More like Hillary care!

[vovat]

I must admit to being rather incredulous toward the rumors about Hillary Clinton running for President. Would the Democratic Party really want to shoot itself in the foot even more than it normally does? I'm not saying this because I have anything in particular against Hillary. I haven't really followed her career, but I've heard stuff about that I liked, and stuff that I didn't. As unfortunate as it might be, though, I think there are still a lot of people who wouldn't vote for a woman for President. (I'm sure there are also people who would vote for a candidate simply BECAUSE she was a woman, but I doubt the number is anywhere near as large.) And gender issues aside, a lot of people really don't like Hillary. I think she stands very little chance of winning (well, unless the rumors about the Republicans nominating Condi Rice ALSO turn out to be true, but I get the impression that those rumors are rather unsubstantiated). Why can't Al Gore run again? I like the guy, and hey, he already technically won once! How hard could it be to do it again? If they really want Hillary in there somewhere, she could be the Vice Presidential candidate. "You loved the Clinton/Gore ticket. Now try it in reverse!"

Speaking of Gore, have you heard about the Internet cartoon that showed him as The Penguin, and mocked his global warming awareness campaign? The one that turned out to be made by an agency working for Exxon Mobil? Well, don't forget who was the first to be compared to an aquatic animal (and, in this case, a less cute one). I quote from a conversation between Trot and an octopus from L. Frank Baum's The Sea Fairies:

"Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an'
deceitful," she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, we call the
Stannerd Oil Company an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'--"

"Stop, stop!" cried the monster in a pleading voice. "Do you mean
to tell me that the earth people whom I have always respected compare me
to the Stannerd Oil Company?"

Also, talking about Hillary made me think of the old ice cream place of that name, which no longer exists. In fact, a lot of the ice cream stores closed down, didn't they? When I was young, my local mall had a Hillary's and a Baskin-Robbins. Maybe not at the same time; I can't quite remember. Regardless, Baskin-Robbins still survives, usually combined with Dunkin' Donuts. Despite still having the 31 in their logo, though, I don't think any of them have anywhere near that many flavors these days. And what about Howard Johnson's? Do they still exist? It's kind of funny, because March Laumer's The Vegetable Man of Oz has Dorothy, Trot, and Betsy Bobbin eat at a Howard Johnson's while visiting California, and the last time I recall going to a Howard Johnson's myself was when I was first reading The Wizard of Oz. I guess that would have been sixteen and a half years ago.

Comments

[revme.livejournal.com]

I love octopuses, though!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're pretty cool. It's not really fair to certain animals that we've come to associate them with negative concepts, even when they don't have much to do with the animals themselves. For instance, is the eagle the symbol of imperialism simply because of its wingspan?

[bec-87rb.livejournal.com]

(I'm sure there are also people who would vote for a candidate simply BECAUSE she was a woman, but I doubt the number is anywhere near as large.) And gender issues aside, a lot of people really don't like Hillary

Gotta disagree, buddy. The dislike of Hillary is precisely because of gender issues - she's a butch lady who didn't bake cookies and keep her mouth shut when she was in the White House. That is gonna follow her forever, and there are lots of men who get their BVDs in a bunch when women don't know their place, they get really deeply angry, especially men on the bottom of the economic ladder.

OTOH, we women are more than half of the population. If another woman, someone one charismatic and more centrist, were to pop up, she could get elected. All we would have to do is vote together, and I agree that some people would vote for a woman just because of the gender thing. Women leading democracies isn't weird, the US is just behind the times on this.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Naw, my mother-in-law, who is a VERY strong, modern, intellectual, Type-A woman who CERTAINLY never keeps her mouth shut, can't stand Hillary either. She just doesn't like her opinions on the issues.

[bec-87rb.livejournal.com]

That's what I mean - if Hil were more in line with her political opinions, she would be more electable. Think Maggie Thatcher.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The dislike of Hillary is precisely because of gender issues - she's a butch lady who didn't bake cookies and keep her mouth shut when she was in the White House.

That's probably part of it, but I'm sure there's more. I know some people strongly objected to her health care plan, for example, and I doubt that had anything to do with her gender.

I do agree that there are other women who might stand a chance of being elected. In a way, even a lousy female president might be a good thing, insofar as it could open the door to GOOD ones down the road. Of course, ANY lousy president would be a bad thing for the country in plenty of other ways. (And no, I don't think Hillary would make a lousy president. She might well do a good job. But I don't think she stands much chance of winning.)

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

"You loved the Clinton/Gore ticket. Now try it in reverse!"

I love this slogan. They so need to do this just so they can use this slogan.

I'd vote for Gore again. I did the first time. I wouldn't vote for Kerry because I thought he was too political, too tied down to his party, too not-making-his-own-decisions. But I like Gore-- he continues to fight for the environmental causes he believes in even though they're not the Hot Political Topic of the Time, which shows he can think for himself-- I liked his books, which I read for biology class-- and the fact that he has the same birthday as me doesn't hurt.