WP, E.J. Dionne: 'Look What They've Done to Her'

[DeepModem Mom]

'Look What They've Done to Her'
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, May 30, 2008; Page A13

How much anger is there among women about how Hillary Clinton has been treated during this campaign? Some of the nation's leading female politicians will tell you: quite a lot.

"From the beginning, she's been treated very badly," says Therese Murray, president of the Massachusetts Senate. "No woman would have run with Obama's résumé. She wouldn't have been considered." But Clinton has been "demonized by the press and the talking heads. How do you get away with that?"

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) says she is regularly approached "by women of all races, of all ages, of all faiths. They stop me, grab my hand and say, 'Look what they've done to her, we were so close.' They wanted this for their daughters and granddaughters. . . . It's so heartbreaking."

For Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.), the evidence that "sexism reigns supreme" lay in the wide availability of offensive anti-Hillary paraphernalia in stores and on the Internet. For Barbara Johnson, president of the Minneapolis City Council, Clinton may have been the victim of "ageism" as much as sexism. The message, she said, was: "Your time is past, it's time for somebody new to take your place."

Many women, said Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), "knew we had made many strides. They asked, 'Aren't we past this? What's going on?' They're not happy with what they see as sexism, permitted by the media and in some cases encouraged by the media."

If there is good news for Barack Obama in any of this, it is that the rage felt by Clinton's female supporters is directed in large part toward the media. "The anger is aimed much more at you all," said Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts of Rhode Island. Added Murray: "Obama wouldn't have gotten to where he got today if it weren't for the bias of the male media -- no offense."...

...(T)he conversations I had this week with prominent female politicians from around the country who support Clinton suggest that the fury and disappointment is more than short-term maneuvering. In many cases, it is rooted in the empathy of women who themselves broke gender barriers at various levels of politics....These are professional politicians, so they know that Clinton is on the verge of defeat because of her campaign's organizational mistakes, its failure to take Obama seriously early on and the difficulties created by her husband's presence....Nonetheless, even these very pragmatic female politicians who very much want a Democrat to win the White House are looking for signs of "understanding and respect," said (Nancy Kopp, Maryland's treasurer). "It's a campaign, someone wins, someone doesn't win, that's life," she said. "But women don't want to be totally dissed."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903261.html?nav=hcmodule

[asthmaticeog]

1. What utter crap. Was it sexism when she was "inevitable?" nt

[Maryscott OConnor]

20. No -- when she was inevitable,

they were setting her up to fail.

: |

[DeepModem Mom]

21. Hi, Maryscott OConnor -- welcome to DU!

[9119495]

2. But everything those women said could be said by black politicians

This Obama supporter thinks they have some good points...but so would Black politicians saying these things had Obama lost. So we're a big tent party that loves women and minorities. We should not sit home because one of our groups won at the expense of the other.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Spare me

The whole point of the feminist movement was that we as women were free to do whatever we wanted in making life's choices. That someone would choose to close themselves off by virtue of their genitalia and then whine that their candidate is being treated unfairly is more than I can bear.

Hillary Clinton simply turned out not to be the best candidate for the job of President. Ovaries have nothing to do with it, and listening to women who go on about her and how they're supporting her because she's a woman is as saddening for me as it is to hear people boast how they're not going to vote for Obama because he's black.

Women have got to quit playing the sexism card, suck it up, and get into the game, or not.

[amandabeech]

16. Would you care to reveal your gender and age? n/t

[nichomachus]

4. This "sexism" crap is wearing pretty thin

It's going to start backfiring if these people aren't careful.

[Rageneau]

11. The 'racism' crap wore pretty thin, too -- especially since, unlike the sexism -- it was made up

The 'racism' that Axelrod saddled the Clintons with was false and was nothing but a nasty political tactic.

OTOH, the sexism that Hillary is running into (Iron my shirt) Hillary nutcrackers -- all the pundit comments -- is very real indeed.

[murielm99]

13. Look at all the Obama supporters who pounced on this

so quickly. They seem to have very thin skins over this accusation.

