You always hear that everyone has already made up their mind about Hillary Clinton. They either like her or hate her and there’s no middle ground.
I’m not sure I believe that. For one, while I have made up my mind in the general sense (I like her and would be happy to vote for her), I definitely haven’t come to any firm decision about her in relation to the other potential Democratic candidates.
Disclosure: My personal politics are way, way to the left of any of these folks on most issues. To some extent, that means I like people who go left regardless of other considerations. But it also means that I find the supposed differences in progressivism between any two “mainstream” candidates to be relatively minor. Accordingly, I tend to focus a lot on how the candidate is framing the issues, how they would help develop the Democratic Party over the long term, and how effective they would be at actually implementing policies. These things ultimately matter more to me than abstract progressive credentials.
Second disclosure: given my current evaluation of these issues, if I had to rank my preferences right now it would be Obama, Clinton, Richardson, Edwards (with Gore way ahead if he decided to run), but I could still be persuaded about any of them, and would be more than happy to work to get any of them into the White House. I haven’t necessarily dismissed any of the other folks, either, though I will say I’m not too likely to warm much to the likes of Joe Biden or Chris Dodd. Great senators, but they should probably stay there.
I can’t imagine there are too many folks with that order of preference, so this comment is directed at progressives and Democrats who reject a possible Clinton candidacy out of hand. I get why these folks are down on her, but I am worried about the way their concerns are manifested. Primarily, I worry that many of the criticisms either implicitly encourage a framing of gender in politics that I find troubling, or (in the worst cases) explicitly diminish her accomplishments because of the way gender has shaped her political career.
Hillary Clinton is one of the most distinguished women in the history of our country, who played an enormous role in her husband’s campaign and presidency (the only Democratic presidential campaign victories since 1976 [well, and Gore in 2000 I suppose], by the way), who gave the issue of universal health care the national stage (even if it was a bit of a disaster), who revolutionized the role of the First Lady, who endured all the criticism, attacks, and bad press surrounding her husband, and emerged as a significant political figure in her own right. This often ends up lost in the fog.
She offers a well-organized, motivated, and strong political apparatus, as well as approximately 777 trillion dollars for the campaign. To be sure, she does sound less progressive than some of the other candidates, but as I’ve said I’m not convinced the difference in practice is all that large.
“Generally my generation
Wouldn’t be caught dead working for the man
And generally I agree with them
Trouble is you gotta have yourself an alternate plan”
Ani DiFranco – Not a Pretty Girl
So why is she so castigated on the internets? Most would say it’s a concern about her attachment to “corporate” interests and the strategy of triangulation, which is certainly reasonable, though occasionally frustrating (but my complaints about the way the netroots occasionally overemphasizes the importance of candidates who appear to care about the netroots is a subject for another day).
The more important concern for me is the way that these legitimate concerns end up being framed within the larger context of discourse about Clinton. To be blunt, I wonder what it says about the latent masculinity of the blogosphere that so many people feel comfortable smashing Clinton’s credentials.
For her to get to where she is now required more heart, drive, talent, political skill, and strength than most of the other candidates combined. You may (very reasonably) disagree with her positions on specific issues, but can we at least acknowledge that any woman who can do what she has done deserves our respect, if not necessarily our votes?
“She’s been everybody else’s girl, maybe some day she’ll be her own…”
Tori Amos – Girl
The thing is, while many, many criticisms could be fairly directed at her, I would caution those making them to at least take a step back now and then, and question whether you would say the same thing if she was not a woman.
I don’t just mean in the simple sense – I doubt many committed progressives are mad about her stepping outside of traditional gender roles – my larger concern is how this plays out in more subtle ways. To wit, would her political career before now have looked different if she did not have to deal with waves of anti-feminist discrimination, if she did not have to constantly battle prejudice just to stay afloat? Would she feel as much need to tack right if she didn’t have to worry about so many people who might be willing to vote for a generic Democrat but feel a personal dislike for her?
I think these are fair questions.
Moreover, for the huge percentage of people who have made up their mind that they hate Hillary, isn’t a big part of it her gender? Remember that a lot of the anti-Hillary attacks from the center and the Right stem from a visceral, seething hatred that is personal and has very little to do with her agenda, policies, or political ideas.
I know a lot of people hated “the Clintons” but Bill’s ratings are still quite favorable. So why do people hate Hillary so much? There are a lot of complex answers, but I don’t see how her being a woman doesn’t feature prominently in a number of them. What would be acceptable or normal behavior is scrutinized, criticized, and blown up because of who she is and WHAT she is.
And I think it’s worth asking – if the only reason why a huge percentage of people won’t support her is because of her gender, isn’t there a point where we stop letting prejudice control us, as opposed to taking the fight to them?
I don’t have answers, and I’ll admit that my concern about breaking down the gender barrier for the White House is probably bigger than most other folks (to the point where I’d at least consider voting for a moderate Republican simply because she was a woman), but I think it would serve us to talk through some of these issues.
Of course, this should be in addition to, not at the cost of, talking about whether her policies, ideas, and goals are the right choice for advancing progressive interests. They may not be, but I think it would be in our best interests to try and keep open minds.
A few random pop songs for a cold Sunday evening…
