Hillary: Use Gov.Strickland comments for women vote

If I am part of Hillary Clinton campaign and running a smart campaign (which I doubt it!), I would urge my supporters to beat the drum on Gov. STRICKLAND comments yesterday. He summarized it effectively.

These comments will play well with FEMALE voters if used by Clinton supporters not the candidate herself.

Here is the link:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/...

Here are some highlights:

Strickland also lamented the "triple" and "quadruple" standard he believes Clinton faces as a woman running for president.

Unprompted, Strickland spoke about the difficulty Clinton faces as a female candidate.

"You know it's tough for a woman to seek the presidency. It's also tough for an African-American to seek the presidency and I understand that, but it seems as if, you know, there's not a double standard when it comes to Sen. Clinton seeking this office, but there's a triple and a quadruple standard and I think she's dealing with all of this with great dignity and courage," he said.  

When asked what he meant by triple and quadruple standards, Strickland gave a few examples. "Well, you know, you gotta be strong. You gotta be appropriately emotional. You can't be too critical of your opponent, but you've got to be critical enough. It goes on and on and on. There are assessments made of Sen. Clinton that would never be even considered for a male candidate," he said.

I think Hillary's campaign team is one of the worst and not serving her well. She is a good candidate. Mark Penn, Mandy Grunwald, Howard Wolfson, Peter Diou are bringing her down.

If they are flexible and intelligent, they will find a way to air Gov. STRICKLAND comments to attract female voters.

•  Serious comments only. You can disagree politely!

  by Texas Ram on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:13:27 AM PDT

  •  I'm left to wonder...

    if Gov. Strickland understands what "double standard" and her extended versions actually mean.  A "triple standard" would mean that there are three standards by which candidates are judged, and (implicitly) that she's being judged by the harshest one.  But why is that relevant if there are only two candidates in this race?

    by Rorgg on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:15:28 AM PDT

    •  I think what he was getting at was that

      there was not only a double standard in one aspect, but in multiple aspects.

      This is the kind of surrogate talk I could see actually helping her. It's not negative, and though opinion-based it's largely grounded in reality.

      And I say that as an Obama supporter.

      by someone else on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:18:42 AM PDT

  •  Can you tone down the CAPS LOCKS?

    It really does come across as YELLING.

    by Fabian on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:17:36 AM PDT

    •  I will. Thanks.

      by Texas Ram on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:19:05 AM PDT

•  I politely disagree.

  Well, not quite.  It might indeed play well.

  But I still don't think "I'm a woman, you're a woman, and running for president is hard!" is a compelling (or valid) argument.

  by Pegasus on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:15:01 AM PDT

•  Oh, that's why she's losing

  here I thought it was the fact that my vote doesn't matter because I don't live in one of her states.

  This makes sense, women should vote for her because its harder for her to run for president

  by BlueGA on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:15:52 AM PDT

•  The positive message for women is

  that we can choose the best candidate, be it female or male.  

  by chicago minx on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:16:33 AM PDT

  •  The way I look at it

    It doesn't work to compare Hillary as a woman candidate and Barack as an African American candidate. Sex and race aside, she's got a lot of baggage, and is in this race representing what many Amreicans are tired of: machine politics, focus-grouping your way to positions,  50% + 1 victories, etc.

    Obama, OTOH is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate. He has an overabundance of positives: seeming unlimited charisma, believability, and the ability to inspire and connect with voters. He proposes a new, less divisive approach to leading, which the country appears to embrace.

    What if the female candidate were the fresh. new, inspirational candidate, and the African American were an oldschool pol with lots of baggage, questionable campaign tactics and a tired message? Wouldn't the female candidate be getting all of the love that Obama is getting? I know she'd have my vote!

    by casperr on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:47:31 AM PDT

•  Funny

  I thought a woman should vote for Hillary because she decides Hillary is the best candidate who most fairly represents her views.

  by MLDB on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:17:03 AM PDT

•  No.

  While Strickland is correct, its not a compelling argument to vote FOR Clinton. Lots of women (indeed all) are victims of these double/triple/quadruple standards. That doesn't mean they should be president.

  by Christopher Day on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:17:33 AM PDT

•  Yes, because establishment candidates

  are up against so many odds! Poor Hillary!

  Need I mention where Obama, formerly the foreigner / Muslim / African-American / "Young" underdog, is coming from?

  by otheruser on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:24:44 AM PDT

•  Double standards...