Of course there was sexism used against Clinton in the campaign. It is all over the media and the Internet. Anyone who cannot see it is willfully blind and obtuse.

[GainesT1958]

5. Sexism from the "Male Media", huh?

Is that the "Liberal Male Media" or the "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Male Media" they're talking about?:eyes:

B-)

[Triana]

6. I wanted the best person for the job - not necessarily a woman. After the way...

...Hillary conducted herself and her campaign, I eventually felt the best person for the job of President is Obama. It has nothing to do with feminism or her being a woman or him being black - it had everything to do with how they ran their campaigns and the VALUES and MORALS they espoused in doing so (especially since their policies are so similar).

I (and no doubt MANY others) just wanted the best PERSON for the job. If it's not the woman who's running right now, then it isn't. And IMO, it isn't. Has nothing to do with her being female. It has to do with HOW WELL SHE'LL DO THE JOB. And all indications are that she won't do it very well, or will do it too much like the current President is doing it and a LOT of people, frankly, do not want any more of that.

We want CHANGE. And many feel Hillary does not represent change in the way she's likely to run the White House/gov't. All this is why she LOST. Not because of sexism or abuse by the media. And I'm not saying there wasn't any against her or that there wasn't any against Obama, either.

I AM saying that sexism or racism (both of which do exist) has little to nothing to DO with why Obama is winning and Clinton is losing.

[uberblonde]

7. Way to fill that Unity Train!

Just keep doing what you're doing!

[murielm99]

12. I thought Obama was the one preaching unity, not

the author of this article.

[GDAEx2]

8. I am confused

was I supposed to vote for Hillary so that she could be a role model for someone's daughter?
Isn't that sexism too?

[stellanoir]

9. Clinton fatigue and ageism have been vastly underrated.

It isn't about her ovaries. It's about how she's conducted her campaign and masqueraded as an utterly hawkish male.

:hide:

[CoffeeCat]

10. How much did Margaret Thatcher whine about sexism?

How about Indira Ghandi...how much did she complain about her womanhood being used against her? In 1977 she
lost her Parliament seat in Congress. Did she deploy bitter surrogates to cry "sexism" after that loss?

In 1976, Bella Abzug gave up her Congressional seat to run for the Senate. She lost the Democratic primary by 1 percent.
Did she then orchestrate events to create perceptions that her loss was predicated on sexism?

We can remember many successful women throughout history--who have fought, won and sometimes lost.

What a disservice to women, Hillary does--when she and her surrogates suggest that sexism did her in.

Hillary Clinton is not a true feminist, if she can't even look inside herself after a loss--but instead
choses to lash out at the world--while determining that she's a victim of everyone else's "rampant sexism."

Pathetic and really embarrassing.

[tsuki]

14. They lost me with "Don't Blog Me" Schultz. nt

[niyad]

15. I find it most interesting that, according to so many here at DU, there was absolutely NO

sexism involved in the coverage of Sen. Clinton's campaign. NONE, according to these people. every single nasty remark, every single nasty incident, was HER doing (including the "iron my shirt" comment, and the nutcracker, for example) nope, no sexism here. BUT, of course there was racism against obama, yes? any negative comment about him or his qualifications, or his campaign, THAT was racism.

I just LOVE double standards.

[dkf]

18. Iron my shirt being screamed by 2 morons is your example of sexism in the campaign?

Do you realize how WEAK that is?

Anybody can go out there and scream those words. Then the whole freaking country is sexist because of two jerks? WHAT A JOKE.

[dkf]

17. Hillary had no idea how to strategize a campaign.

She got it all wrong, and she wasted a whole lot of money along the way. There is really no excuse for how badly she screwed up so who cares about if she is a woman or not. She simply is baaaad at understanding the challenges and navigating the landscape.

[democracy1st]

19. freakin idiots trying to cover up the Clinton's destructive policies

Yes Bill had a good presidency,but the party didn't move forward. Becoming weaker and waiting for the Republicans to screw up rather than winning on merit. Also the Clinton legacy will include making Liberal policies weaker,now who's got your back?