Can a Woman Win?
Welcome to Can a Woman Win?, a nonpartisan analysis of the first presidential race to include a serious female candidate.
What kinds of things will you find here?
Here’s something that struck me while watching the New Hampshire Primary returns on CNN, ABC News, NBC News and other outlets. Not one noted the historical significance: As far as I can tell, it was the first time a woman won a presidential primary. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) It’s not mentioned in Wednesday’s NY Times coverage, either.
Here’s another issue: Was it really the tears that won Hillary the primary? I thought the anger that spilled out of her during the Saturday night debate was refreshing, and might have won her some votes. Also it might have been women angry that the media was making such a huge thing of her “welling up.”
What do you think? Post your comments!
–Deirdre Wyeth
Filed under: politics, presidential election, women in politics | 9 Comments
Tags: Hillary Clinton, New Hampshire Primary, presidential election, women in politics
Deirdre, Shirley Chisolm won the New Jersey primary in the 1972 election, but Hillary is the first woman to win the opening primary (since Iowa is not a primary but a caucus). I’m getting a little tired of the “damned if she does; damned if she doesn’t” with regard to showing/not showing real emotion. These days if a man’s eyes tear up, it shows that he has a softer side. A woman who tears up is weak. And a woman who is aggressive is a bitch. I suspect a lot of women of my generation who have found themselves in that Catch-22 — and who among us hasn’t! — were more than a little angry at the press coverage of that incident.
In all honesty, I haven’t decided which way I’m going to jump. My mother and her sisters all feel they’ve waited too long to vote for a woman who has a real chance NOT to vote for her. Part of me has never warmed up to Hillary, even after seeing her up close and hearing her speak in person many times. You know she’s highly intelligent and very complex, which means that what you see is not what you get. And I have no idea who she really is or what she really thinks because she sends such mixed messages and holds herself in such control. I believe this country needs radical change and that we need to present a new face to the world. Obama would do that, but what would his team look like? I’d be more comfortable if he’d been a governor instead of a senator. My head wants to vote for Hillary; my heart says it may be time to roll the dice. For the first time in my life, I may not know how I’m going to vote but until I enter the booth.
I already know that I will be voting for Hillary Clinton when I step into the voting booth. In a room full of sharks she proved to be the most deadly and she responded well to all the questions darted her way. Obama is overly commercial, I saw him on the Tyra Banks show the other day. I’m sorry I don’t want my President on the Tyra Banks show. It just seems that to Obama it is a popularity contest but Hillary takes this so much more seriously. That is what I want in a president. Were the tears a bit much? Perhaps but sometimes you have to play the hand that is dealt to you. I do recall seeing Huckabee playing the guitar on stage at his campaign rally. He looked so foolish. Hillary looked like a human being showing some emotion afer dealing with the politics of the day. Good for her.
Gender as an issue is tricky. If we celebrate Clinton’s gender we are hard put to refute innane comments about her humanity, since gender and humanity are so inseparable. It is a little like having your cake and eating it too. What exactly do we mean when we say it is wonderful to have a female candidate?
I happen to think it is, but ask myself why? Do I think a woman is somehow different, will add a particular feminine quality to the leadership of our country that is lacking? And if I do, can I complain when someone who is threatened by women characterizes my candidate along gender lines?
I heard a BBC story this morning about the reality behind “Charlie’s War,” i.e. that we – our government, sent billions of dollars to Afghanistan to support the mujahadeen against the Russians, and after. Unfortunately those mujahadeen are the very same psychopaths who threw acid into the faces of women who had not covered their heads with shirpas.
This kind of support planted the seeds of today’s conflict. Would a woman in the Presidency take on the task of war with a feminine view, that would not support any man whose goals included the enslavement of women?
Or is Clinton’s gender irrelevant? Will she make decisions that help women to the disadvantage of men, or global politics? I highly doubt it. In which case Clinton being Hillary is of no consequence at all, and she must win based on her abilities as a politician, not a woman.
Can a woman win the U.S. presidency? Conceptually speaking, I think the answer is yes, but I am not at all convinced that the woman in question can win.
Obviously, Hillary Clinton’s enemies list is long, vocal and almost unspeakably vindictive. If she wins the nomination, the swift-boating of the last election is going to seem like a pleasure cruise.
