What women bloggers think: Hillary, Obama and the pink elephant in Election '08

Just watched the Hillary video. Having once been in infomercial production, that's exactly what it reminded me of. I'd already seen the Edwards and Obama videos--didn't get the same feel from those, even though they were probably just as coached.

Although it's certainly not up to BlogHer to provide this information, it might be helpful to ask members what their key issues are (ranked in order of priority) and provide voting records for each candidate (from all parties) on those issues. It would be exciting to have a live, online BlogHer candidate forum in '08.

I worry all this "it's about YOU" might create a backlash! I mean, do we trust the "you-ness" expressed by Democratic candidates?

That Hillary video ( http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ ) was so slick, so cosy- I felt like I was watching the Oprah show, not getting involved in a national political raceabout the future of the free world!

Same for Edwards, and Obama. Do you think when/if McCain and his team announce they will be quite so cozy?

Hillary Clinton Runs for President Supporting Non Traditional Careers for Women

This is a bit off topic for Ask Patty, however the news of a Hillary Clinton running for President in 2008 was just irresistible to comment about.

Interesting to me is that Hillary Clinton supports programs for non-traditional careers for women. She has worked to expand opportunities for women to enter non-traditional occupations, such as automotive technician, carpenter, electrician, or police officer. Women are still significantly underrepresented in these fields, yet these jobs often pay very well and include benefits like health insurance and pensions. She has worked to improve the federal vocational education program by providing incentives for states to help girls and women enter and succeed in non-traditional fields. She also introduced a Senate Resolution honoring women in the trades.

There is a woman chancellor in Germany, a woman president in Liberia and also in Chile, but when it comes to the United States, the only female Commander in Chief is the one Gina Davis played on television.

A 2006 CBS News/New York Times poll finds that 92 percent of all Americans say they would vote for a woman if she were qualified, up from just about half in the 1950s.

Is the American public ready for a woman president of the United States?

Hillary Clinton is not the first woman candidate to run for the office of President. This is the ninth attempt for a woman to run for President of the United States, beginning in 1872:

Women have always had a tough time in American politics. In 1872, when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for president, women did not even have the right to vote in federal elections. They didn't get it until 1920.

Victoria Woodhull, a stockbroker, publisher, and protégé of Cornelius Vanderbilt, ran for president of the United States in 1872 on the Equal Rights Party ticket. Belva Lockwood, the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S Supreme Court ran for president on the same party's ticket in 1884 and 1888.

Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (ME) became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president at a major party convention when Sen. George Aiken nominated her at the 1964 Republican
national convention. Smith – also the first woman to serve in both the House and Senate – had campaigned briefly for the post when the Senate was not in session.

In 1972, Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) ran for president in the Democratic primaries. At the party's national convention, she won 151.25 delegate votes before Sen. George McGovern clinched the nomination.

Frances (Sissy) Farenthold, a former Texas state legislator who twice ran for governor of that state, finished second in the balloting for the 1972 Democratic vice presidential nomination, receiving more than 400 votes.

Third-term Congresswoman Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-NY), secretary of the House Democratic Caucus, became the first woman ever to run on a major party's national ticket when she was selected by Walter F. Mondale as his Vice Presidential running mate in 1984.

Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) explored the idea of running for president in the 1988 election, but bowed out of the race after concluding that she could not overtake men who had been running and raising funds for months before her.

Elizabeth Dole, who had served as U.S. Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Federal Trade Commissioner, and president of the American Red Cross, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. After failing to attract sufficient early support, she withdrew from the race. She now represents North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) is among ten Democrats seeking the 2004 presidential nomination. An attorney and one-term U.S. senator (1992-1998), Braun has also served as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, Illinois state representative, and Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

2006 - Senator Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 1947. She is the daughter of Dorothy Rodham and the late Hugh Rodham. Her father was a small businessman and her mother a homemaker. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School. She is married to former President William Jefferson Clinton. They have one daughter, Chelsea.

