Hillary Clinton should be the next President of the United States. She is respected around the world, she is very intelligent, and no one doubts her seriousness about hard work. As Clinton goes forward I decided to write a message to all of her supporters. There are four things that every Clinton supporter should be aware of. Being aware of these four things will help make us better advocates for Senator Clinton.
1.Sexism is still deeply ingrained in American politics. I naively underestimated the role that sexism would play in this election. I desired to believe that men, especially liberal men like Obama and Edwards, would have moved above sexism. After watching the New Hampshire debate on Saturday it is clear that the sexism is alive. The way Obama and Edwards came to each other's defense, while perhaps politically savy, showed that Clinton was not off base when she talks about the all boys club of presidential politics.
Sexism may have been one of the major reasons Hillary did not perform as well as she had hoped in Iowa. Gloria Steinem, in her article, "Women are Never Front-runners" notes that
That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).
As a supporter of Clinton I was reminded this week that if we want to see another Clinton in the White House we need to be aware that gender is still a limiting force.
2.Beware the media. After this week can there really be any doubt that the media is giving Senator Clinton less than fair treatment? Let's examine the evidence
The Montgomery Advertiser
Clinton should consider withdrawing if primary wins elude her
The Montgomery Advertiser
Clinton feels chill in New Hampshire.
MSBC
Barack Obama is the new front-runner.
There are only a couple of headlines, but all the major news sites were covered with dozens of similar articles. It was a burden to find a single article that argued that the race for the nomination was not over.
Chris Matthews, in particular, had all but inaugurated Barack Obama. Matthews also incorrectly stated that no Presidential candidate had ever lost New Hampshire and Iowa and gone on to win the election. Matthews obviously forgot about Bill Clinton who won neither Iowa nor New Hampshire.
The media has a long record of treating Senator Clinton with disrespect. As we go forward into nomination season encourage people to vote for the most experience candidate regardless of whether or not the media decides the race is over.
3.Young voters matter. I encourage both the Clinton campaign and her supporters to take a much more aggressive approach in securing the votes of young people. They do not vote consistently, which will probably help Hillary. Still, a failure to secure their votes could hurt Hillary on Super Tuesday.
I am 23 years old, and suppose if I followed the generational trend I should be pounding the pavement for Obama. I plan to work very hard in the next few weeks turning young voters on to Senator Clinton. I am encouraging other Clinton Supporters to do the same.
4.Substance over style. The New Hampshire primary reminds us that substance is required in American politics. Clinton spent her time in New Hampshire telling voters about very specific policies she planned to implement. Obama chose to rely on riding momentum and inspiring people that change is possible. The New Hampshire voters demanded to be informed about how change could be brought about. Obama was unable to deliver.
Senator Clinton has the best chance of beating the Republicans in November. I hope democrats will not turn this election into a contest about who is a better stump speaker.