I've heard various comments by women over the course of the Democratic primary that led me to believe they are concerned about Sen. Barack Obama being the nominee - not because of skill or experience, but because he's a man.
Now that it appears he has the delegates, I can't help but wonder if many of the feminists - whether they say so publicly or not - see the race for president as another glass ceiling they cannot break.
Think about it, with racism and sexism as strong undertones throughout the primary, the Democrats have chosen, again, a man, even if it is a man of 'color.' The woman was not the choice despite what many would say is her longer list of relevant experiences for the job.
As a registered Republican, I don't support either of the two (and I have reservations about McCain as well), so this isn't about my personal preferences. But the Democrats are always classifying people into groups (minority, gender, sexual preference) and focusing on those identifiers in their speeches and legislation.
When faced with a competition between representatives of two such groups the results indicate, to this casual observer, that race differences are not as important as gender differences, as many chose the man over the woman. Even if there were other, legitimate, reasons for the votes cast, I have to believe this is of serious to concern to the feminists in the party who finally felt "their time" had come.
Of course, being a Republican, a casual observer and not a supporter of either candidate, I could be all wrong. But I don't think so...
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
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5 comments:
Maggie,
I too am interested in where this will go. How will the "party of inclusion" face the divisive nature of the primary that has just run its course? Can these two minorities reconcile, even if Hilary Clinton is given a spot on the ticket? Will the party of compassion be able to set aside partisanship in the name of their party?
Neither of these is my candidate either, but I would not deign to say that I understand where you are coming from. After all, I'm a man.
Barack Obama will be the nominee. No doubt about it.
IMO this is scary. And not because he's a man or African American. But Because he is inexperienced in the political arena in comparison to other candidates, he spent the debates parroting Hillary Clinton's answers, and he got shot in the foot (IMO) when his wife made the statement about how paying private school tuitions was a struggle (or something along those lines).
To me, some of the best personalities for the position of President are not, and probably won't be, candidates ever.
I don't belong to any political party. But, I think that everyone has made too big a deal over Obama's skin color and that Clinton is female.
It irritated me to hear women whining on TV about how they were "robbed" when a decision about Michigan and Florida delegates was finally made.
Male, female, color of skin, ethnicity, sexual orientation...none of these matter to me. I look at the qualifications I believe the position requires and them compare that to the skills of the candidate. I've always done this - in my hiring and election choices.
Perhaps it is people like me who look to the "content of character" who more fully represent what Dr. Martin Luther King hoped to achieve.
Perhaps, also, it's why the identity politics promoted by the left turn me off...
As a registered Republican, I don't support either of the two (and I have reservations about McCain as well),
As a reasonably intelligent, well-educated adult I can understand your reservations. For all that, I think you're being polite. I don't like any of the candidates, and the best that can be said of McCain is that he isn't completely out of touch with reality, like the other two.
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