The USA is not now and may never be ready for a woman President

[John_Mace]

In other news 92% of American say they would vote for a woman for president. But that’s a razor thin margin, so we can probably dismiss it.

[JKellyMap]

@Jackmannii

I’m even more convinced that U.S. voters will never elect a black President.

Like, c’mon, there’s too much visceral racism out there.

At the risk of derailing the thread…Barack Obama married into an African-American family, but he himself wasn’t entirely part of that “community,” and many voters sensed or knew this. I don’t think it’s just by chance that US voters elected someone with just a plain old WEIRD background (Africa African father + white anthropologist mother) before (maybe DECADES) before they elect a “run-of-the-mill” African American (Jesse Jackson was the first to be taken seriously, in the late 80s, but no progress since, really).

[ThelmaLou]

@John_Mace

…I don’t have to convince anyone. You are the one making an assertion, so you must convince us. …

Okay, don’t play. See if I care. That was your big chance to present your argument to a willing listener.

[ThelmaLou]

@JKellyMap

At the risk of derailing the thread…Barack Obama married into an African-American family, but he himself wasn’t entirely part of that “community,” and many voters sensed or knew this. I don’t think it’s just by chance that US voters elected someone with just a plain old WEIRD background (Africa African father + white anthropologist mother) before (maybe DECADES) before they elect a “run-of-the-mill” African American (Jesse Jackson was the first to be taken seriously, in the late 80s, but no progress since, really).

AMEN . He wasn’t a garden-variety black man or white man. Using him as an example doesn’t say anything repeatable about the American electorate.

[Red_Wiggler]

@ThelmaLou

There are absolutely many women who are qualified. That’s not the issue. It’s not the candidates who are backward, it’s the voters. That may have changed since so many heretofore esteemed men have recently been found to have…er…feet of clay. That’s why I resurrected the thread.

What do you mean by “the trend will be in a one way direction”? Not clear to me.

We’re ready now, as evidenced, pointed out elsewhere, that Hillary got more votes than the winning candidate. And the demographics are trending towards an ever more liberal electorate more comfortable with diversity of all kinds.

[Clothahump]

@ThelmaLou

IMHO it’s very important that Donald Trump not be reelected in 2020, given that he’s still in office by then and runs again. But if the Democrats nominate another woman (Elizabeth Warren’s name pops up) I believe they will be throwing the election away. Likewise a non-white man-- no matter how qualified.

This comes under the heading of Sad But True: only a white man can defeat Donald Trump.

No. What it won’t take is Hillary Clinton, ever. The libs made the mistake of running her, and you people have to live with it.

I can think of several women that I would love to see as POTUS, and they are extremely qualified to hold the office - much more so than Hillary. Right off the top of my head: Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Condoleezza Rice, Carly Fiorina and my wife.

[madsircool]

Lets not put Ann Coulters name next to Condaleeza Rices.

[Czarcasm]

@Clothahump

No. What it won’t take is Hillary Clinton, ever. The libs made the mistake of running her, and you people have to live with it.

I can think of several women that I would love to see as POTUS, and they are extremely qualified to hold the office - much more so than Hillary. Right off the top of my head: Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Condoleezza Rice, Carly Fiorina and my wife.

Ingraham?
Coulter?

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports makes you think those two are capable of running anything besides their mouths?

[John_Mace]

@Czarcasm

Ingraham?
Coulter?

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports makes you think those two are capable of running anything besides their mouths?

I’m sitting here asking myself who would be worse: Trump or Coulter? I don’t even want to THINK about that!!!

[Settimo]

In support of the OP, I have to say, in light of some political groups’ unrelenting and really quite oddly obsessive fixation on trashing Hillary, a portion of my male brain can’t help but believe that in some part that has to do with her being a woman (ie connotations of misogyny). Not wholly, but partly; I know there are of course strategic reasons for trashing her. And it’s just a vibe, coming from watching the peculiarly singular focus maintained over such a long period of time, the seemingly endless (male) dogpiles mounted against her. Would they do this with the same level of vigor and kind of really weird enthusiasm if she were a he?
This NYT article may be of interest, with theories on how Germany’s Merkel obtained and stayed in power. Basically, she played down the fact she was a woman, a kind of human-being-first approach:

“Ms. Merkel avoided dwelling on her historic first and cultivated a resolutely boring public persona, easing her ascent to lead a nation that long held conservative attitudes toward women. Men underestimated her, at their peril. Modest she may be, but also unhesitating in her pursuit and exercise of power. Her climb to the top and her 12-year tenure have proven her a masterful political practitioner, one who has seized opportunity, eliminated opponents and sustained popular support.”

