Right up front - I am a Sanders supporter. I am not even certain that I will vote for Secretary Clinton in the general should she receive the nomination. President Obama has stated that he will not support a Democrat who doesn't meet his standards regarding gun control and that he will re-evaluate Senator Sanders should he receive the nomination.
I feel the same way about Secretary Clinton. I will need to "re-evaluate" her candidacy should she be nominated based on the issues that are important to me. One of the considerations will be gender. It's not the dominant issue for me but I can understand why it is for some, and IMHO it should not be dismissed.
Though I am presently an atheist, I grew up a Catholic during the 50s. If we weren't second-class citizens we certainly weren't regarded as first class citizens either. There was a huge amount of anti-Catholic bias.
I remember when John Kennedy ran and won the Presidency. The feeling of pride and validation was overwhelming. I was told that veterans of World War II, tough men, wept openly. My Dad was not a demonstrative man but when he died I found a picture of Kennedy among his keepsakes. The election of Kennedy was a significant signal that we were full citizens of this country.
And in 2008, one could not watch the gathering at Grant Park and not sense the same excitement amount the African-American community.
In the 2012 election, race was the defining factor for me. I am not a fan of many of the President's policies and as an educator I find his Race to the Top worse than Bush's No Child Left Behind. But I have worked for civil rights throughout my life and I believe that if Obama had lost, the racists would have won. I couldn't let that happen, regardless of my concerns about Obama's policies.
Incidentally, just to shut off the inevitable "Would you have voted for Keyes, Cain or Carson?" President Obama is not Keyes nor Cain nor Carson ... and Clinton is not Palin. If anybody brings up that silly argument, they will get the response it deserves.
I was having a conversation with two female friends, one a moderate Democrat and the other a fiscally conservative, socially moderate Republican. They are both voting for Clinton for basically the same reason. The Republican woman said simply, "It's our turn. A woman can't do any worse." She works as an administrator, is very competent, and is weary of the arrogance and sexism of male subordinates who don't possess half her talent.
More than that, these ladies, who like me are in their sixties, have been fighting throughout their lives to break through that glass ceiling. Electing a competent female as President would be affirming for them. I understand that.
I also understand that women should not be shamed into voting for Secretary Clinton. The comments of Stienam and Albright were stupid, despite the feeble attempts by their supporters to rationalize them.
We should indeed respect those women for whom gender is not a primary consideration, but I believe we should understand and respect those for whom gender is an important factor.
