The First Woman President? (I'm sick of your insane demands.)

The First Woman President?

Hillary Clinton appeared at a major fundraising event for the Washington State Democrats in downtown Seattle last night, and a friend and Hillary fan dragged me along to convince me she should be my gal in Washington. Frankly, I wasn't blown away. The first half of her speech struck me as a boilerplate rehash of standard Democratic Party red-meat lines: "Americans are desperate to turn the page"; "Too many people feel invisible"; "Americans are ready for change." But once she got going on Bush/Cheney, the disappearance of America's middle class, her "four big policy goals," HRC caught fire.

An excerpt, edited for length:

I live in dread of discovering what we might find when [Bush and Cheney] finally leave town. I don’t think we know the half of it. The no bid contracts, the cronyism. ... The turning point was Katrina and Rita… You would not have believed that you were watching something coming from America. I’ve got this old-fashioned idea--how about appointing people who are qualified to do the job?

We will also end President Bush’s war on science. How about getting back to evidence-based decision-making? Enough with ideology. On my first day as president I will sign an order reversing the ban on ethical stem cell research.

I am not running because I’m a woman. I’m running because I believe I am the most experienced and qualified person to hit the ground running in January 2009. I don’t believe it’s about electing me—I believe it’s about deciding that we’re going to do what needs to be done for our country.

There are two groups that inspire me to keep going. One is women in their 90s who come to my events. ... They all say something like, "I’m 95 years old. I was born before women could vote in this country and I’m going to live long enough to see a woman in the White House."

The other group is the children who come… I see a parent lean over to a daughter and say, "See, honey? In this country you can be anything you want to be."

OK, never let it be said that I'm not a sucker for a feminist argument. It's about goddamn time we put a woman in the White House. That said: She voted for the Iraq War; she sponsored a flag-burning amendment (!); she (sort of) supports upholding DOMA and leaving the gay-marriage issue to the states; and her health care plan is only so-so.

But I may be coming around, for one simple reason: I believe Clinton would stand up more than her male counterparts for women's and children's issues. And yes, this is straight-up identity politics: HRC is a woman, and just like gay men or old folks or African-Americans or any other identifiable "interest group," her interests are aligned with women's interests--my interests. This is why Hillary has spoken out against countries that ignore trafficking in human trafficking and forced prostitution. It's why she sponsored legislation that would make family-planning services, including emergency contraception, more accessible to low-income women and require insurance companies to pay for birth control. It's why she supported allowing pharmacies to sell EC over the counter (and blocked confirmation of the new FDA chief until it was approved). It's why she introduced a bill that would make EC available to all women in America's armed services. It's why she opposed the noxious Global Gag Rule, which bars organizations that receive US aid from providing information about abortion services. It's why she sponsored legislation aimed at ending the pay gap between men and women. It's why she wants to implement a universal pre-kindergarten program. It's why she wants to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act and implement paid maternity-leave programs in every state by 2016.

And it's why she says things like, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life."

I also love the way Hillary has inspired Republicans to reveal how ugly, sexist, and anti-woman they really are. They called her a lesbian. They attack her for being "dowdy." They attack her laugh--ahem, "cackle." They analyze her necklines. They call her a "man." They manufacture fake "catfights." They compare her to a "nagging housewife." They accuse her of trotting out a manufactured "maternal" side. They even try to make her look like an ice queen for giving away her cat.

Feminist writers and others have debated themselves to death about whether being a woman means supporting Hillary. I don't think it does. As a woman, however, I support Clinton's record on gender issues--which is an entirely different thing than supporting a candidate because of her gender.

Posted by ericacbarnett on October 23, 2007 1:09 PM | Permalink

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I'm sick of your insane demands.

I'll take con.

The First Woman President?

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