It’s also significant that enthusiasm is muted even among many of us who will vote for her if she becomes the Democratic candidate. If we feel this way, what do swing voters think?
People of every political inclination are not only sick to death of the current president, they are equally disgusted by the stalemated, do-nothing congress. This is a time when we desperately need new ideas, and too often, Hillary’s positions and tactics seem to come right out of the politics-as-usual playbook. Catherine Carlozzi said it well: “I have no idea who she really is or what she really thinks because she sends such mixed messages and holds herself in such control.”
I think the reason why Hillary’s misty-eyed moment resonated with many women, including me, is that for once she seemed unguarded. We felt like here, for one brief moment, was the person behind the public image, and she seemed more like us than we expected.
A lot of good points here. During the course of today, I’ve debated this subject with a number of women from a variety of backgrounds. They also are conflicted about Hillary but wary of Obama’s lack of experience.
Several other things come to mind that make me uneasy about Hillary. I had an argument with a famous feminist at the time of Whitewater. I indicated that I saw her lawyerly hands in the Whitewater mess and didn’t trust her. FF told me that Whitewater was nothing in the larger scheme of things and, basically, that the end (a viable female presidential candidate) justified the means (Whitewater and some of the other questionable things the Clintons did). I’d forgotten that conversation. It came to me today as I started to wonder how beholden to lobbyists Hillary would be and to think back on some of the negatives from the Clinton administration. Granted, none of that compares with the horror that is the Bush administration.
Having seen a few of the New York Times op-eds, it’s pretty clear to me that the paper does not support Hilary Clinton, Therefore, I’m not surprised they did not dig deeper into the historical significance. When I hear someone say that women voted for Clinton because she cried, I think it shows a very low regard for the intelligence of women in general. To think that women would vote for someone because of a few tears is denigrating, and a stereotyping of women. I personally believe women stepped forward in New Hampshire because they didn’t expect her to lose in Iowa, and when she did, they realized their vote was more important than ever. Whether we support Hillary Clinton or not, the idea of finally having a president that represents more than 50% of the U.S. population that is still grossly underrepresented in Congress, is quite exciting. It’s too bad that so many of the younger generation of female voters do not realize how important an historical precedent this would set.
I agree with you, Lynn, but I think it’s more complicated than that. It wasn’t because she became emotional; I think it was because she became emotional and was slammed by the pundits and by John Edwards in a speech he gave, which was ridiculous. It may also be because the voters in N.H. are independent-minded and resent that the media was predicting her political demise after a single (non-binding, if I’m not mistaken) caucus.
As for the issue of supporting Hillary Clinton, I’m wondering if anyone can get the nomination without some compromises along the way. The last president I can recall who was a true “outsider” in that sense was Jimmy Carter. Hmmm…
Hillary Clinton is a serious contender in the U.S. presidential race as evidenced in her victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary and the Michigan Democratic primary. No one had accomplished what Hillary Clinton achieved on Tuesday – Clinton became the first woman to win a traditional primary. Just one week before her New Hampshire victory, Clinton lost the Iowa caucus. The Iowa loss was not enough to count her out as the tide changed in Clinton’s favor(as did Hillary Clinton’s behavior). Hillary Clinton’s comeback in the primaries shows that she is a viable candidate and a victory in the upcoming South Carolina primary and Nevada primary will confirm that Hillary Clinton can win.
http://www.nywici.org/images/blog/kalyn.jpg
What can I say about this subject that none of the other women have posted? I feel overwhelmed by the decision I have to make SOON! I am a Black American woman and that says it all. Do I vote for a black man being that I am black? Or do I vote for a female because it is the right thing to do in essence of the Girl Power movement? I personally have yet to decide for all reasons stated.
I have been down for Hillary ever since the Clinton era and she motivates me in more ways than one. Her background is impressive, her determination alone inspires me. But now I am faced with another candidate who was a great track record especially from his community service accomplishments in which I am big on.
I spoke to some women who said they weren’t going to vote because the decision is too hard to make and that blew me away. Can a Presidential election be THAT complicated where some groups are considering NOT VOTING? I can’t call it but I will say this is such a hard choice and either way His/Herstory will be made!
And I will be apart of it… And that’s powerful!