Margalit posted yesterday about the New Hampshire primary and discussed the conventional wisdom that many women are voting for Senator Clinton solely because she is a woman and that Black people are voting for Senator Obama solely because he is Black. She links to Gloria Steinem's op-ed in the New York Times, an essay I highly recommend for food-for-thought.
Margalit's post has inspired me to write one of my own.
First, I believe someone on C-SPAN yesterday said that if they had over 500,000 voters in New Hampshire, that would be more than voted in the NH general election in 2006. That kind of a result is pretty awesome. Didn't they have something like 65% turnout? That is wonderful for elections in the United States!
Back to gender and racial politics -- I thought the whole point of equality was that we shouldn't vote for the Black candidate simply because he's Black, or the woman candidate simply because she's a woman. Maybe we are not there as a country yet.
If we are to judge people by the "content of their character" alone, I don't think that I would vote for Senator Clinton. There were a lot of shady things that went on during President Clinton's administration (politics-wise, not even looking at the sex scandals) and she was right there in the thick of it.
(Attention, cynical moment approaching) Of course, Senator Obama may just not have been in national politics long enough to have a scandal attached to him. But, I don't think it is fair to label him with the inexperience brush. How much experience in foreign policy did either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush have when they stepped into the White House?
No matter who turns out to be the candidate in our general elections, I will almost certainly be voting for the Democrat. I align with the Democrats on social issues, and after the last eight years, I don't think that the Republicans can claim any sort of ownership of fiscal responsibility. (Check out Margalit's blog for a widget detailing what the expenses in Iraq could have been used for).
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Indecision 2008
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7 comments:
I am only able to vote for someone if I think they are a good person, and I do not think Hilary Clinton is a good person. I've read some pretty bad stuff about her which seems to be true. And I don't know why all of that stuff hasn't come out in the media.
I'm not necessarily clarifying that just because Hilary is a woman, women should vote for her. I'm more questioning whether, if she is not elected and another (God Forbid) Republican is because the Democratic vote was split by some unknown independent candidate or something, would I, in 10 years, feel guilty because I didn't vote to elect the first woman president. I think it's a valid question to ask oneself, even though I'm a rabid Edwards supporter right now.
Thanks for the link!
Thanks for your vacation suggestion on my blog. We've always wanted to go to DC - might wait until the kids are a tad older (they are 3 and 1 now). But the Outer Banks is a definate contender for this year. I'll have to do a little more looking at Duck. Thank You!
Interesting school of thought (voting soley upon race or gender) but it seems that the opposite is actually happening for Hillary. While there are a lot of older women voting for her... she's having to work for the female vote in younger circles. In fact the number of female votes she recieved in NH was a surprise. The theory behind this is that while older women still understand what a struggle it was for women in America years ago...life is easier for the younger generation of women... therefore we don't fully understand the significance therein. I'm not sure how I feel about it.. but it throws another perspective into the mix.
Thanks for the comments BTW!
Ten years down the road, will I regret supporting Hillary or will I regret NOT supporting her? Where's my precognition when I need it?
What do you think of the way the media is blowing her "crying" incident out of proportion? I saw the clip, she didn't even cry, her voice wavered, but because she's a woman the news is turning this into a grand humanizing moment for the "ice queen." It's just so bizarre don't you think?
Ari (Baking and Books)
Ari (Baking and Books)
"I thought the whole point of equality was that we shouldn't vote for the Black candidate simply because he's Black, or the woman candidate simply because she's a woman."
Hear, hear.
Loved meeting you earlier in the week!
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