The topic du jour is Hillary and the women voters. Here are some of the best (or most commented on) posts on the topic:
Kerry Howley. Cry like a man.
Elizabeth at a Half Changed World. "I do think the campaign has highlighted the degree to which
sexism continues to permeate the environment"
Gloria Steinem. "What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system"
Jody at Raising WEG. "Mom was thrilled to tell me that my sister has finally — after almost 17 years of indifferent political abstinence — registered to vote, solely so that my sister can vote for Hillary. I guess the Senator has done something good, then."
Maureen Dowd. Hillary cries her way into the White House.
Melissa McEvan. Shut up, Maureen.
Megan McArdle. It’s not sexist to criticize a female candidate’s clothes.
(and me at Pajamas Media.)
UPDATE: finding more…
David Brooks. "Working-class women stuck with Hillary. The secret to her success, and
the reason she may win the election in November (if she gets that far)
is that less-educated women like her. Better-educated women are
ambivalent, but the so-called waitress moms will stick with Hillary
through thick and thin."
Apt. 11d 
I think people are misinterpreting the “hitch” in Clinton’s voice. Her bashers are suggesting that she was “crying” because she was “loosing.” If you listen to the context, you see that she was emotionally moved because she truly believes that she’s the best person for the job, that she will be able to rescue us form the current mess, and she’s concerned that attacks and missteps might prevent the voting world from seeing that, resulting in a terrible mistake that will doom America (which has given her so much).
Arrogant, but not self pity or victim hood at all. I think she believes it, too, that she wants the presidency for the world, and not for herself.
And, I believe this, even though I’m now firmly an Obama supporter. My donation went into the mail (well online) yesterday, after I heard the first of the Clinton attacks of Obama. She needs to compete against Obama without knocking him down, or it’s going to be hard for her to get my money if she wins the nomination. (The same is true for Obama, but he’s been doing it).
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Maureen Dowd’s Column – Motivated me to just send in $100 via HillaryClinton.com
I encourage others to do the same.
Ray
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In my dating service “personal” I answered; “Maureen Dowd,” to the question “Who would you like to have lunch with?” and it probably still is the case, but not the Maureen Dowd who wrote the “Cry” article. I’m not a Clinton supporter (yet) but articles like that may very well make me one. I wish Maureen had focused on what Clinton was saying and how she said it, and not solely on the tears that accompanied Clinton’s emotions, but perhaps I’m being defensive because being a human being, sometimes I cry, too, and feel none the weaker or cynic for doing it.
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I don’t think women voters felt sorry for Hillary. I think they IDENTIFIED with her, which is a very different thing. I know that, as a woman, I felt stung and increasingly incensed following the debate, reading all the derisive posts about how she “lost it” (displayed a momentary flash of anger) during the debate, then “lost it” again yesterday (eyes tearing over). The voter’s question (“How do you get up every morning?”) really resonated with me — I was incensed for her and for women after two days of this abuse. It is unimaginable to me that she has endured this sort of derision for FIFTEEN YEARS. I could swear I had an experience in the street today that I can’t recall having since I marched in a N.O.W. parade sometime in the early 70’s (that’s National Organization for Women, for all you 18-30 year olds volunteering for Obama): I made fleeting eye contact with another women in the street, we smiled at each other, and (so I imagined) shared an unspoken experience of pride, empowerment, sisterhood. Hear our roar!
Thank you for everything, Gloria Steinam.
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I do think Hillary finally got women to identify with her (I did, too). And, yes, the numbers work out so that if all white women identified with Hillary and all the black men identified with Barack (and of course, neither of those groups is homogeneous in their characteristics, or their identification) Hillary would win.
(I’m leaning towards calling the candidates by their first names, but am thwarted by the fact that the white men’s names are a bit too generic. Mitt, Mike, John, John, Bill, Fred, right?).
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I like bj’s inclination to use first names, but had to chuckle a bit as well. I wouldn’t say Hillary is any less generic than Mitt, or even Fred. But of course, in this context, it is.
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Rebecca Traister has a great piece in Salon: “The Witch Ain’t Dead and Chris Matthews is a Ding Dong”.
Even my mother, a life-long Republican, thinks Hilary Clinton is hounded by the press in ways that men never are. She agrees with me that Maureen Dowd is a vile person and smarmy writer who is never in favor of anything, just against people. Dowd’s own Irish Catholic mother might even call her a “begrudger”.
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Mitt’s definitely non-generic (but, it’s not his first name). Barack & Mitt don’t make the top 1000 in the US any year.
For the other names, all the white guys do have more common names than Hillary, in 1963
In 1963,
Hillary (863/1000)
Michael (1/1000)
Fred (135/1000)
John (2/1000)
William (7/1000)
Willard (Mitt’s first name, 351, but it hasn’t made the top 1000 since 1989)
Hillary did peak above Fred and Willard in the 80’s & 90’s, though. For 2006, Fred is slightly more popular than Hillary as a first name (interesting, huh? I’d never have guessed that there were more babies named Fred last year than named Hillary).
(Oh and Chelsea peaked at 14! in 1992)
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
I find naming trends fascinating 🙂
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One positive thing about this election has got to be the recognition that sexism is still a nasty force out there. And it has nothing to do with party preferences! Every woman that I’ve talked lately really sympathizes with Hillary. They know that strong women get the bitchy label. They know what it feels like to have the smooth talking Harvard boys get all the attention. Maureen Dowd has to be an operative for the Clinton campaign, because she sure got a lot of women to vote for Hillary.
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Aussies are great criers. Some people joke that it’s a requirement for a politician.
This article references a lot of US criers, too, including Oliver North and other tough guys.
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