Letters to the Editor
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Obama in primary/either in general election
I posted my pitch for Obama earlier (and here's another good reason: there's a 95 percent chance that Hillary will have to spend at least one of her four years in office preoccupied with bailing Bill out of yet another sex scandal).
But the vehemence of many of the other comments compels me to add an addendum:
There should be a law that says anyone who supports Obama or Clinton in the primary but would refuse to vote for the other in the general election should be drafted to serve in the first wave of the invasion that McCain or Romney will launch against Iran and/or Syria and/or North Korea.
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Who can win against the republican smear machine?
This is an excellent question. I have no animus towards Obama, but he and his supporters seem awfully thin-skinned; think about the smears that are sure to come, whichever candidate the Dems nominate. Can Obama stand up to it? I have no doubt that Hillary can. It's not about who makes you feel good.
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Feminism means the right to choose who we want
I'm a 44-year-old white woman, and I support Barack Obama. I support him because I believe he's the best candidate - brilliant, diplomatic, able to look at issues from all sides. I'm grateful to all my fellow feminists who came before me who made it possible for a woman to run, but I'm also grateful to them for making this country a place where I can vote for whomever I want to. I'm going with my heart and my mind, voting for what's best for our country, not just for someone who looks like me.
PS - Why does everyone keep saying he's so young? He's several years older than Kennedy was when he took office.
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art in tree -
read - don't be afraid p31.
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Anotther female voter for Clinton
I'm a 30 something female who is voting for Clinton. She eats, drinks, and sleeps politics. She will make the best president we've ever had.
Obama sells snake oil. I don't trust him one iota.
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It's all about pragmatism for me
I'm an Obama voter who loves Hillary Clinton.
There. I said it.
Yes. I love her. I love her for her brilliance, for her competence, for her resilience. I love her for taking all the crap that bitter, insecure men have thrown at her for decades. I love her for making my life better--for blazing trails that will give opportunities to women in the future. I even love her for staying with her husband; not because he deserved it, but because she wasn't willing to let the media tell her who she could love or what marriage was supposed to look like. I don't share her views, and some of her positions have enraged me. But I have no doubt whatsoever that she'll make a wonderful President, if she wins.
And there's the rub.
Winning against John McCain will be a hard slog to the finish. We'll have to relive every crackpot theory about how she supposedly murdered Vince Foster.
But Barack Obama presents a unique opportunity to take this juncture in history and make it a transformative political moment. He could win, and win big. He could win in a landslide. Right now, I think that's what we need, so I'm voting for him.
Make no mistake, I'm pulling for Obama to win. But I'm not at all relishing the idea of Hillary losing. In fact, when she does, I will probably cry. It will hurt me, as a woman, to see her lose. It really will.
But all I can do is make the choice that I think will give us the best chance of changing the world. Even if I never forgive myself.
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Me too, almost
However not about the John Edwards part. Russ Fiengold's comment that John Edwards was claiming his (Fiengold's) record without commenserate action - i.e. great he's here but where's he been? - kept me off that road.
I supose it comes down to the difference between a nuts and bolts woman and an inspirational guy. Either, depending on whom they draw around them, could be terrific.
I'm a late-middle aged woman, a feminist who burst into tears when MS Magazine first appeared, sensible to the fact that Hillary is probably the best chance I'll have to vote for a woman who might actually win. But boy I'd be a LOT happier if it was Boxer in her place. It isn't, however, and it wouldn't be and there's the rub.
The truth of the matter is that Hillary didn't get here on her own, Bill brought her. And doesn't that just sum it up? A woman who is where she is by virtue of her husband's position, not much new in that.
Nobody brought Barak; he beat unbeatable odds. The inspiration he evokes is real because he earned it.
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Vote for Kucinich
Clinton and Obama are not your only choices. You say you liked Edwards. If he is on the ballot in your state you should vote for him.
I'm voting for Dennis Kucinich, the only true peace candidate.
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Just a thought --
Love your stuff, Rebecca. I understand your struggle but it's this:
Obama can simultaneously diminish Clinton and raise himself up by the simple act of pulling out her chair at a debate. Without even opening his mouth he can highlight her gender.
type of thing and all the more heavy handed and gross things that have been said to diminish Clinton that sways me.
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Vote for other women... and Obama
Dear Rebecca,
What a beautiful, moving testimony. I always enjoy your essays, but this one took the cake. I am an ardent Obama supporter and a woman. I do feel the slightest tinge of guilt at denying Hillary my vote, but I will counter my primary vote for Obama by voting for every other woman on the local ballot. I don't know these local candidates, it's true, but there are many women on that ballot who I will vote for just because they are women.
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You didn't lie to yourself: you love Dennis Kucinich
Dear Rebecca,
Your piece "Stop lying to yourself, you love Dennis Kucinich" is one of my favorite pieces of journalism this election season.
I'm also a big feminist and I find myself surprised that someone knows herself to align with Kucinich, on the issues, could also vote for Hillary Clinton, on the issues.
I teach college and will be talking to my students about Victoria Woodhull today. In that context, it is hard to imagine not voting for the woman Democratic candidate, and yet both know that feminism is a politics.
I'm not passionate about Obama, but will vote for him tomorrow as more progressive of these two candidates.
Good luck with your decision!