Best woman for the job could be a man
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/06/06/walker/art.rebeccawalker.jpg caption="Rebecca Walker is urging women to turn the page on gender-based feminism."]
Rebecca Walker
Founder, Third Wave Foundation
Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief, shall we? Now that we've got our nominee, Hillary can get some rest, Obama can read his daughters a bedtime story, and the rest of us can relax knowing our relative peace won't be shattered by another primary-related explosion.
Goodbye Reverend Wright and Bosnia tarmac snipers. Goodbye bitter working-class voters and hard-working white people. See you in November John King and the magic CNN map.
But what now?
Obama has gracefully accepted the victory banner, and a lot of Hillary supporters, especially women, are walking off the field as if they've lost a war. I understand their frustration, but the truth is they didn't lose, not by a long shot...
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Filed under: Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Raw Politics • Rev. Jeremiah Wright • Women's Rights |
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Is not just woman leaving Mrs. Walker, men are leaving in droves as well because we don't want any part of this race filled campaign run by Obama and his supporters. Is not just losing the nomination, is the DNC's betrayal of the majority of Democratic voters. Just like 2000, the polpular vote winner loses the election. I guess this is our concept of Democracy we are trying to impose on other Countries; biased and rigged elerctions. Countries all over the globe are masters of this technic so they do not need our help.
Howard Dean to fulfill for his personal revenge against the Party for what they did to him in 2004 decided to destroy it.
I guess now we can rest and forget about this campaign until November when I will just simply vote for McCain.
As a woman the need to flee the democratic party just doesn't fit. Voting for McCain is a vote against me. No matter what you say I will not vote agaist me.
We also haven't heard the last of Wright. Now that obama thinks he has it in the bag....it's just a matter of time before all the radicals reappear...and into obama's life. He hasn't 'given' up these people! Remember, they were in his life for 20 years. They are his friends.
This is by far a loss. We love Hillary and still believe she IS the best person for the job. Thank God she only suspended her campaign, which when things go haywire with obama, she can still be the nominee. It is only a matter of time till he blows it. And he's got a few months to do it. She was the most electable and most intelligent to be our nominee and President, so it still isn't over. Do the obama supporters really believe we will back him now? Not a chance in hell. This country is going downhill fast and he will surely speed up the process. HILLARY 08
The votes that Hillary Clinton received from a majority of women were
in most part due to her experience. It was not all about the women versing the men. It was experience compared to inexperience. Our country has been taken down to its lowest point by a person who a majority of the country thought had the experience. So it is understandable that the Hillary's supporters are reluctant to enter the Obama camp. This is not a contest about one party over the next, it is about what is best for this country, who will do it justice and return it to its strong glory.
I am surprised by some black women seeing white womens sucess the same as there own. I as a black man don't see a white man sucess as my own. I know from this country history it's something very different. When black women were getting hanged in this country I didn't see white women coming to there aid. So I ask black women do they think Hillary winning is more historic than Obama winning? If you really understand the history of this country, the answer must be no.
IWhat we want is the best president and best vice president–man or woman. To those women who say they will not vote or will vote McCain b/c they are angry that Hillary didn't win, or feel she was maligned in some fashion or other I say you must think of the greater good. Vote for the person who would best serve our country. You cannot sit this one out, it is far too important. I am proud to be a woman to live in a fime (finally) that a woman could run for president. I'm also proud to be an American who voted for whom I thought was the best candidate, who also happened to be an African American. It matters not to be if the best person for the job is green with yellow spots–it's all about who will serve this country and its people best. Who will serve to bring jobs to the poor, employment to the masses , give relief to the middle class, care about our deteriorating enviornment? Who will bring our troops out of Iraq? Who will work to make this country, this world, and this planet a better place for us, our chidren and grandchildren. You can bet it will NOT be another politician from the old guard– Republican or otherwise. So to those who say they will not vote because Hillary lost the primary I ask you, what would Hillary want you to do? Not to vote or to vote against Obama because Hillary lost would make a mockery of what Hillary believes in. If you listened carefully, Barack and Hillary both want the same things for our country. I am a woman, I am 56 years old, I am a paraprofessional, I raised two sons by myself and struggled everyday to make ends meet. I am a woman and I voted for Barack Obama. Sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee, take a breath. Then, get out there and vote in November–do not waste this chance to make our country a better place to live.
Sorry, the Democratic Party will see droves of women leaving. I'm disgusted at the treatment of Hillary. I ,for one, plan to register as an Independent tomorrow and cast an 'anti-Obama' vote in November for McCain. Every Hillary supporter I know is either doing the same or not voting at all in November. I think the Democratic Party is sorely under-estimating the power and anger of women. Hillary has to support the DNC, her supporters don't! My mind won't be changed by any of Obama's comments. He is a great orator and nothing more.
It's purely simple, if you don't want your right as woman taken from you, then don't vote McCain. If you like a man telling you what to do with your body, then vote for him..But don't pretend to be for women, when your actually are not by voting for McCain and republican, because they are more about control and as a woman, I will not bow down. As you ladies keep screaming, we've come to far for that! You say Barack is pandering and what the hell do you think Hillary and McCain being doing. Your going to have to come up with a better excuse than that ladies...
