Wednesday, September 17, 2008

WILL WOMEN PLEASE GET OVER THAT HILLARY LOST?
A dear friend of mine, who I deeply respect, railed about how she may not vote for Obama, that he doesn't (yet) have her vote. How she's upset that Hillary was treated poorly, that she still believes Hillary is more qualified, etc.
I said "You're not a PUMA, are you?"
"Yes, I am. I'm a PUMA--Party Unity, My Ass......"
I gently suggested that Obama would later most likely ask Hillary if she'd want a Cabinet post, (say, Head of Health, Education & Welfare, or even Secretary of State), but my lovely friend said,"No way--he HATES her......"
She went on to say she is "sick of the corruption in the Democratic party. Nancy Pelosi is jealous of Hillary..." etc. etc.
I countered with "What about the corruption in the Republican party?" She answered with "It's about making a statement; it's the principle, Lisa....."
I pointed out that Hillary Clinton hasn't worked for all these great goals to have women vote AGAINST what she's worked for. That she WANTS them to vote Obama/Biden. Still my friend resists. So, here's an article for all women out there, who still feel (with reason) some disenfranchisement.
Bold italics are mine.
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Women's rights groups endorse Obama for president
By ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writer

Women's rights groups endorsed Barack Obama for president Tuesday, asserting the historic selection of a female Republican vice presidential candidate does not make up for John McCain's lack of support on issues important to women.
"We don't think it's much to break a glass ceiling for one woman and leave millions of women behind," said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Smeal was among leaders from six organizations that announced their endorsement of the Democratic presidential nominee at a news conference.
Obama also won the support of the National Organization for Women, which said it has not endorsed a candidate for president since Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro shared the Democratic ticket in 1984. Ferraro was the first female major-party vice presidential candidate.
NOW backed New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries. "We join with her in saying 'no,'" said NOW President Kim Gandy, referring to a line Clinton used at the Democratic convention last month.
"No way, no how, no McCain."
Gandy and Smeal dismissed polls that suggested McCain has received a boost in support from white women after he picked Palin.
"The die is not cast yet," Smeal said.
An Associated Press-GfK Poll of likely voters last week showed Obama's lead among women at 49 percent to 44 percent. The same AP-GfK poll showed that white women are backing McCain over Obama, 53 percent to 40 percent.
Gandy predicted women will quickly swing their support to Obama once they know where Palin stands on the issues. The Alaska governor opposes abortion except in the case of a threat to the mother's life.
However, data from the recent AP-GfK poll suggests that it might be difficult for Obama to win over some white women.
The survey, conducted Sept. 5-10, found 65 percent of working-class white women say Palin shares their values, 71 percent said so of McCain, compared to 52 percent for Obama and 46 percent for Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The McCain campaign said it was unhappy with NOW's decision to endorse Obama in the race for the White House.
"It's extremely disappointing that an organization that purports to be an advocate for all women not only opposes, but feels compelled to go out of its way to criticize and make negative comments, about the only ticket in the presidential race with a woman on the ticket," Palin's spokeswoman Maria Comella said in an e-mail.
Smeal said the organizations have and will continue to protest any sexism in the presidential campaign, but she added, "We think it's time to get off issues such as lipstick and on to the issues, really, that are challenging this nation."
Gandy criticized Republicans for changing their tone on sexism.
"I love it that Republicans have discovered sexism in the media," she said. "Because they didn't see any of it when it was being directed at Hillary Clinton. But once Sarah Palin got a dose of it, which we also pointed out, they were all over it." She did not explain how her group defended Palin from sexism.
Obama was also endorsed by leaders from Business and Professional Women/USA, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Congress of Black Women and the Women's Information Network.
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We're in this to win. Let's get it together, ladies.
Peace, kids.

10 comments:

Collin Kelley said...

Any woman who votes for McCain/Palin to make some kind of "statement" about Hillary obviously can't see the bigger picture of what's at stake in this election. If they want their reproductive rights and other freedoms squashed to make a moronic point, they should be stripped of their voting cards.

Anonymous said...

I still can't quite get over it that Hillary lost but God NO is it gonna make me vote for an idiot! I wanted Hillary because I thought she'd be great at the job. Now, I know Obama will be great at it, way better than anyone else running - leaps and bounds better.

Anyone who punishes the citizenry with poor government for another 4-8 years because they are mad their favorite person didn't win the primary is too immature to be voting. And risks us losing even more than another 8 years, but also, inalienable rights: choice, marriage, health care - you name it. Get with the program people!

billie said...

you are much sweeter and nicer than i am about this whole thing. if you can't bring yourself to vote for obama, at least be intelligent life forms and find out who else is running for president. cynthia mckinney is a former congresswoman who is running on the green party ticket i think- she is liberal and speaks about women's issues. i have no regard for people who think that because their candidate lost- they should be spiteful. i voted for dennis kucinich.

