'Hope You're Not Voting for HRC Just Because She's a Woman'

[MrWendel]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/3/1479563/--Hope-You-re-Not-Voting-for-HRC-Just-Because-She-s-a-Woman

By bogmanoc

I came across this post on HRC’s Facebook page and thought it explains the candidate very well to a generation that may have no clue the fight for respect and representation women in general, and Hillary in particular, have waged in this country for some time. The lady who posted and HRC’s social media team reposted is Sue Fulton of Asbury Park, N.J.

Here’s the link with excerpts and commentary below:

www.facebook.com/…

Well, I hope you’re not voting for her just because she’s a woman," he protested, appalled at the very idea.

“She’s best qualified,” I said with conviction, but I let it drop.

“Just because she’s a woman…” How can I explain to this guy – a good friend, with progressive values – what that means to me?

As a member of the first class of women to graduate West Point, my experiences inform what I know about being out in front. Outnumbered 40 to 1 in the Corps of Cadets, each of us knew that everything we did – every test score, every workout, every haircut, every wayward glance – was examined and judged in the most negative light possible.

Think of the most sexist scene you can think of from Mad Men. Then imagine that still going in much of the workplaces in 70s when HRC entered adulthood and what it would take to survive for any bright, young woman with career ambitions.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has undergone that scrutiny almost her entire life. Attending Yale Law in the early ‘70s, working for the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal, trying (in vain) to keep her own name after marriage. No woman could navigate those waters without enduring resentment, skepticism, even abuse.

Just because she’s a woman… she’s been under relentless scrutiny (and attack) for much of her adult life. And when she measures her responses, when she’s careful about what she says, she’s called “chilly,” “guarded,” “calculated.” But she’s come through fire, and I recognize in her the fearlessness, the commitment, the determination that doing the right thing will always be worth it, that I see in so many of the military women who are my friends.

Hard-earned praise from a woman who’s been in the trenches as well. HRC was a trailblazer, among many women in the early 70s. But it took major guts to take on the established ways.

Just because she’s a woman, her courage in daring, over and over again, to reach for jobs that match her talent means that she’s called “ruthless” and “ambitious.”

Just because she’s a woman, her desire to serve, to achieve, to step up to great challenge, is called “selfish.” Yet this is the same desire I saw in my friend Becky Margiotta Kanis, commanding a Special Operations company; in the first women Army Rangers; in my West Point women classmates. It is the opposite of selfishness: the driving desire to put your own capabilities and character in service to a greater cause, because you know that you CAN. And in doing so, you will make the world better for others.

Go Sue. What do they say about pioneers? They take all the arrows.

I support Hillary not “just because she’s a woman,” or even just because she’s the best qualified; but because AS A WOMAN she’s survived tests of character that her male opponents can’t even imagine.

So in my head AND in my heart - ‪#?ImWithHer

I think Sue has nailed it. The presidency is the last bastion of the men’s club, to the detriment of our society and our government. HRC has worked harder than anyoneto get to this moment, and is the most qualified candidate for the job in years.

I’m with Sue. And I’m with Hillary.

[SamKnause]

1. I am a 62 year old female.

I would love to have a female president.

I don't base my votes on gender.

I base mine on policies.

I base mine on sound judgment.

I support Bernie because we are not only still fighting, we are

re-fighting battles already won decades ago.

It is time for serious change.

This country can not continue moving to the right.

If it does it will rip this country apart.

The inequality can not continue.

I think Bernie knows this.

I don't think Hillary does.

This country is tired of the Bush family.

This country is split on the Clinton family.

It is time to fight like never before.

I think Bernie is the PERSON for the job.

FEEL THE BERN

[Live and Learn]

2. +10,000 nt

[MrWendel]

3. How does...

the country feel about Obama?

[newfie11]

7. He lost me with TPP

I voted for him twice and feel I've been betrayed!

[MrWendel]

14. For me...

I would have a hard time voting for anyone, who subjects anyone to a "Progressive than thou" purity test. I'm guessing no Democratic president before him was good enough. Tea Party voter do that, that should not be us.

[newfie11]

6. Bernie gets my vote proudly

[Betty Karlson]

4. It's the gender card, this time played more subtly.

Clinton isn't called selfish or ruthless because she reaches for jobs that match her talents, she is called selfish and ruthless because of how she performs IN those jobs.

That test of character you refer to? She was for the TPP until it became unfeasable to support it. She was against same sex marriage until that position made Democrats unelectable. Her character is that of a follower, not a leader: and therein lies her disqualification for the leadership of this country.

[NurseJackie]

5. Not uncommon. But always sad.

[JaneyVee]

8. K AND R! Bernie never brought a womens bill to the floor and...

Was elected with help of the NRA. #ImWithHer

[hobbit709]

9. I'm a 65 year old male and I would gladly vote for a woman that I support and have done so.

But there are at least 25 million women in this country that would get my vote before Hillary.

[DCBob]

10. No, this is why..

Hillary's resume.

• Graduate of Yale Law School, where she was one of just 27 women in her graduating class.
  
• Young lawyer for the Children’s Defense Fund where she worked to help enact legislation to help children with disabilities in Massachusetts.
  
• Lawyer for the Congressional Committee investigating President Nixon.
  
• First Lady of Arkansas where she worked to improve educational standards and health care access for the people of Arkansas.
  
• First Lady of United States during where she worked to reform our health care system and helped create the Children's Health Insurance Program. Here is where she learned what Republicans are capable of doing when faced with a strong intelligent aggressive woman.
  
• U.S. Senator for New York, probably the most diverse, complex and important state in the country.. economically, financially, politically, and diplomatically. While Senator she worked to secure funding to rebuild New York after 9/11 and fought to provide health care for first responders who were contaminated at Ground Zero. Also helped to expanded TRICARE so that members of the Reserves and National Guard and their families could get better access to health care.
  
• Ran for President in 2008 where she learned the hard way what it takes to win.
  
• Served as Secretary of State for 4 years. She was instrumental in starting to restore America’s standing in the world. She helped build a coalition for tough new sanctions against Iran that brought them to the negotiating table and brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that ended a war. She also was a forceful champion for human rights, internet freedom, and rights and opportunities for women and girls, LGBT people and young people all around the globe.
  

[Odin2005]

11. Jacobin: Clinton isn’t a champion of women’s rights. She’s the embodiment of corporate feminism.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/03/hillary-clinton-womens-rights-feminism/

We suggest that feminist enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton is reflective of a profound crisis of US liberal feminism, which has long embraced or accepted capitalism, racism, empire, and even heterosexism and transphobia.

[Lil Missy]

12. I'd have to ask, Are you voting for Bernie's penis?

[MrWendel]

15. +1

[mcar]

13. Sue certainly did nail it

That entire line of questioning is offensive and Sue addressed it very well.