  Its a lot easier to be a white woman than a black man in this country. 7 years ago, my hubby and I adopted a biracial child. Since then, for the first time in my life, I have had to deal with racism toward me, because I appear to have given birth to a black child. I have actually walked out of places because of the blatant finger pointing and whispers. And..I live in Florida, which is not supposed to be the deep south. As a blond, blue eyed woman, I NEVER experienced this before. Oh yes, I dealt with the sexism since I worked in a male dominated field, but the racism is so much more accepted and so much more blatant.

  So it is insulting to me to hear someone lament that Hillary is losing because she is a woman. Had I chosen to vote for Hillary, it would have been because I think she would make a fine president and is the best candidate. I do think she would be a good president..I just think Obama is the better candidate at this date but honestly, to imply that I am letting down women is really insulting to me.

  by rian90 on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:25:01 AM PDT

•  "I think Hillary's campaign team is.."

  I think Hillary's campaign team is one of the worst and not serving her well.

  One of the major reasons I think people on dKos prefer Obama over Hillary is that she puts nits like McAuliffe on TV and lets them make horrible campaign decisions, and we don't want to see them influencing party politics. The comments of this last week about how 22 states don't matter perfectly crystallizes the role the DLC and the Clintons had in the anemia of the Democratic Party the past decade or so. Obama's widespread grassroots is, on the other hand, the epitome of the 50-state strategy, and it is winning. I don't think it's what Obama meant when he talked about choosing the politics of the future over the politics of the past, but it still seems applicable.

  by mattw on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:25:03 AM PDT

•  As an Obama supporter..

  I agree women have extra hurdles to overcome then men do in any endeavor historically considered a male domain.

  I am a male feminist and strongly believe women should be treated equally with men and given equal opportunites.

  I would be thrilled to see a female President and if Barack Obama was not Hillary's opponent, I would be supporting her.

  I do not support Barack because he is African American, although African Americans also have hurdles to overcome in a white dominated world.

  I support Barack because he inspires me to believe, I like his philosophy of coming together, and I believe he is the stronger candidate against John McCain, plain and simple.

  Does Hillary have a tough road to travel because she is a woman? Sure.

  Does Barack have a tough road to travel because he is African American? You bet. Plus he has had the extra hurdle of running against a widely known person with a political machinary behind her while he started out as a relative unknown and look where he has gotten to.

  For me, that's proof enough he is the stronger candidate this fall.

  by slw0606 on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:25:05 AM PDT

•  As a woman

  I found the Gov Strickland's comments offensive. Not entirely inaccurate, but offensive. Being a woman in a science field, I encounter similar hurdles to overcome- which I do manage- but I detest being given the "Pity her, weak woman" with these excuses.
  There is some truth to them, but it has been very unhelpful for me to make that an issue. It has made me come across as weak and unable to cope with the reality of the workplace. It has been better to suck it up, and carefully consider moments to highlight a misogynistic with a well time remark, in front of others, such as "Oh? Because I'm female?". And walk away.
  The terrible truth, is the feminist movement achieved the obvious triumphs, which needed doing! But now women are fighting with ingrained cultural and biological bias- and taking them head on, doesn't seem to work.

  by WiseFerret on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:31:02 AM PDT

•  Quadruple standard = Political hyperbole

  Nothing more or less.
  

  by other72384 on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:39:09 AM PDT

•  So her choice of campaign staff

  should not be an indication of what kind of candidate she is?

  Interesting theory.

  by bam bam on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:42:13 AM PDT

•  I see your point.

  by Texas Ram on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 07:51:22 AM PDT

•  The last time I heard someone say...

  Something was tough was when I was listening to the drivel coming out of Bush's mouth on how securing Iraq was "tough" in his ole' folksy manner.  Yet Clinton has been labeled as a fighter, ready to take on the Republican'ts and their attack machine.  I'm still not sure why she can complain about how tough things are when Obama faces some of the same issues.

  Well, I was quite worried about having a sitting Senator and the governor of Ohio supporting Clinton in the run-up to March 4th.  From his statements here, I'm not so worried anymore.  He's not only not helping Clinton, in my opinion, with these statements, but he is reinforcing gender stereotypes.  Clinton is trying to break a glass ceiling... it's supposed to be frickin' hard.  That's the whole point.

  by BasharH on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 08:11:06 AM PDT