hillary clinton

I do not think this needs much comment.

OMG. OMG. OMFG.

Please to watch this NOW.

God damn, somebody took that Beaver orange tie from Craig Robinson and made it into a suit, which reminds me that my favorite line involved "the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits."* Seriously. It's just a suit, for fuck's sake. But anyway. Here ya go:

*At least, as read in the transcript from the NYT. You all don't think I would watch this on TV, do you?

Have you heard those rumors of/statements from people (often white women, like me, except I haven't said this and it makes my mind boggle) saying that they'd vote for McCain over Obama because of the sexism Hillary Clinton had to deal with during the campaign?

Well, Tim Wise, perhaps the most prominent white male antiracist writer around, certainly has. And he's calling them out bigtime in an essay called "Your Whiteness Is Showing."

How is it that you have managed to hold your nose all these years, just like a lot of us on the left, and vote for Democrats who we knew were horribly inadequate--Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, right on down the uninspiring line--and yet, apparently can't bring yourself to vote for Barack Obama? A man who, for all of his shortcomings (and there are several, as with all candidates put up by either of the two major corporate parties) is surely more progressive than any of those just mentioned. And how are we to understand that refusal--this sudden line in the proverbial sand--other than as a racist slap at a black man? You will vote for white men year after year after year--and are threatening to vote for another one just to make a point--but can't bring yourself to vote for a black man, whose political views come much closer to your own, in all likelihood, than do the views of any of the white men you've supported before. How, other than as an act of racism, or perhaps as evidence of political insanity, is one to interpret such a thing?

His last graf is a doozy:

You are now left with two, and only two choices, so consider them carefully: the first is to stand now in solidarity with your black brothers and sisters and welcome the new day, and help to push it in a truly progressive and feminist and antiracist direction, while the second is to team up with white men to try and block the new day from dawning. Feel free to choose the latter. But if you do, please don't insult your own intelligence, or ours, by insisting that you've done so as a radical political act.

Not that Obama is perfect, as he says. And some of Wise's hostility surely won't be taken well by women who have been watching the media pundit hostility toward Hillary Clinton and who are disappointed by the results of the primaries — do white women need another white guy telling them what to think?

But here is an analysis by Salamishah Tillet (from TheRoot.com) called "Obama and the 'Woman Question'" with the subhead With Clinton finally out of the race, Obama needs to tackle issues of gender equality in the same way he has talked about the nation's racial divide in Philadelphia, if he wants to win in November.

It is a huge slap in the face of all women, regardless of race, not to have had a viable female candidate for president until now. Women make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population and outnumber men among voters, so it makes no sense that we are so under-represented in the nation's elective offices.

So, how underrepresented are women?

Today, 16 out of the 100 U.S. senators are women and 74 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives are held by women. Seventy four women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country, 23.5 percent of the 315 available positions. In terms of ethnic diversity, 20 of the 87 female members of Congress, or 23 percent, are women of color. The statistics are much worse in elected state executive positions; only four, less than 6 percent, of the 74 are women of color.

(I'm noticing some weird stats there that make me want to fact-check that graf. How does 74=87? Or how would 74+16=87? Halp.)

How can Obama overcome the concerns some white women may have about how much he benefitted from sexism?

Much like his speech on race, I would like Obama to talk about gender and gender inequity as fundamental tenets of his campaign. He needs to spotlight his Equal Pay Act, speak more fervently about gender hate crimes and his commitment to boosting the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women, and he should continue to reach out to second and third wave feminists of all colors.

Good ideas. Betting there are more out there, aside from pointing out that white privilege thingy Wise so, er, furiously delineates.

Please discuss.

Eugene is Obama country, judging by federal campaign contribution data.

Barack Obama has raised about four times more money here from about four times more contributions. Through the end of March, Obama reported raising $114,622 from 955 donations from Eugene. Hillary Clinton raised $29,111 in donations from 224 contributions from Eugene.

Obama’s contributions averaged $120. Clinton’s averaged $224.

Nearly a third of Clinton’s contributions came from donors identifying themselves as retired. Obama reported 17 percent of his donors were retired.

Some retirees may list themselves as not employed. About a quarter of Obama’s contributors listed themselves as retired or not employed, while half of Clinton’s contributors listed themselves as retired or not employed.

Only 2 percent of Clinton’s donors identified their employer as the University of Oregon. About 11 percent of Obama’s money came from professors and other UO employees.

About 5 percent of Clinton’s Eugene donations listed employment as mom or homemaker. Only one Obama donor listed themselves that way.

Might be time to pack up and figure out which Cabinet position you want.

The NYT explains how very, very little Oregonians' presidential primary votes really matter: Obama Pulls Even With Clinton in Superdelegates.

Even DaFaz finally made his choice:

On Thursday, Mr. Obama picked up the support of Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey, who told The Star-Ledger of Newark that he was switching away from Mrs. Clinton after thinking through “one of the most difficult decisions I have made.” Peter DeFazio, an Oregon congressman, also said he would back Mr. Obama.

Though hey, if it drives "turnout" (send-in?) for local elections, I'm for the belief that we can make some kind of difference in choosing the Democratic nominee. Because despite Jim Torrey's gag-inducing attempt to equate himself with Obama (is there enough laughter and scorn for those stupid effing signs that say, Yes, Eugene, We Can?), I doubt most Obama voters, or Clinton voters, will vote for Torrey.

And see Alan's posts about why voting for Torrey, who wants to fund more police (um ... check out the YouTube videos Alan is about to post to see why JUST MAYBE, more police aren't what Eugene needs), would be a very bad idea.

Anyway, point is, while I am not a big Obama fan, there's just no contest anymore.

This is the head etc. of Salon's lead article right now, and the subhead/kicker/deck reminds me that I SO appreciate it when people who call HC "Hillary" also call BO "Barack" (or "Clinton" and "Obama"):

Image from Salon
Hey, Obama boys: Back off already!
Young women are growing increasingly frustrated with the fanatical support of Barack and gleeful bashing of Hillary.
By Rebecca Traister

Read it here.

Highlights quoted from Traister's article:

• "I was confused by the saucer-eyed, unquestioning devotion shown by my formerly cynical cohorts, especially when it was accompanied, as it often was, by a sharp renunciation of Hillary Clinton, whose policies are so similar to her opponent's. I was horrified by the frequent proclamations that if Obama did not win the nomination, his supporters would abstain from voting in the general election, or even vote for John McCain. I was suspicious of the cultlike commitment to an undeniably brilliant and inspiring man –- but one whom even his wife calls 'just a man.'"

• "When sexism is acknowledged in this primary campaign, it has been attributed to either Chris Matthews or the conservative, Rush Limbaugh, Iron My Shirt brigade. Little open recognition has been given to the possibility that there might be some gender discomfort behind the army of liberally minded Obama enthusiasts. But progressive politics has not always been female-friendly politics; '70s feminism was born partly in response to the inequities of the antiwar and civil rights movements."

• And, quoting the woman who founded Feministing: "I spoke to a guy friend who said, 'You're being ridiculous. I'm not not voting for her because she's a woman; I'm not voting for her because she's a bitch!' He could not see the connection between the two things at all."

I just want to keep on quoting things that make me go, "Yeah!"

Instead, I suggest that you go read the freakin' article (as stupidly ignorant about "second-wave" feminism as it is), already.