[John_Mace]

@Settimo

In support of the OP, I have to say, in light of some political groups’ unrelenting and really quite oddly obsessive fixation on trashing Hillary, a portion of my male brain can’t help but believe that in some part that has to do with her being a woman (ie connotations of misogyny). Not wholly, but partly; I know there are of course strategic reasons for trashing her. And it’s just a vibe, coming from watching the peculiarly singular focus maintained over such a long period of time, the seemingly endless (male) dogpiles mounted against her. Would they do this with the same level of vigor and kind of really weird enthusiasm if she were a he?

Who in this thread is saying it’s not harder for a woman to win the WH? We’re just saying it’s not impossible. Similarly, it’s harder for black man, but clearly possible.

[nate]

I really wish Jennifer Granholm (former gov of MI) could run. She’s great. Tis a shame she was born in Canada.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

Woman. Black man. Piffle. 99.99% certain.

I won’t live to see an atheist elected president.

[up_the_junction]

@ThelmaLou

Like I said,* I’d love to be proven wrong.* I’d love for a strong, smart, charismatic woman to rise up from the ranks, a woman who raised her children, and still managed a successful career AND a successful marriage. Who can write a book or a speech and still bake killer chocolate chip cookies. Who will not be accused of being shrill, uppity, unfeminine, a ball-buster, subject to hormonal fluctuations that make her unstable. Who will not be criticized for being too concerned with fashion (She wears expensive designer dresses!) or too frumpy (She always wears pants–when are we going to see her in a dress!)). Who won’t be seen as too sexy (or too sexless). And blahblahblah endlessly with pointed barbs that men are not subject to.

Hillary hit all of those hot buttons. Any woman prominent in public life is going to hit a lot of them. Men are not scored on any of them.

Yet without naming a chunk of the electorate deplorable, with less Wall Street and a little more Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin she’d be in the White House.

[elfkin477]

@ThelmaLou

I’m giving this a bump to see if there’s more discussion. The climate WRT to women in public life has changed since August when I started this thread. There’s been a shift…a disillusionment with men in public life, a ripple in the Force. The grind is not so firm for men as it was.

What do y’all think, in light of recent developments?

I’ll quote myself

People keep worrying that the US will never elect a woman president. But by 2020 all the men might have resigned over sexual misconduct.

And honestly, I was only half joking.

[ThelmaLou]

@elfkin477

I’ll quote myself

Quote:
People keep worrying that the US will never elect a woman president. But by 2020 all the men might have resigned over sexual misconduct.

And honestly, I was only half joking.

The only guy impervious to this taint is the Groper in Chief.

[John_Mace]

@ThelmaLou

The only guy impervious to this taint is the Groper in Chief.

I see what you did there!

[Gyrate]

@up_the_junction

Yet without naming a chunk of the electorate deplorable

I know! All those racists, sexists and homophobes were all set to vote for her and then she went and ruined it by calling them racists, sexists and homophobes.

with less Wall Street

Sorry - compared to whom? The guy who filled his Cabinet with Wall Street billionaires?

and a little more Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin she’d be in the White House.

True enough. So I’ll give you one out of three.

[up_the_junction]

Nobody in their right mind calls people they hope to represent as the leader of their country “deplorable”. It’s ridiculously arrogant, dismissive, condescending and judgemental - rather as you demonstrate, and it’s hopelessly divisive.

Is there anyone in history who has stood for election and dismissed half the electorate in such terms? Fuck her and the smart arse liberal high horse she rode in on.

Worst. Political. Judgment. Ever.

[running_coach]

@up_the_junction

Nobody in their right mind calls people they hope to represent as the leader of their country “deplorable”. It’s ridiculously arrogant, dismissive, condescending and judgemental - rather as you demonstrate and it’s hopelessly divisive.

Is there anyone in history who has stood for election and **dismissed half the electorate **in such terms? Fuck her and the smart arse liberal high horse she rode in on.

Yet Trump did it and it worked.