NYT: Feminist Pitch for a Democrat Named Obama

[BeyondGeography]

By ROBIN TONER
Published: December 2, 2007

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 — In the intensifying battle for the votes of Democratic women, Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is trying to turn years of feminist thinking on its head and argue that the best candidate for women may, in fact, be a man. The pitch for Mr. Obama, in a new video, speeches and talking points aimed at women, presents him as deeply sensitized to the needs and aspirations of women, raised by a single mother, “a man comfortable with strong women in his life,” as his wife, Michelle Obama, puts it, and a man committed to the issues they care about.

...The politics are complex; even as rival campaigns seek to peel away women’s votes from Mrs. Clinton, they are often careful to acknowledge and pay tribute to the broader significance of her candidacy. “Women, I think, should take pride that Senator Clinton is running, the historic nature of her race,” Mr. Obama, of Illinois, said in an interview Thursday. “That’s a genuine sign of progress.” He said he tried to convey to his two daughters every day “that you’ve got the same opportunities and shots as everybody else.”

But he quickly moved on to make the case that the candidate’s sex is not, and should not, be the deciding factor. Women, he said, “can look at a whole series of issues and know, ‘You know what? This guy’s going to fight for us, partly due to biography.’ Because I know what it’s like to be raised by a single mom who’s trying to work and go to school and raise two kids at the same time, doesn’t have any support from the father. These are issues I’m passionate about.” Moreover, he argued, his leadership offers the best prospects for delivering on that agenda. The sex factor is rarely addressed head-on by Mrs. Clinton’s rivals.

...Some of the women supporting Mr. Obama — politically active Democrats, women who pay attention to the glass ceiling in politics — admitted that they had to overcome a few pangs to close the deal. “As a strong feminist most of my life, the question always is, How can you not support the woman candidate?” said Jean Lloyd-Jones, a longtime Democratic activist in Iowa. “And I frankly have been torn by that.” In the end, Ms. Lloyd-Jones said she finally decided that Mr. Obama was the more progressive candidate, and her progressive instincts trumped her feminist instincts.

Monica Fischer, a consultant to nonprofit groups in Iowa, described overcoming similar conflicts before endorsing Mr. Obama. Ms. Fischer added that on the weekend of the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Iowa, “We pulled together a group of 30 undecided women to have coffee with Michelle Obama, and you could just feel people going through the same struggle I did, and coming to the point of saying, ‘I feel O.K. about this.’”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/us/politics/02women.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

[ClarkUSA]

1. Many blacks feel fine voting for Clinton; why shouldn't women feel okay with supporting Obama?

In fact, he's leading Clinton among women in Iowa, according to last week's ABC/Washington Post poll of likely caucus voters, and gaining near
parity with Clinton in NH. It seems women voters are not as parochial in their candidate preferences as the Clinton campaign might wish for.

Another good find, BG. :toast:

[BeyondGeography]

4. Obama's running a mostly brilliant campaign

makes it easy, doesn't it?

[alteredstate]

2. k & r n/t

[ClarkUSA]

3. The message: Obama is good for women. And Clinton's numbers among women are dropping like a rock.

For example, since the last ARG survey, Clinton has dropped 10 points among women in Iowa.

Oh, and her playing of the gender card is turning off men as expected: she has dropped 17 points among men in New Hampshire. OUCH!

Link to latest Iowa ARG poll: http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres08/iadem8-713.html
Link to latest New Hampshire ARG poll: http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres08/nhdem8-712.html

[BringBigDogBack]

10. beautiful.

kick

[Adelante]

5. An interesting article

Thanks for posting, BG :hi:

Obama's numbers among women have been rising. He must be doing something right.

[BeyondGeography]

6. That's worth an Obama Mom shot

:hi:

[Adelante]

7. Just look at the love

Ain't it grand

[frazzled]

8. Redefining women's issues

I can only relate this by citing an experience I had some years ago during a gubernatorial race in Massachusetts. The phone rang one Saturday morning and a male voice asked for my husband. Since my husband was out of town and I didn't know who it was, I simply said, "He's not in right now, may I ask who's calling." When the caller told me he was from Robert Reich's campaign and would call back later, I told him that he could talk to me. He did not want to do so, even when I explained that I did a lot of the political decision-making in the family and would be happy to talk.

This little exchange gnawed at me mightily, and I finally thought ... what the heck, I'm gonna write Bob Reich (at his personal, university email--easy to find) and tell him how troublesome it was to have a volunteer or staffer of his act like the Sears and Roebuck siding salesman and only want to speak to the man of the house. It was friendly, saying "you might want to make sure your staff ... " I got an immediately reply, telling me he was going to have his .... WIFE ... contact me! Yo ... why couldn't he do that, as long as he was writing me anyway? So Mrs. Reich writes to tell me what a wonderful supporter of women's issues her husband has been over the years: mentioning choice, equal pay, child care, yada yada. I was really pissed now, and told her that as a woman, my range of interests included issues beyond those, including labor practices, foreign relations, tax structure, etc.

To get the (modern) women's vote, a candidate must go beyond the circumscribed checklist of "women's issues." (Likewise, it was insulting of Jesse Jackson to claim that black issues consist solely of talk about poverty--that's just plain antediluvian, if you ask me.) We'll chose on a wide range of factors ... gender being one of them.

This said, I think all our candidates will be pretty good on bread-and-butter "women's issues." And although I'd be pleased as punch to see the first female president of the United States EVAH ... well, I'm trying to stay gender blind. May the best person win, whoever it turns out to be.

[Adelante]

9. Wow, what a story!

That really brought me back.

[noamnety]

11. Wow. That article addressed actual issues

exactly zero times.

"Mrs. Obama bluntly told 700 women activists linked by conference call Wednesday night, “We need you guys.”"

"“His message is about listening, bringing people together, the skills women appreciate,” said Betsy Myers, the campaign’s chief operating officer."

"The writer Alice Walker describes Mr. Obama as “someone who honors the feminine values of caring for all.”"

What the hell. If I'm interested in feminist issues, that doesn't mean tell give me some generic bullshit about how he really cares about women, they are gosh darn so caring.

(This is a critique of the article, not Obama.)