Why Hillary Can't Quit
Tue., May 27, 07:43 AM
A couple of weeks ago, I sent a letter to my local newspaper. They waited until today to print it, at least part of it. They left out the references to the columnists and a few other things, but they did manage to preserve the main idea of the letter. It includes some material I wrote for a different paper some five years ago, so some of it may look familiar if you’ve been reading me for any amount of time. Both Marie Cocco and Ellen Goodman are worth reading, incidentally, even if the letters editor didn’t think so.
Marie Cocco, a syndicated columnist, wrote a thought-provoking article this week. Last January, Ellen Goodman produced a column on a similar topic. What neither expressed outright is that Hillary Clinton is actually running more than one campaign. It may or may not be intentional, and I certainly have no problem with it.
It has happened for many years, and it will continue to rear its head — the “first woman who…” syndrome. Although Hillary is not the first woman ever to run for president, she is the first to run on an equal basis with the men. She is the first who had to be taken seriously, whether the men liked it or not. In order for women to be taken seriously in any field, someone has to be willing to take the initial blows.
Some five years ago, I wrote the following: “Women will have to demonstrate that they can lead a nationwide campaign despite the hostility they will encounter — even from other women. And then, heaven help them, they will have to display grace and accountability when they lose, as they will have to do before we actually see a woman in the White House.”
In other words, Hillary must stick it out to the bitter end, even if and when it becomes obvious (it hasn’t yet) that Barack has the numbers to beat her. (Yes, if we refer to her by her first name, we shall do the same for him.) Should she drop out before then, the comments would be, “See, a woman can’t take the heat,” or something very similar. Everything she has accomplished so far would be diminished.
Her campaign may not have been perfect, but then, whose campaign ever was? Over the past fifty years, I don’t believe there has ever been a candidate who didn’t — at least once — suffer from “foot-in-mouth disorder.” Or do we forgive them because they were all male and they can’t help it?
Whatever the outcome — and I still have not made my own decision — I applaud Hillary Clinton for the progress she has made. She must not drop out.
It really is too bad they left out that stuff about male campaigners. I know a few people who would have appreciated it. Ahem.
