. did you see the FIRE in her eyes (and nostrils!) when she was saying that she’s been changing things for 35 years. i actually found her “crying” moment to be quite candid, and i respect her for that. (although, from the media coverage, i expected there to be an ACTUAL tear or something.)
i really don’t want to vote for her. i REALLY don’t. that doesn’t mean come november, if she’s the lesser of two evils, that i won’t do it. (it sucks that it’s that way, doesn’t it?) i think both obama and edwards would make a better president, and ultimately, are more electable than she. i think together, they would be a winnable ticket if edwards name came first. it would be great for obama to get that experience people say he lacks, and i think people would be more encouraged to vote for edwards than any of the others.
i hate to say it, but i’m not sure our country is ready to elect a black man OR a woman as president. (vice president is a different story.) as progressive as we THINK we are, we’re really behind the times that way. furthermore, if we REALLY were concerned with the welfare of our country, rather than what the political pundits on the teevee were saying, we may have taken a closer look at our #4 man – bill richardson. not that he’s perfect, but he has the foreign policy experience and domestic economic record that no one else, democrat OR republican, has in this race.
(and for the record, while i’m VERY appreciative that i can feel comfortable walking around previously icky parts of manhattan at night, and i felt a sense of community there after 9/11, i agree that rudy g *IS* scary and should *NOT* be our next president. but, huckabee or romney are scary in their own way. i hope mccain gets the republican nomination, and then obama/edwards/richardson kicks his ass.)
I just wanted to say I fully support all hatred of Rudy Guiliani and I giggle at his rankings thus far. Giggle! Malevolently. Because I? Am an emotional woman.
Go Huckabee!
I’m interested if people think that an Obama-esque woman, who sounded notes of populism, who wasn’t entrenched in the machine, who wasn’t establishment, who didn’t have millions of political ties, who voted against the Iraq war, could win the nom. Because, I don’t think that woman could ever, EVER win. Not now, not in fifty years. Frankly, Carol Mosely Braun is probably the best woman who ever ran for office. But … not so much with the being treated seriously.
That’s (partly) why I’m voting for Hillary. I also agree with her view points more than I agree with Obama’s (especially on health care and Pakistan) but the gnawing need in my heart to see a woman in the Oval Office? That’s the heart of my vote.
I find the media’s treatment of Hillary to be pretty bad, and the reaction to her mistiness is no exception. But I think it is just part of the crap we’ve been getting from the media during the entire election. Acting like Obama is awesome because he polled well with young people demonstrated their ignorance. Every political operative will tell you that (1) young people don’t vote and (2) that even if they do, they don’t vote in numbers that make their issues more important than senior citizens, who LOVE to vote.
Unlike most, I actually like Hillary because she is tough, calculating and experienced. I don’t vote for who I want as a BFF, I vote for who I think will be able to make difficult decisions and make things happen. Elected officials are rarely in a position to do what is “right,” which makes it impractical to elect the person that offers many ideals, but less grit. They are usually faced with an option between what sucks and what sucks less. Lots of people voted for W because they would have rather had a beer with him, and we saw how that turned out.
I also find the arguments that her ambition is so obvious to be a wash (that is, when I’m not thinking that they are a little bit sexist). I don’t believe that there are politicians that do not pander and are not grossly ambitious, regardless of gender. If you get to the level where you are a viable candidate for President, you MUST have the raw ambition to make phone calls asking for money, to sit with consultants deciding which of your strengths you will exploit – and which of your opponents’ weaknesses you will exploit. The only difference is that some candidates appear more genuine, and some are really bad at obviously flip-flopping and trying to say the right thing. Oh sure, they mostly want to improve the country and blah blah blah, because most of them aren’t totally bad people, but if you hold ambition against Hillary, you should hold it against all of them and turn to other things like qualifications and policy proposals.
I must admit that I have worked very closely with a number of elected officials, and perhaps have a jaded perspective that is rare. Hillary can do no right by most of the media, and has to play by a different set of rules, some because her last name is Clinton, some because she is a woman. I understand why most people dislike her, and I respect those opinions. I don’t hate Obama or Edwards, and I’d certainly vote for them over any Republican. I just hope we could have a media that didn’t offer analysis that any fifth grader could give.