Monday, May 19, 2008

What is the REAL story of Hillary Clinton's loss?

Over the weekend, I have been seeing a LOT of articles castigating Democratic voters for not choosing Hillary Clinton as their nominee. Almost invariably, the gist of the article is "Hillary Clinton's loss is proof that America is still stuck in a world of male chauvanism and complete patriarchy." For an example, here is a New York Times article...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/politics/19women.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&partner=MYWAY&adxnnlx=1211191320-3f%20LWxMJoE%20zlbaMhirBLQ&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

...But my own observation has been that Mrs. Clinton has been treated as the equal of Barack Obama by most commentators and voters. And that this is why she is losing. It is not that she is "too feminine" or "not strong enough", but rather that most of them feel she represents failed policies and an approach which will not work. She essentially was judged by the content of her character, not the color of her eyeshadow - to paraphrase MLK Jr.

What do Mod-Bloggers think? Was Senator Clinton hurt by sexism, or was it conspicuously absent from the race?

5 comments:

CRCHAIR said...

I think what people don't get is that Hilary Clinton has no ability to change your opinion of her. So 40% of Americans might think she is fine now, but that number is unlikely to rise or fall no mater what comes out about her. Unfortunately for her, this is true of most politicians of either gender who have been as front and center as she has been for the last 16 years.

Anonymous said...

As a woman, and one who came of age in the height of the Feminist Movement, the only sexist thing I have noticed in this campaign was Obama calling the reporter "Sweetie". I found that HIGHLY offensive.

I think Hillary has been treated with respect by the media of all stripes.

Anonymous said...

As a woman, and one who came of age in the height of the Feminist Movement, the only sexist thing I have noticed in this campaign was Obama calling the reporter "Sweetie". I found that HIGHLY offensive.

I think Hillary has been treated with respect by the media of all stripes.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about that double click!

Sean said...

I don't remember who said it, but it was one of the sunday talkies who said that basically hillary represented the 90s and as good as the 90s were, people don't want to go back to the 90s. obama represents the future. race and gender actually played very little in people's decisions.