5/16/08

Don't Sweat It, uh ... Sweetie?
By: Mark W Adams


Avendon reminded me of one of the Raisons d'Entre for the continuation of Hillary Clinton's campaign:
"I think she's running all the bases," I said. "She's the first woman in history to win a state primary, and she's won a lot more. She's running pretty close to the front-runner. It's a major historic moment." And the more I think about it, the more I think it has to be part of what's driving her. There's a bit of climbing the mountain because it's there, and wanting to be able to stand up in the end and say something like, "Never let it be said that a woman can't go the distance." It doesn't matter if someone else breaks the tape, just as long as she finishes the race. (And think how she'd feel if something did happen before Denver to tank Obama and she hadn't.) I've been unhappy with a lot of things about Hillary, but there's a part of me that kind of admires that. Because she wouldn't just be doing that for herself - she's doing it for every little girl who was ever told she can't.
Now that reminded me of something awkwardly pointed out by her husband -- Barack Obama wasn't the first black man to win a State's presidential primary; and this historical situation was elaborated upon by an even blunter instrument in the form of Chris Matthews -- black men we granted the vote via the 15th Amendment fully 50 years before women were enfranchised via the 19th Amendment.

From an historical perspective, Hillary has already accomplished more politically than any woman before her. There will be more, a lot more who follow the trail she's blazed. Obama has done more than any black man who came before him, but only marginally unless and until he accepts the nomination at the Democratic Convention. At that point, it can be said that both reached threshholds of truly historic proportions.

And that's saying something folks.

And we're going to do a lot better than that with the assclowns the GOP has put up for the sacrifice.

1 Comment:

Avedon said...

Thanks, Marnk.

Ahem.