Last Updated on September 3, 2017
Hillary Clinton is planning to officially “suspend” her campaign for the presidency and will endorse Barack Obama. This will happen, reports NBC News, at a “unity” event on Saturday.
Suspending a campaign, rather than ending it, seems to be the new trend for politicians who don’t want to admit that they’ve lost; it’s also a way to allow the continued raising of money to pay off campaign debt that you incurred whether you campaign for fiscal responsibility or not.
To hear some voters, especially some of her more vehement supporters talking, she’s got quite a tough sell on her hands if she’s really hoping for unity.
They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. Their good ol’ girl was supposed to get the nod. She was entitled. And since she didn’t get what she was due, some say they are just going to stay home or vote for John McCain. Out of spite.
Can anyone honestly believe that voters who feel that way are voting for issues?
They’re not. They’re voting because they wanted to see a woman president. There are Obama supporters who want just as much to see a black president.
And the comments some of Hillary’s supporters have been making are quite telling:
“There are no other women as qualified as Hillary.”
“We’ll never have another woman president in my lifetime.”
“America isn’t ready for a woman president.”
Let’s take these point by point. If Hillary is so much more qualified, it should be assumed that the other candidates were so much less qualified. That means that to become a candidate for president, it isn’t necessary to be as qualified as they think Hillary is. So whether another woman is as qualified as Hillary or not is a moot point.
If other women, whether as qualified or not as qualified as Hillary, could theoretically run for office, then it makes no sense to lament now that there will never be another serious female contender for the job in one’s lifetime. There were some black people, undoubtedly, who would have said that there would never be a black president in their lifetime, and they might have said so as recently as a year ago; look at what has happened on that front. Melodrama aside, one has no idea what one’s lifetime will be; you could live for five more minutes or seventy more years. Just forty years ago, a woman president wasn’t even a wild fantasy, and just look how close it did come, even if it did miss the mark. Things change.
Then there’s the sweeping generalization about America not being ready for a woman president. The presumption is that Hillary must somehow represent all women, so if Hillary’s not good enough, than no other woman is. The real question is, why can’t the people who use the “not ready” argument not able to see that it isn’t any woman some of the voters have a problem with, but that particular woman.
There are plenty of voters to whom a candidate’s gender — or race, for that matter — means absolutely nothing. In fact, if you’re voting for the right reason, gender and race shouldn’t even be a consideration.
If Barack Obama had been in Hillary’s shoes and his supporters had made such a threat, these same Hillary supporters would scowl and dismiss the action as a case of “sour grapes.” Poor losers.
But Hillary’s entitled. She trained for 35 years of her life. She spent eight whole years in the White House, and unlike all of the other First Ladies who shared the historic home, she was gearing up to trade places with her husband.
And her most fierce supporters — at least the ones who are more interested in having a woman as president than spending any time voting based on issues — want to make sure their will is heard. So they’re either staying home or planning on a vote for McCain. I have to wonder if they’ve ever bothered to read up on the issues and the candidates’ positions; if Hillary is taken out of consideration, the next closest person to Hillary’s views isn’t John McCain.
If a child would do what those people are threatening, they’d be accused of “pouting” (staying home) or “throwing a tantrum” (voting for the opponent out of spite). Why don’t they see that?
It’s time for the electorate to do a lot of soul searching between now and November. We need to decide where we stand on the issues and vote that way…regardless of who the candidate is.
Are you responsible enough to do so?
I don’t have a problem with a woman being president, just that particular woman. I think the Republicans are going to have severe turnout problems this November, but Hillary would have brought them out in full force just to vote against her. The Democrats may now have turnout problems of their own, but at least we won’t have five more months of Whitewater, Monica and all the other baggage she brings to the table.
I think in Hillary’s case, suspending her campaign is probably a good idea. If something really damaging about Obama comes out before the convention, a lurid sex scandal or maybe he likes to beat puppies before breakfast, she could get enough superdelegates to step in and give her the nomination. Plus, there’s that whole thing about continuing to raise money to pay off her debts.