Jody DeVere
President
AskPatty.com, Inc.

are on the same page: Walk, not talk, from candidates.

Absolutely agree. That's going to take a lot of investment in time and energy from this community to cover it. We're working on a plan to do that together. Again, thank you!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Agree on all fronts. I think you have the makings, the kernel code as it were, of a voter manifesto here.

The most important point, in my opinion: You are asking American voters to participate, not spectate. To act and to get involved, not to wait for the debate to come to them. You're asking for a commitment from American voters not get off the couch and act for whatever they believe in.

And that is part of the challenge we want to take on this year -- enagagement. Actual results. Am thinking about how to quantify it...

Thank you!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Amen Pam. This is where regular blog-coverage of their press releases, voting records and statements could make a difference, I think. Any television time, many speeches and certainly the debates dumb down the conversation they all want and reduce the goal, I think.

Love your idea of going to Move On and brainstorming. You mention their failures and shortcomings; I think of them more as a tool for getting things done, and that anyone disappointed in the last election outcome has only voters themselves and organizers to blame. But am I missing your point? Would love to hear your thoughts further.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Marianne, again, great post on Sen. Clinton's invitation. I'll post some questions I have there: http://www.blogher.com/node/14651

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Especially if you've done this professionally -- what do you think separated the two?

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Love this idea -- and we are indeed planning a voice of the voter poll this spring to kick off our coverage. Are there topics you don't often hear about (other than Iraq, healthcae, education, environment, etc.) that you want to make sure we include?

Agree that key to our coverage is a list of links to voting records AND to sites such as http://factcheck.org (on campaign fairness and accuracy in such areas as advertising).

Thank you!
Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Yes, Morra, the couch, the muted tones - yes, a very Oprah moment for Sen. Clinton. And can you tell me why she announced on a Saturday? To control Sunday shows?

To your point, I listened to it the second time with my eyes closed and the language does get forceful about changing the direction of this country, but it's at odds with the visual. Whereas Sen. Barack, unsmiling as always (have I seen the man's teeth since the Democratic National Convention speech?!) is facing the camera in a much more face-the-nation style. Great point about Sen. Edwards, whom I saw mentioned not at all in many of these blogs; he just doesn't have the celebrity these two do at the beginning. All that could change of course.

To answer your question, no, I cannot imagine Sen. McCain doing anything of the kind. I expect a tie and a stern message about doing what we have to in order to fix the country, not a fireside chat. What do you think?

Best,
L

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

I'd like to see a constant reminder of voting records, bills introduced, and past action that indicates where a candidate will go in the future. When the election gets heated and the candidates are busy trying to one-up or sling mud, it's good to concentrate on the facts rather than the advertising.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

Even though I am not an American, like many others around the world, I am nevertheless watching the 2008 election developments with much interest and trepidation. Having witnessed the terrible and terrifying last two elections, I can only applaud any effort BlogHer will make to encourage an active and fair election. My greatest hope is that you and your editors will not be drawn into discussing the mass media’s slick and superfluous reporting of the elections: instead take a more grassroots approach. If given a choice, I would be very interested to read articles concerned the following four areas:

Clarity of community, regional, national and international issues from party/candidate to your readers (voters): not by discussing subjects drawn from speech rhetoric, but through concrete analysis of politicians’ voting history on State and national committees, or by looking at any innovative programs dealing with environmental, social, educational, or health issues in each of the candidates States.

Encouraging and promoting access for your readers to express their concerns about important issues directly to their party of choice or state or presidential candidates: don’t let the campaign analysts decide the issues of the election, let the citizens do this.

Give information about how your readers can help to get people out voting: it really seems as though every voter should make it a goal to find at least one non-voter and bring them to the polls. You could show them how to do this.

Show your readers how they can get actively involved in the election: from community polling to party volunteering, there is always some work to do for idle hands or generous spirit.

