[QUOTE=burundi]
One thing that really, really bothers me, though–and I’m not picking on you, Dorothea, more on the* NY Times*, which ought to know better–is that when folks say “women,” they mean “white women.” African American women were more likely to vote for Obama in the primaries. I haven’t heard much about Latinas or Asian-American women at all. I just wish that the media would make it clearer that they’re discussing one segment of women, not all American women.
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It bothers me too, burundi though I’m not sure that either Latina women or Asian-American women Democrats haven’t been among those to feel strongly pro-Hilllary (certainly as I’m sure you know Obama’s relatively weak support among Latinos has been a subject of much discussion and I wish I knew more about how it played out along gender lines).
I’m not sure if you read The Nation at all, but early on in the primary Patricia Williams, one of my favorite columnists and a law professor who is African-American, spoke in favor of a joint Obama-Clinton ticket with whomever came out #1 in the #1 slot. That was before Hillary’s campaign (and Bill) muddied themselves with some very dissapointing strategies–I’m not sure how Williams feels about her any more. But consider these excerpts from a really interesting recent column by Katha Pollit, also a Nation columnist.
*"I don’t claim Clinton lost because she’s a woman. (I think it was her Iraq vote, which she could never justify or renounce; assorted strategic mistakes; the bumptious interventions of her husband; and, most of all, that Barack Obama, a prodigiously gifted, charismatic politician, took the banner of change away from her.) The attacks on her may even have helped by making women voters identify with her. In New Hampshire, pols’ and pundits’ sexist mockery of her “misting” made women rally to her side and revitalized her campaign.
Now those women, not all white and not all working class, are on the political map, and so are the issues that made them identify with Clinton: the glass ceiling and the sticky floor, the inequality built into marriage and family life, sexual harassment and assault, lack of support for caring work–paid or unpaid–and, underlying them all, a fundamental lack of respect that over the years can make a woman feel fed up to here. …[M]illions of ordinary women–white, Latino and black–saw their struggles mirrored in hers."*
Green Bean it’s partly for the above reasons that I think that many women (and other HRC supporters) will want more recognition for her governing potential that you seem ready to give her, at least in this race. Mind you, I’m not saying that you’re not entitled to your position or that it isn’t a coherent and principled position (the same goes for Philospher, Otaku and other posters). What I’m suggesting is that you seem to me to be represent a core of Barak enthusiasts who have been very important to his rise but who must now if he is to seal the deal, be joined by other less energized Democrats as well as by independent voters some of whom will have been for Hillary and others of whom may be simply be undecided or indifferent as yet. So while your principled positions are worthy I’m not sure how reflective they are of the more general psyche among Democrats and independents–setting aside the truly inflamed feelings of Hillary supporters. Perhaps it really is a new playing field with the kind of differences burundi notes. But what if not?
So when I say that Barak-enthusiasts might want to step back and be mindful of the prize I’m suggesting that there might be some value in seeing things from the perspective of these other important voting consituencies. There is no longer any reason to fear that Hillary isn’t stepping aside: she is now clearly doing so and supporting Obama as she does.
To be sure, one might still not wish to compromise one’s principles under any circumstances. It may well be that too much rapprochement with Hillary (such as VP position) will alienate Obama supporters who see him as a force for change. But it might also be that rapprochement will be strategically effective–and perhaps critical.
In the meantime, I’d be delighted to see Hillary get more respect (for all her many mistakes and flaws) with less evidence of the old double standard at work. (I don’t mean however that any of the posters I’ve named are guilty of this double standard–not at all. )