A Split Convention and a Backwards Bounce
Reader Comments
Misleading Media
An erroneous statement by this media maven is made in order to misrepresent Hillary's supoorters...
They are not "lower income white women over 40".
We are Asian, Hispanic, African-American, Native-American, Jewish, Catholic, yes, Caucasian and everything in between. We are high-school and college educated, low-middle-high income. We are cultured. We know what classical music and fine art is. Stop defining Hillary Supporters as the bottom of the barrel.
And one more thing...
We will not forget how she (and all women) was treated.
We will never forget.
What seems obvious to some......
The more minimizing of and disrespecting done towards Clinton and her supporters by the Media, Democratic Party, Obama Camp - including his followers, the bigger the divide is being created. I've also noted the worse he does, or the better she does, the effect is the same. More attacking, as if tearing her down, will somehow elevate him. Not all her supporters are old, bitter, uneducated, low income, white, racist women. On the other hand, having been a woman in the male-oriented business of Civil Engineering for 30 years, I have relived innumerable experiences of misogyny of my own as I've watched this Election. My respect grows daily for Hillary Clinton and the dignity and strength she has shown. I'm just not that strong, although I too worked harder and harder, in order to be duly recognized, but every now and then, it was difficult to even get out of bed when I couldn't take any more pounding of my head against that glass ceiling. Frankly, I never expected America was ready to elect a woman over a man - no matter what experience, age or race that man may be.
Two of my favorite quotes -
"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." by Charlotte Whitton
"Of my two "handicaps", being female put more obstacles in my path than being black. by Shirley Chisholm
And I now have a few quotes from the inspirational Senator Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton - so, before you attack, let me respond - Get Over It Yourself.
Hillary
A qualified woman lost to an unqualified man.
With the the complicity of the media and the DNC.
The media put Obama on a pedestal and declared him a Messiah whial trashing Senator Clinton for two years.
I will not be voting for Mr Obama because to do so amounts to rewarding sexism, misogyny and media bias.
Obama & McCain
The presidential campaign doesn't provide any additional qualification to a candidate but it does have a way of causing the best man to rise to the top.
Both candidates have a similar problem: they both need to unify their party.
On the Democrats side Hillary has done her part but ultimately Barack is the one ultimately responsible for unifying his party and bringing in her supporters. On the other hand McCain has done well so far to keep the conservative branch of the party content but he also has a desire to reach out to those who are outside the party. Similarly, if he upsets them then he will have the continued challenge of keeping the party together for a victory in November. The responsibility will be all his.
This is a test leadership for each man. How each one will handle it will determine who will be our next president.
If Barack cannot unify his party then he will not be able to unify the country. If McCain cannot keep his party unified the same is true. But I believe the next president of the United States will step up when it is needed of him, the pressure will cause him to rise to the top, and he will provide the leadership to finish the campaign and win the White House.
Getting Over It
I am amazed that the message to women who supported Hillary Clinton from Nancy Pelosi this week at the DNC was just to get over it. As a woman herself, she should know women don't just get over anything -- they process through -- it takes time, discussion, rumination, venting, writing, talking, complaining and crying and a sincere acknowledgement of their feelings. The whole Obama strategy seems to have been with the Clinton supporters who are upset, they will just go away and come back because they have no where else to go. Ha! If their understanding of women is so lacking, they deserve what the Obama camp has been successful in creating -- the largest group of Democrats voting Republican since Ronald Reagan got elected.
racism is decreasing in America but
misogyny is alive and well. I voted for Hillary, and refuse to vote for the good-old boy network that the Democratic party proved itself to be by pushing for and promoting Obama in backroom deals and in the major media.
Those that would refer to themselves back in the day as reporters and not journalists, should be ashamed of allowing themselves to be part of a smear campaign that took the best candidate and made her a non-candidate.
Now the Obama people might finally "get it"
Throughout the primary season Obama tolerated (and fed off of) intense, unreasoning hatred by his supporters and media friends of the very concept of a woman leader. Indeed, if you read the blogs, even now months after Obama secured the nomination, it's still "all about Hillary". Add that to the fact that Obama insiders admit that Clinton was never considered as a possible running mate even though she received the same 18 million primary votes he did, and it's not hard to figure out why many Clinton supporters feel they owe Obama nothing at all now in the way of support.
For those of us who thought this country was going to achieve gender equality in our lifetimes, this election has left a very bad taste.