The last item I’d like to point out is something you can do as BlogHer editors is to give advice to the various candidates about their blogs. These blogs should deal with concrete issues and transparency of government (e.g. Mr. Obama podcasts) and not just another platform for self-promotion (e.g. Edwards).

lia from luebeck, germany

Author of the media safe 101 ( http://rtb03mediasafe.blogspot.com/ ) page on the Red Tent Blog ( http://virtualredtent.blogspot.com ) and the personal yum yum cafe ( http://yumyumcafe.blogspot.com/ )

I'd like to know what MoveOn.org thinks their failures and/or shortcomings were in influencing the outcome of the last presidential race. They were connected directly with the wired voter but often, I fear that our easy access makes us assume we are the majority, when we're not.

Making this election about the voter means, in my naive eyes, focusing the candidates on stating deliverable, actionable plans for the issues on the table - for women, yes, but for all Americans. Why did Hilary's health care plan fail during the Clinton administration and what is she going to do to make sure we get one? Obama's anti-war status may be attractive, but it's also irrelevant seeing as how there IS a war - what's his plan to get us out of it?

How can BlogHer act on refining that focus? I'd like to see if that's something we can't learn from other organizations who have committed in the past to amplifying the voice of the vote.

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

Great Post Lisa....

Agree with the need to make the video YouTube compliant and the face that the whole thing is a little too slick...a case of an ad agency production vision of cozy social media.

Marianne Richmond
resonancepartnership ( http://www.resonancepartnership.com )

Virginia, you nailed - have you read the Pew report "How Women and Men use the Internet ( http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/171/report_displa... )"? The document is peppered with descriptions of how and why women use the Internet to care for ourselves and our loved ones.

Watching California Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan for universal health care and lobby reactions has been a good training ground -- we need to figure out a way to stay on this one.

Think it's good breeding ground for an omnipartisan plank?

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Hi Jody,

Thanks for crossposting your retrospective on women and the American presidency. Here's my question for you: Has Sen. Clinton's support of women in untraditional roles earned her your vote? What are you looking for? Would love to know...

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Yes, we need to focus on and figure out what the issues are that voters are concerned about, but I think the key in 2008 is going to be voter turnout --- women and all young adults.

Apparently, according to one study, the recent mid-term elections saw a significant increase in voter turnout in the 18 to 29 age range. If we can put our collective finger on what got them out from in front of their MySpace pages and to the polls, that's a pretty good start in the battle.

What is important enough to us to get us off our duffs and to the polls and, getting others there? I think that's the tough nut to crack. But I think if we put our heads together we can do that. In the last presidential election, the blogosphere was nothing compared to what it is today. There are so many of us out there with opinions we want to "talk" about, we need to find a way to harness that.

http://punditmom1.blogspot.com

Good health care plans have always been a drawing card with me. Hillary had a good one back in '92 (or whenever it was), which got shot down quickly by the "men's club" she presented it to. Carol Moseley Braun had a great idea for a single-payer health care plan that nobody took the time time listen to. We need to make sure these ideas get heard and not outshouted by the people who want to keep health care as it is in the upcoming election.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I was wondering more what MoveOn would consider their own shortcomings. Did they get folks to the polls and if not, why not? Did they feel they reached the voters? How did they cross the digital divide and if they didn't, what were the obstacles to that... that's more the line of thinking I was going for.

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

I spent some time yesterday comparing the web sites of the newly announced Democratic candidates. Governor Bill Richardson's site ( http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/ ), for example, includes links to his sites on MySpace, Facebook, Zanby, PartyBuilder, Flickr, and YouTube. Each of these links offers citizens a way to participate, express their opinions, be heard, and develop a dialog with the candidate. It's not just about raising money any longer: it's also about a conversation with the voters. All the candidates are leaning this way for 2008. Any time we post something here of a political nature, we need to provide these feedback links to our readers. If we get involved in the dialog, we are more apt to go vote. If we take the time to look at candidates sites and respond to their posts, videos, and other communication opportunities, we are engaged in participatory democracy and are more likely to complete the cycle by voting in the fall.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I'm flattered that you excerpted from my blog (Jen's Green Journal) on your Hillary Election post.

