Venting about this Australian article

[Jennifer C]

This is an opinion piece today in a major Australian newspaper, fuck it made my head spin! It's overflowing with so many contradictions. I really shouldn't be irrationally angry over this, but I'm an Australian myself, and I just find it infuriating when writers down here a) act like they know it all re: US politics, and b) don't do their research.


Why I want Hillary to be President
Katherine Kizilos
March 13, 2008
Hillary deserves to be president, even if her shoes don't match her bag.

...

Then she became a senator and backed the war in Iraq and I lost interest in her. Hillary Clinton looked to me then like another example of how politics-as-usual always wins in the end. In the days when she was being touted as the inevitable Democratic presidential candidate, the prospect of Hillary being the first woman president failed to excite me. I missed the old pride I used to feel in her. It was easy, from far away Australia, to see why Barack Obama looked appealing to a new generation of Democrats. When everyone thought he was a long shot, I hoped he would snatch the nomination.

But now that Obama is waiting in the wings, I find that once again I am barracking for Senator Clinton. The turnaround began upon reading about how deeply she is loathed by some Americans. This is not the ordinary hate people feel for politicians they don't like. The hatred Americans feel for Hillary is of a different order. Pollsters have remarked that it is unusually deep-seated and personal. Men and women will say, for instance, that they hate Hillary's hair, her lined skin, her eyes. They hate what she wears. They hate how she is always right. It is not hard to recognise crazy-making sexism in action here.

...

Hillary's persistence in the face of this could be seen as admirable, although in some quarters it is seen as another reason to loathe her: she is so power hungry nothing will put her off. It is noteworthy that Obama, who as an idealistic liberal and a black man should be due for a big serve of irrational loathing himself, has not yet been subjected to the sorts of horrors faced by his Democratic opponent. Some say that if Obama wins the nomination, he will cop his share. But I am still hoping that Hillary manages to turn history around by beating the odds and winning it herself.

Obama has done what Hillary did not dare do — run for president before having served a long political apprenticeship. Women are different. Generally they set out to prove that they deserve to be chosen by being good girls and climbing up the ladder step by step. At the same time they attempt the impossible — to proceed to the top without stumbling at all.

Despite her caution, Hillary has stumbled. The whole world has seen her make the wrong call — with her first health plan and with Iraq — and then dust herself off and keep going. As a result no one believes her to be the perfect candidate, which in the long run is a positive for her and for any aspiring woman. (The untested Obama, on the other hand, still has the golden aura of the chosen one.) The fallible Hillary Clinton has shown other strengths: that she is resilient and hard working and capable of admitting when she is wrong.

In America, many Democrats are saying they like Hillary and Obama. Not much separates their policies. Whoever wins the nomination, it will be a watershed election, an historic occasion. Are you backing Hillary because she is the underdog? a friend asked. Yes, was the answer. As the more experienced candidate, she shouldn't be struggling like this. If so many people hate her for the wrong reasons, then maybe that means the symbolism of a woman president is the symbolism the world needs most.

It will be hard for any woman to carry that burden, to not only govern the most powerful country on earth but also demonstrate to doubters and believers what a woman can do. I hope Hillary makes it.

Katherine Kizilos is a senior writer.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/why-i-want-hillary-to-be-president/2008/03/12/1205126007216.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[Bad Thoughts]

1. Dodd, Richardson, Biden, Edwards

All more experienced, all outperformed by Clinton.

[rug]

2. How are their chances in the remaing primaries?

[Eurobabe]

3. Joe Biden. Nuf said. yeah.

[depakid]

4. Other than Edwards, they weren't really covered much in Aussie papers or TV

Another thing to note about Aussie attitudes is that "pollies" pay their dues and prove themselves as backbenchers before they're granted a leadership position in a ministry- much less be considered for the leadership of one of the two major parties.

Different sort of deal than what one sees in the states-