BlogHer - Hillary Clinton - Comments

I think this campaign reeks

L16 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:53:16 -0500

I think this campaign reeks of sexism. I suspect she is being puppeted around (which makes sense to an extent - Pres is superior to Veep) and the puppeteering is regarding the very thing - family privacy - that the media has gotten in trouble for.

When B's pregnancy was announced, the father was referred to only as "young man" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26496189/ by Palin and the article goes on to quote Steve Schmidt, McCain spokesman, "Senator McCain's view is this is a private family matter. As parents, (the Palins) love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their daughter."

A couple days later there were photos of McCain greeting Levi at the airport when he came to town for the RNC. So, one of three things happened:

1 - Levi said, hey I want to be at the convention and requested a flight down (unlikely in my opinion)

2 - Palin threw her privacy wishes for her daughter under the bus and said, get Levi down here so we look wholesome. (not my place to say, but I doubt Palin did this, she is Bristol's mother afterall)

3 - the McCain campaign said, hmm the whole family values thing would go better if we got Levi down here so Bristol appears pregnant, but with fiance (this is what I suspect happened). They of all people, disrespeced the 'family privacy' thing and Levi is really not a mystery anymore.

If I am correct and it was the McCain campaign that decided that Levi would be introduced to the world that is pretty brutal. And I wonder if they would even ask a man candidate to do that to his daughter's privacy. And that makes me think sexism. And I expect sexism from some groups. What I don't expect is a woman to give in to it, and allow it to occur.

The McCain campaign is very disrespectful to the American people what with their refusing to allow her to be questioned, saying it's not about issues, mocking Obama for even getting the nomination (Guiliani at RNC), mocking community organizing.

Or Tim Russert... I miss

miteegirl — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:03:41 -0500

Or Tim Russert...

I miss him.

Nice pick up

Jill — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:30:55 -0500

And I'd like to add something:

I've seen some comments saying that the media deserves to be treated this way and that focusing on this issue detracts from getting to the issues, and that by focusing on this issue the McCain camp is happy because it keeps Palin from having to talk about real isses - and so on.

It's sexist treatment - doesn't matter if it was Hillary or me or Palin. Doesn't matter if they've been talking jobs, war and health care for days. It still exists and it shouldn't be passed over.

The media does not have clean hands but this isn't about the media - this is about the voters and there are plenty of paths for Palin to pursue if the McCain camp was interested in letting the voters get all the info they needed to make an informed decision.

With my post, I'm trying to point to what I believe is the McCain campaign's deliberate choice to keep us from getting informed until they think Palin is ready to inform us. IMO, and of course there will be disagreement, and I would like to hear that, I believe that that is insultingly tactical - much like the choice of Palin herself.

McCain wants to win. I assume Palin does too - so I assume she will allow them to do with her and for her as best they suggest.

But it is that very ambition which drives me nuts - because it relegates the voter's info gathering to lowest common denominator - a People magazine interview with the McCains there. I love my People magazine, but it doesn't cover what Tom Brokaw or Chris Matthews or Rachel Maddow would cover.

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

So, is it "Sarah Palin, just

miteegirl — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:59:03 -0500

So, is it "Sarah Palin, just lipstick and bull?"

Maybe that can replace the "George Bush, all hat, no cattle."

This sounds like a rerun.

If I did write about politics more often

HeatherB — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:18:31 -0500

I would probably get very angry and fired. I think that sometimes people say and write blatantly ignorant things because they are unsure of the issues and all through the primary season I spent a good amount of time biting my tongue because of the things that people would say without thinking. So no, I cannot write about politics all of the time because I would just get annoyed and frustrated which isn't good for me or anyone. But I have written about it once before on BlogHer and maybe again before the election is over. Who knows. But thank you all for the lovely comments. As Denise knows this post took a lot out of me though in the end, I'm glad I did it.

Heather B. Personal Blog: No Pasa Nada BlogHer CE: Business, Career & Personal Finance

Good Dem, please email me.

miteegirl — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:11:49 -0500

Good Dem, please email me. My address is in my profile. I tried to find your email on your new blog and couldn't find it.

Thanks. Sorry to clog up the thread.

Excellent, thoughtful post

cagey333 — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:04:35 -0500

Great post, Heather. Perhaps, you should write about politics more often .

I was so disappointed that Hillary did not get the nomination. *sigh* I used to be a Republican and did not like her in the least, but she (and the Democrats) had won me over in recent years.

Kelli Oliver George

http://rancidraves.blogspot.com/

http://abooblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you

Liz Rizzo — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:49:46 -0500

Felt good to read this post. :) I'm still so disappointed by the primary and how everything went down.

Liz Rizzo

I blog at Everyday Goddess.

WONDERFUL POST

jheat — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:52:07 -0500

Senator Clinton was fortunate to have your support--you are a compelling advocate for her. Although not a Clinton supporter in the primaries, I always felt a thrill engaging and interacting with the dynamic people who supported her. Thanks for a wonderful post

Hillary Supporters 4 Obama Blog

GoodDem — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:13:36 -0500

Ladies, we're working on a blog called Hillary Supporters 4 Obama to help bring the Hill's into the fold again. www.hillarysupporters4obama.org or insert the .blogspot extension if you don't get redirected.

Thank you, Heather

Maria Niles — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:03:59 -0500

Although I never had those feelings for Senator Clinton (even though I lived in New York when she first ran for Senate and was happy to vote for her) and did not support her campaign, I love and appreciate your story of your passionate support of her candidacy.

I remember vividly the experience of being a teen, feeling inspired, throwing myself heart and soul into the political process in support of a candidate and even making college plans based on wanting to someday have a particular political job. I love hearing your story and that you have managed to stay with it.

I burned out early. I realized that I don't have the stomach for politics. I'm a policy wonk at heart, not a politician. I deeply admire anyone who can make a career in politics work.

Because it is not only important but it's crucial to the functioning of our democracy. Thank you for sharing your story, thank you for your passion and thank you for your work. I'm proud and more than a little jealous of you.

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We needed that closure

Denise — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:37:00 -0500

Heather thank you for blogging in such a personal way about Senator Clinton. I think you've done an amazing job of explaining why so many of Clinton's supporters needed her to keep campaigning well into the primaries when so many were calling for her to quit. I think you've done an amazing job of explaining why it was so important for Clinton's delegates to be allowed to cast them for Clinton and then for her to release them at the convention.

So many of us felt the way you did, right up until the end. We needed that experience in order to move our focus on to the next step - electing the person we feel will best represent us and our country as the next president of the United States.

We won't all walk away from this experience with the same goals but I think we can all walk away from this with our heads held high.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

I wish you'd write about politics more often

mothergoosemouse — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:15:26 -0500

Loved reading this. Thanks Heather.

Julie

mothergoosemouse

By no means had that personal experience with her.

lauriewrites — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:57:51 -0500

But did have that visceral reaction and belief from early, early on. I never wanted her to concede. I tried to put it aside when she lost and get behind the new situation because I knew how important it was to do that. But I watched that NY roll call standing in the media tent in Denver and had to go outside because I was crying, so embarrassing. And had sat in the Sheraton lobby the night before watching her speak, liveblogging on here but not the fact that I was sobbing. It really felt like too much to take, although I was blown away by Invesco and pray that the course is set now for Nov. 4.

And no matter what terrible things have been hurled at her, she handled the past week with such poise and power, and I can totally see why 17-year-old you felt that way, and why it carried over. Thanks for the story.

Laurie

This is a most excellent

Zandria — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:48:57 -0500

This is a most excellent example of someone who is radically different than I am when it comes to their interest in politics. I'm glad we both posted this morning.

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