We had dinner with my parents, who are devout believers in Hillary. It's a matter of faith, like abortion rights. All their logic proceeds from the axiom that Hillary should be the candidate, after which they look for arguments to support that, rather than trying to weigh arguments for and against. They get angry when they're contradicted. So generally we try to stay away from Hillary vs. Obama.
But two old canards came up. One, the only reason Hillary isn't the nominee is sexism. Two, Barack Obama can't win because he's black.
What if we were to turn that on its head?
Hillary claims she's the best candidate because she's white, and blacks can't win. But she claims sexism has hurt her campaign.
The flip side of that argument is: Hillary can't win because the US is a sexist country. Yes, she has encountered sexism -- and she would encounter a whole lot more of it in a general election against a Republican. Lord knows the Republicans would have no trouble calling her "shrill" or a "bitch" or implying that she's just too hysterical to be President.
Obama won't make those claims because he's not a sexist, and he would be crucified in the party. But McCain would. Remember what McCain called his wife, in public?
Likewise the victim argument: if we're supposed to cut Hillary slack because she's experienced sexism, how much slack should we cut Barack Obama because he's black?
None, of course. Politics is not fair. No one gets cut any slack. Either you win or lose. And both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton managed to crush the other Democratic candidates in spite of all the racism and sexism they encountered. For every racist or sexist who won't vote for them, there are two passionate volunteers who are fighting for them because they represent change.
Maybe it's late for logical arguments. But if you're talking with someone who's still on the fence, just make the point that you can't cry "sexism" and then say you're a better candidate because of racism. Because if there's so much sexism, that makes any woman a worse candidate. In fact according to polls, voters are less comfortable with a theoretical woman candidate than they are with a theoretical Black candidate. For every racist in West Virginia, there are two sexists in Virginia.
Fortunately, the same polls show that the thing that bothers voters most is age. Voters don't want an old candidate. Especially not this year.