In the past couple weeks, and in particular since the media declared victory for Barack Obama, many hardcore Hillary supporters have been organizing a protest vote for McCain campaign (being stoked on sites like TaylorMarsh.com, Hillaryis44.com, etc.). As a Democrat who would support either candidate wholeheartedly, I find this a bitter pill to swallow. I realize tensions are high right now and that much of these feeling will subside by November, but this campaign defies logic on so many levels that I'm really struggling to understand it.
I know that most of the hardcore Hillary supporters have left this site, but if there are any out there, I'd like an honest response to the following questions:
- Where have Obama, his campaign or his surrogates acted in a sexist manner or attempted to inject gender into the primary campaign? It seems to me that only legitimate charges of sexism could be levied at the media, so why would this warrant a protest vote against Obama? Is it fair to conflate media sexism with Obama himself?
- Do you believe Barack Obama to be sexist, especially in light of having a very strong wife and two daughters?
- Politically, what is to be gained by voting for McCain, who clearly does not represent feminist interests? McCain, in all likelihood, will have the opportunity to nominate a supreme court justice who could help overturn Roe vs. Wade -- do you trust him on that issue?
- McCain has admitted to cheating in his disabled 1st wife, has been a fairly well-known skirt chaser around Washington, and called his 2nd wife a "c**t" and a "trollop." In light of this resume, how can you rationalize a vote for him if your primary cause is advancing the cause of feminism/women's issues?
At the end of the day, I think that Hillary supporters are probably going through the 5 stages of grief. (I hope that's not construed as sexist, I really mean it to be an honest assessment). That her supporters have been so invested in something so important, it is understandable that there would be a profound feeling of loss as Hillary's prospects for the nomination dwindle. Many of these supporters have moved from the denial stage ("Hillary still stands a chance!") to the anger stage ("Screw Obama, I'll never vote for that sexist!"). With time, most will move towards acceptance, and eventually vote for Obama -- even if it's a "hold your nost" vote.
But I still think Obama would be well-served to extend the olive branch to Hillary supporters by choosing a Hillary surrogate as VP (both Rendell and Clark would be great choices) and adopt some of her key themes as a way of recognizing her base.
My advice to Obama supporters: BE GRACIOUS. Many of us would feel the same way had our candidate lost, so let's give the Hillary supporters time to accept defeat, and then extend our own olive branches because we will need her supporters come November.