It's also fun to find this woman-centered site!

Candidate voting records and other issue related facts are great and I hope to be able to easily find such data.

But it also occurs to me that in addition to these facts, corporate and PAC contributions to candidates might also be useful. Living in Missouri these days and the Blunt family seemingly inhabiting the pocket of Big Tobacco, I've become particularly sensitive to that topic.

Jim Heivilin

This is one of the things that I would find most useful. Links to places where I can go to find out the real facts, unencumbered with any media "spin".

For example, I want to endorse Senator Clinton but stuck in the back of my head is some issues which she came out on the side of the idiots regarding gaming (computer and video games). I don't recall the issue, when it occurred or even the name of the game in question. So some place where I could go to look at her voting record and the legislation which she has sponsored or initiated would be incredibly useful.

As far as your coverage I've always found that issues discussed here have a more rational perspective as well as representing the female perspective.

Jim Heivilin

I agree--brilliant. Lia's post gives concrete examples of how each of us can make a difference and be heard in the next election. I'm actually kind of excited about the '08 election--excited to put all the technology available to us to use to take action and be heard and feel involved.

In addition to the regular BlogHer newsletter, might there be a separate one re the '08 election pointing us toward relevant posts here and elsewhere? You've already spun off with a business conference. Maybe there needs to be an election conference in '08...but as I mentioned in my previous comment, it would be most exciting to me if it were live online...so that EVERYONE could participate without the burden of travel costs.

One of the biggest concerns I have is our loss of privacy since 9/11, all done by the current administration in the name of the 'war on terror.' Just last month Bush gave himself the power to open our mail without a warrant. This is a HUGE issue for me...and one that almost made me decide to not return to life in the U.S. We need a smart and humane immigration policy. Building a multi-billion dollar fence is not it. I'm deeply concerned about New Orleans and how little recovery has been experienced there--surely much of that recovery funding has gone to subsidize the war in Iraq. I want to feel hopeful again, and to find a candidate who can begin to repair our much-damaged reputation on the world stage. Hillary represents the past to me...Bush, Clinton, Bush...CLINTON? There are hundreds of millions of families in this country...do we really need to limit the presidency to just TWO?

"Let's talk. Let's chat." (gag) Let's not. It's that Oprah feel Morra mentioned. Maybe that's appealing to a lot of viewers--it turned me off. Sitting on a sofa in that living room setting, the colors in the room, the photo of Bill and Chelsea on the table. I agree that many view Hillary as "shrill" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and often divisive that video looked like a calculated effort to combat that. But that's just it--it looked TOO calculated to me. Barack didn't have a photo of his wife and daughters in the background. This is certainly not Hillary's fault, but it bothers me that--good lord--in 2007, we still have to show that a woman is soft and feminine and a Mom. She should be judged equally with her male counterparts on the ISSUES.

Lisa, so glad BlogHer is getting things organized for the election. Great post -- and it's drawn out some great comments.

Couple things we might be able to do something about:

- Don't you think political bloggers in general so often write to please people who already hold opinions similar to the bloggers' own views? It only draws readers and commenters who either agree or have diametric opinions, and no minds are ever changed. I think that's why it's important, as you pointed out in your post, for non-political bloggers to talk politics.

- We could try to shape the way the mainstream media covers the election. I mean just pick at bits of conventional wisdom enough to start to warp it. Here's an example that's one of my pet peeves: somehow it's ALL-IMPORTANT not to "flip-flop." So legislators who voted for the Iraq war have to be crossexamined about that vote, and changes of heart are seen as a big big black mark. A countermeme could assert that flexibility in light of changing information and circumstances is a great trait for a leader -- and one that our president could have used.

I had the impression that the feeling of softness was calculated to counter objections that Hillary is "shrill" or strident. That shrill charge always drives me nuts. The word always seems to pop out when a woman has an opinion.