Alex Knapp at OTB this morning: [1]
In a dialogue with one of his readers, Andrew Sullivan argues that if Clinton manages to win the Presidency, it will hardly be a victory for feminism. [2]
Hillary Clinton had a chance to pioneer feminism. But she preferred her own ambition to her alleged principles, and when it really came down to it, she deferred to a man. Bill came first, however brutally he humiliated and used her. But she knew her place – and coped by trying to leverage it for more power. A profile in feminist courage she has never been. Too risky.
I find myself agreeing with this sentiment. While there is certainly no doubt that Hillary Clinton is very intelligent and is a capable politician and campaigner, it’s just as clear that she is, in large part, riding on her husband’s coattails. There would definitely be some extraordinary mixed messages should she become the first female President. On the one hand, her victory is a testament to the ongoing process of progressively better attitudes towards women in the United States. On the other hand, the fact that she owes a significant debt to her husband for her political success does diminish that accomplishment.
This is not as Sullivan indicates, Hillary Clinton deferring to a man. Rather, this is, simply put, the acknowledgment that without Bill Clinton Hillary would have been a waitress at a Chicago diner. True, she seems able to maneuver within political circles, but many, who never had those chances that Hillary Clinton has had, show those qualities. Becoming, perhaps, shift supervisors at the diner.
I am not sure, that someone else in her position, would find her accomplishments so dimmed as Hillary Clinton has. After all, we have each of us in our own lives made accomplishments that we would not have been able to make without someones help. On that basis, it might be fairly said, that we would not be where we are today, without their help. Statistically speaking there’s about a 5050 chance of that someone, being a man.
But…What kind of man? Think about this: The reason that Hillary Clinton owes her current situation to her husband, is such a negative, is because Bill Clinton himself was such a spectacular failure. This, apparently, is something that even Sullivan tacitly, and perhaps unknowingly, admits..