I respect Hillary today

Today was the first day, ever, when I was truly impressed by Hillary Clinton, and the first day I have ever respected her. It’s not that I disrespected her before. I had not cared enough about her to learn about her, read her speeches, or hear the passion in her responses during a debate to be able to find whatever qualities it is in a person that earn my respect. But today, I did, and she has.

Like every other politically obsessed American yearning for a better country and every political analyst competing for recognition as the next-greatest mind worthy of his or her own TV gig, I listened to Hillary’s concession speech she delivered in Washington. Yes, she repeated many of the same messages she delivered on Tuesday when Obama officially became the Democratic nominee. Yes, she officially endorsed Obama’s candidacy and urged her supporters to work to elect him instead of John McCain. These were not new things, they were not courageous things, and they were not things that made me hear her message or come to respect her. They were simply things she had to say, to demonstrate to her voters that the reasons they supported her still held true and to finally act like the leader she claimed to be throughout her campaign. She took the necessary step to begin healing the rift within the party — signaling that it was OK for the 18 million people who voted for her to turn the page to tomorrow and to become OK with supporting Barack Obama.

What earned my respect and elicited an emotional response were her words about running as a woman. I have long believed that a black man must be president before a woman can be — look at the history of each in the United States: women weren’t granted the constitutional right to vote (August 18, 1920) until 50 years after black men were (February 3, 1870). I’ve also believed the first woman president will have to be a paragon: a perfect wife, a perfect mother, a successful careerwoman, and a perfect daughter. She can’t be perceived as too strong (“intimidating bitch” — a la Tucker Carlson’s mysoginistic quip that he crosses his legs every time Hillary Clinton speaks because she conjurs of thoughts of castration), nor can she be too emotional for fear of being labeled too soft to make hard decisions about war and other difficult issues. She can’t be such a feminist that women who don’t consider themselves feminists — even if they agree in equality of the sexes — are threatened by her, but she can’t be so politically ambitious that she distances herself from the label, thus revolting women’s rights advocates. She can’t be too educated, or too well-traveled, or too steeped in experience as an elected official for fear of being considered an out-of-touch elitist, yet she can’t be under-educated, under-traveled, or apolitical because she’ll be perceived as not experienced enough.

It was within this context that I found Hillary’s words about the possibility of women so important:

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter’s future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable….

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.

When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.

Throughout her campaign, I listened for her to embrace, highlight and expound upon the history of being a woman who realistically could become the first woman president of a country that leads in so many other areas but struggles when it comes to equality of the sexes. If she did, her insight failed to make mainstream media cycles. Frankly, I believe it was politically smart of her to not make her gender a focus on the campaign trail — Rush Limbaugh & Co. have made “feminist” such a dirty word that public proclamations of the identity by a major candidate are akin to ringing a death knell.

But her words tonight recognized the reality of the experience lived by more than half of the country: that glass ceilings abound and are either denied, not recognized, or ignored. Moreover, she stated what women across the country know: that when you’re unable to shatter the glass ceiling, you will receive no sympathy from those on the other side and charges of injustice will be met with derision, scorn, or apathy. Instead, the expectation is that you will recognize the limit that has been placed on your potential, and you will either exist peaceably where you have stopped, or you will jump to another path entirely — where you may work your way up to yet another glass ceiling, but it will take long enough for you to do so that you don’t threaten the stability of the system or the long-standing power dynamics that favor decision-making by others who cannot truly empathize with your reality.

But despite this reality, Hillary’s candidacy has fractured glass ceilings everywhere. I hope her candidacy results in a wave of women running for elected office nationwide. I hope that women step onto the path that Hillary walked for so many of us, and that so many women step onto that path that the momentum is unstoppable. And I hope that Hillary uses the skills and strengths that she has to continue to work for the things that she has said she wants to achieve. I truly believe that she is destined for greatness. I also truly believe that she is not the right woman to shatter the gender barrier to the Oval Office, nor is she the right person to serve as vice president. Rather, I believe her mark would be better made in a position through which she can fundamentally alter the infrastructure that is our society. Whether as leader of a major political and social justice advocacy organization or as Supreme Court justice, there are many chapters yet to be written in the story of Hillary Rodham Clinton — and I now look forward to reading every one of them.

i think i figured it out

I’ve supported Obama for a while, but when I attended my caucus in February, I was almost equally supportive of both Hillary & Obama. There was just something about Obama that I was drawn to, but I couldn’t really articulate why I felt compelled to support him over Hillary Clinton. I mean, Hillary pretty much personifies everything that I believe in: she’s a successful woman who has acted as a leader and hasn’t apologized for being who she is. You all know how as women, we’re often marginalized, patronized, demoralized, or deligitimized because of our gender — and when we exhibit personality traits that society tags as “masculine,” we can find ourselves described as bitchy, pushy, or overbearing; have our sexuality questioned; and other nasty things. So as a feminist, I really felt like I was not being true to all the positive aspects of the feminist movement that Hillary Clinton represents. From a policy perspective, Obama & Clinton are fairly equal, although there are differences in the details — but their big-picture approaches and visions are so similar as to be nearly indistinguishable.

 

So since February, I’ve been trying to put words to my gut decision to support Obama, and it wasn’t until last night, listening to both of them speak, that I figured it out. From Obama’s speech:

[I]f we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.

That was the part that got me — again. It’s the same message that Obama has been delivering to people. Where he has been criticized within the Democratic Party for promising change without concrete strategies to do so or for a perceived lack of experience demonstrating changes he has led to enactment, it is that last part of his speech that summarizes what his whole campaign has been about and why I support him. He isn’t promising to deliver a panacea of solutions on a silver platter; he is challenging each and every American who has felt frustrated, left behind, unrepresented, and disenfranchised to do two things: believe in a better alternative to the current situation, and do something to move our society to that better alternative.

Remnisicient of JFK’s call to action that indirectly has been tied to an increase in public service among my parents’ generation and the establishment of the Peace Corps, Barack Obama has said it’s time to stop standing on the sidelines, waiting for politicians to enact the policy changes you want to see happen. It’s time for you, America, to talk to your neighbors about ways to save money on gas and groceries and to ensure that your neighborhood doesn’t become a wasteland because of record foreclosures and jobs being outsourced. It’s time for you to believe in the power of yourself. The only role I play is to inspire you, to remind you, to encourage you, and to perhaps facilitate the infrastructure to empower you. My job will be to work to mitigate the barriers to your empowerment; my job will be to engage you and to encourage you. But my job will NOT be to do the work for you.

That’s the indefinable “it” that differentiated Barack Obama from Hillary Clinton for me: Hillary Clinton, with all her touting of experience and a desire to serve the people, almost overpromised without setting out a clear expectation that everyday people like you and I would have to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty to achieve the policy changes for which she and Obama both advocated. I don’t want a president who’s going to promise me the moon when I know, I know that one person alone cannot change a dysfunctional system. I want a president who’s going to promise me the moon — but only if I’m willing to build the infrastructure to reach it.

Barack Obama has been clear from the day he announced his campaign in Illinois that his campaign was not about him; it was about the American people. I believe him. I believe that his origins as a community organizer are what propelled him to victory as the Democratic presidential nominee: He asked people to dream. He provided a canvass and encouraged people to paint the picture of the America they believe we can be — and he has told us that for that picture to become real, we now have to put down our paintbrushes and start laying the bricks and mortar of whatever it is that we painted — but WE have to do it. And that’s what a community organizer does: instills a sense of purpose in a community by finding a common bond, then empowers each member of the community to contribute his or her expertise to achieve an end that could not otherwise have been reached individually.