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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

hillary

lately, i've begun thinking about the 2008 presidential election. it's still a few years off, but i need to have something to look forward to. (yes, i'm looking forward to this year's election as well, but i won't be able to rest easy until the bush is out of office.) perhaps i'm wrong, but it looks like hillary is the front-runner for the democratic nomination at this point in time. of course, 2008 is a long way off, and a great deal can happen before the democratic primary. the media circus is already beginning. we all remember the infamous howl that ended the dean campaign. though i think we can trust that hillary won't show such ebullience.

so, who is hillary? is she someone we can trust? (is there any politician that can be trusted?) is she a human being first and a politician second? will she stand up for the values of the democratic party: freedom of speech, reproductive rights, equality for all, and nationwide healthcare? why did she vote for the war in iraq? why did she denigrate young people? what does she stand for? these are all good questions and important questions to ask of a potential candidate. but my concern is that these questions are all secondary in the minds of the public. first and foremost in people's minds is the fact that she's female. if she were male, and all of the facts remained the same -- she stood by her spouse after a very public affair, she voted for the war in iraq, and she said that young people were lazy and needed to shape-up to help america compete in the new global economy -- (s)he would be a shoe-in for the democratic nomination. all of these matters would be debated briefly, and the fact that she's a brilliant, eloquent politician would remain behind. but because she's female, her motives have been questioned over and over again, and small issues that should not impact her nomination (namely the fact that she stood by bill after the lewinsky scandal), become all consuming in the public debate.

i'm still not sure how i feel about hillary as president -- i don't really trust her (but then again i don't really trust any politician), but i also don't know if there is a more qualified individual out there. i'd love to hear what others have to say. there is definitely more to the argument than what i have mentioned here, but my gut feeling is that if she had grey hair and a penis she wouldn't be subject to the same kind of scrutiny she's experiencing right now.

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