I agree. I hope that democrats, whether they are Clinton supporters or Obama supporters, take to heart the fact that Hillary Clinton played a major role in shaping the election issues and the what appears to the democratic platform on health care, the war in Iraq, immigration, etc. The democrats fielded a very deep slate of candidates (Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Biden) during the primary. Likewise, both Obama and Clinton inspired millions of new voters to vote and to watch the election process. Given the depth of this talent pool one would be hard pressed to say that anyone was unqualified. (But given how much the world can change based on unanticipated events like The Civil War,The Great Depression, WWII, the Cuban Missile Crisis or 9/11, it is hard to define with sufficient foresight what someone needs to be qualified to be president). Looking at this primary season I think that either Obama or Clinton is capable of winning the election in the fall and leading our nation. Sometimes in sports a championship is virtually decided in the semifinal game, and in those instances the semifinal game presents a much tougher challenge for the champion than the actual title game. I really feel that this is the case here where both Clinton and Obama competed in what is probably one of the toughest presidential primary campaigns in recent history.
Lilibeth wrote:
"I also believe we should look at everyone not as man, woman, black, white, brown, etc., but as human beings who are equal."
We may be equal electorally, in the sense of one person's vote having the same value as anyone else's, but in every other sense, we are most certainly not "equal."
Men and women are the same? They certainly weren't the last time I checked.
Men voting largely for men, women for women, blacks for blacks, whites for whites ... it's called identity politics, and it reflects the way most people think. You may not like it, but that's the reality.
It is being implied idea that OBAMA did not respect Clinton voters, I deeply DISAGREE. If HRC respected the Obama voters she would not have done her dog and pony show on Tuesday June 3. HRC simply put it that NO im the better candidate and Obama supporters are stupid. Look and Listen to her speech, MY (HRC) 18M voters are so stupid they need me to bargain with them so that I can get what I want. Sure I truly belive a woman can be president but not HRC.
Now that Hilary has rested, and is perhaps out of the race, she should ask each of her 18 million voters who rallied behind her to send $1.67 each to help pay off her $30 million dollar campaign debt. I'm sure her voters would be glad to do this, or she should see if this debt could be used as a tax write-off since she does not want her finances exposed.
P.S. If a person asks for public assistance, they must bring in all of their personal information (bank statement, bills, check stubs, etc.) to an agency to get assistance. If she does not want to go through this embarrassment pay off the debt and stop complaining.
To esbee c. : Obama never disrespected Sen. Clinton. The dust off your shoulder is what the younger generation do to overcome a problem. It's in music video and it's a dance. The term sweetie is a term a man usually say to a young women when you don't know their name versus(madam or miss). Plus Obama has two small daughters it's a habit. I'll bet you your dad or uncle called you sweetie. So, please let's work together on the issue which Hillary and Obama share. Thank you.
I don't agree with you on this matter. I will not forget what the Obama camp,cnn,msnbc and the democrat party did to Hillary Clinton. I have daughters and I wouldn't want them to have to endure the sexism that was throwed unfairly on Hillary Clinton. I am not forgeting that anybody in any state that didn't go for Obama was called uneducated racist. No i will not forget and neither will my wife and two daughters. We will vote for John McCain in the november election. I for one will also not vote for a man who attended a racist church for twenty years and claimed he never heard any of the comments that were made. I didn't care that he is black but i'll be Da– if I will vote for the democrat party anymore. I will not even watch anymore debates on tv . There is nothing that Obama or the democrat party can do this election year to recover the four votes in this family. We will hold our nose and vote for John McCain and straight republican on all the other contest.
If I only had Obama's speeches to go on, I would agree that he has captured the spirit of Feminism. In the context and manner of his campaigning he does indeed represent–collectively--The Other.
However, Obama called a vulnerable looking female reporter–sweetie–and he patronized her. He flicked his imaginary dust off his shoulders with a smug smirk-and he attempted to degrade Senator Clinton.
He did not respect Senator Clinton's voters–and the Super's frantically cast their votes on Tuesday for fear of her popular vote victory-so he intended to dominate her
I do appreciate Senator Obama's eloquence and I believe Obama believes the words he speaks–although he knows what is right, and he believes what is right-he does not have the character to behave that way.
And there is the difference between Obama and Bobby Kennedy. It was innate for Bobby-and it is manufactured for Obama.
I agree. I also believe we should look at everyone not as man, woman, black, white, brown, etc., but as human beings who are equal.
The primary election cannot be distilled down to man versus woman anymore than it should be portrayed as a black versus white issue. Those who swear to vote another way because their candidate lost or the choice of VP for the ticket is not to their liking should be ashamed of being so small minded. How any thinking person would vote to continue the loss of life in Iraq, or risk having the right to choose overturned is beyond me.
I was disappointed that Clinton lost; it would have been great for women had she won and I do think women have lost something in her loss – the message that people prefer an inexperienced man over an experienced and highly intelligent woman is disappointing. My vote was not ever on the Democratic side though so I'm still pretty satisfied with the candidate that I will vote for.
Annie Kate
Birmingham AL
No, I don't think that women lost anything either. They have gotten the attention of the candidates and they are now listening. Obama knows that he has to speak their language and deal with their issues in order to get their votes. And women really look into the issues so he can't just be pandering, he will really have to show a very real interest in it. Let's see how good that goes!
Cindy...Ga.