Anonymous said...

Any woman who is so pathetic as to not vote for Obama out of a sense of peevishness over Hillary should actually have their right to vote revoked. I find this attitude so infuriating. So they would rather have those two rednecks running the free world just because they're having a little tantrum over Hillary? Grow up. Think about the ramifications this election will have for the rest of the world. It is their responsibility not to screw it up for those of us who don't have a voice but will still be affected by the outcome. Do they know, for example, what the sub-prime mortgage crisis has done to the Australian economy? And how many Australians have died in Bush's war in Iraq? They should get over Hillary. Fast.

Sorry to go on, Lisa. I feel quite strongly about this.

DCH said...

While I understand the emotion, it always makes me a bit nervous when people start advocating the prevention of people with ideas different from ours from voting. The Federalist Papers have a phrase for such a policy - "the violence of majority faction". A simpler phrase is tyranny.

Maybe instead of dreaming of depriving these women of their right to vote, those Hilary supporters who now support Obama could try to educate or persuade those who don't? That's called "community action", and is a bit more democratic than "stripping them of their voting cards."

Naturally, if you still want to go the voting-prevention route, I'm sure there are some old Klansmen around who used to do that with blacks, and they'd have plenty of pointers you can use.

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

Whew! Quite alot of response to this, so I'll go one-by-one.
Collin-- I definitely believe it's meaningless to vote a particular way just to make some kind of "moronic point" but I could never strip someone of their voter registration card.I feel sure this is your emotion is speaking here. But I do "feel" ya, believe me!
PWADJ(Melissa)-- I supported Obama(Some time ago, I truly thought it would be Obama/Edwards or Edwards/Obama), but if it had instead been Hillary who won, she certainly would, definitely, get my vote! I agree with all the reasons you listed on why women should vote Obama.
And yeah--some folks ARE too immature to be voting, but they still GET to vote, whether I/we like their choice(s) or not...
Betmo--I liked Dennis Kucinich as he's the ONLY true Pacifist running, but I am also very practical. We(Progressives) HAVE to win this time, we really, really do!
Selma--I DO feel ya, really I do. And I agree completely--this vote affects not only the U.S., but the rest of the world, too. However, I can't support taking away someone's right to vote.
Brrrooom--I feel certain this is truly emotion speaking here--I don't believe any of the readers/commenters here would actually move to deny someone's right-to-vote, even if in the rush of their feelings, they indicated they felt like it...
And yes, point made with the KKK analogy.
Incidentally, many of us ARE trying to convince others to vote Obama. It's why I posted this article. Discourse will eventually lead to persuasion, and hopefully, more votes and a win for us Progressives.
quick question, Brrrooom: in an earlier post, you stated "I won't be voting Democrat".
If I may be so bold, does this mean you're a McCain supporter? If so, I strongly urge you to read "Third Term" by Paul Begala(an adviser to Bill Clinton, and friend of Ronald Reagan, who discusses the war-hero McCain in kindly terms, but explains current(2008) McCain is NOT the McCain of 2000. 2008's McCain truly is "on board" with nearly ALL of George W.'s policies. It's actually quite tragic, and Paul Begala's writing is quite compelling.

billie said...

i understand your pov- but if these yahoos are intent on voting against obama- but claim to still be dems or progressives- it seems a bit hypocritical for them to vote mccain. so, in that event, they should vote third party or not at all. you cannot educate or persuade these people- if hillary's continued pleas to support obama haven't swayed them nothing will. i don't advocate taking away someone's right to vote- but administering an iq test before hand- or at the very least a current events quiz- would do the trick ;) you don't score 90 % or above- your vote doesn't count. but you don't know that :)

DeadMule said...

Hi Lisa, Just count me as one who supported Hillary Clinton but made the switch to Obama as soon as she conceded. I'm a feminist, not a confused soul who'd vote for any woman regardless of what she stands for. Obama 08!

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

Betmo-- Hilarious! btw, I DO think current events/policy of politics/politics of policies' quizzes should be a HUGE part of junior high/high school. The earlier one is introduced to involvement, the easier it is to STAY involved in the process.
Helen of Deadmule--Glad we're one-for-all-all-for-one! Thank you for stopping in.....
I'm headed over to visit all of you who have blogs, who've been contributing here at Lisa Allender Writes, later tonight!

Lydia said...

Scratch the surface, find the bigot. I think that is what these women boil down to in the end. They're using Hillary's loss as an excuse to jump to the GOP.