2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSo We Have One Female Presidential Candidate — How Do We Get Other Women to Run?
You can try to minimize it, but it’s going to happen. You’re all set to go on the radio and talk about your plan to fix your city’s economy, and a voter is going to call in and complain that they didn’t hear a word you said thanks to the croaking of your vocal fry. Or worse, you’re going to get caught shouting. And then there’s your appearance. Your hair is too short or too long. You’re wearing too much makeup, or not enough. Your suits aren’t professional, or maybe they have no personality. Or your clothes are too perfect — how are you going to solve all these problems if you spend so much time thinking about how you look?
Or maybe you brace for these slights by being exceptionally well prepared — and are greeted by people wondering where they are supposed to find the authentic you under all this competence.
You’re a woman running for office, and there are just some things you can’t win.
Of course, it’s not just women who’re targeted this way in politics — Howard Dean screamed, Chris Christie was made fun of for his weight, search parties went out looking for the “real” Mitt Romney. If you’re a female candidate for public office, however, there’s probably more of a chance that you’ll fill up your candidate complaint bingo card, especially the higher you climb.
http://www.mtv.com/news/2739867/so-we-have-one-female-presidential-candidate/
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LisaM
(29,682 posts)How about not taking remarks made by people at two completely separate events out of context and re-framing them as directives to young women? How about not casting the generational differences as a "mother-daughter" spat? How about participating in politics at every level so that more women get into politics at other levels, such as PTA or city council? (Don't ignore those races - they mean a lot to some people). How about judging someone without ONCE referring to what her husband did at his job? How about not commenting that her jacket looks like "a grandmother's"? And how about, how about this one: STOP SAYING, "Oh, I want a woman. Just not HER".
If we stop saying "I want a woman, just not her." Does that mean I must support the one and only woman running just because she's a woman? 
TTUBatfan2008
(3,623 posts)Please explain how the stuff coming from her campaign is out of context. And please explain why Hillary is allowed to take credit for Bill's "success" but isn't allowed to be criticized for his policy mistakes? Bill said in the 1992 election that a vote for him was a vote for both of them, that they were a team. She was no ordinary First Lady who was disconnected from the policy of the time. She helped push and support some the lousy stuff that her husband wanted passed, like NAFTA.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)other potential candidates who happen to be women.
And by getting a lot more women into elected office all down the ballot.
Easy to say, I know. Harder to implement.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)ieoeja
(9,748 posts)If the other poster wasn't saying it, I certainly will since it actually did happen.
I'm not sure why that would even bother you. MANY Democratic pols, both male and female, chose to clear the path for Hillary. That was never exactly a secret.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)She nearly sucked all of the oxygen out for any challenger.
I'm very glad Bernie Sanders didn't pay much attention to that and decided to run anyway.
jham123
(278 posts)
Lancero
(3,280 posts)I was going to call the article on that as well, but with her suspending her campaign she has effectively pulled herself from the race.
Still, it is a bit odd for a article about getting more female candidates to not even bother mentioning her campaign.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Then there is Mrs, Warren who afaict will be the first woman president.
Hillary hasn't got what it takes. Heck she said the other night that the US should send the children back! Sorry, if it were a man saying that he'd have been drawn and quartered. Hillary is getting off easy for that cruel statement.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)that never thought they could, until Bernie proved that you don't need a half a billion dollars to run. That is just a bit off-putting...to put it mildly. That is what is required going through the Establishment...to garner favors and get money. That's the crux of The Revolution. Bypassing the above and going back to real Democracy...one person, one vote. Not one Super PAC millions of dollars, thus votes.
That puts both women and POC on more equal footing. Kind of like the Old America...if you work hard, you'll get ahead. That is no longer the case...in work or in politics. We want that back. We want our economic freedom to depend on our work and our will and our commitment...our political freedom in the same way.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Put Hillary in the White House.
I guarantee after one woman breaks the glass ceiling, others will have less of a problem following in her footsteps.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)she would be.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)About 85% of DU are dead wrong about Hillary.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)She didn't lie about being under fire in Bosnia? She didn't vote for a war in Iraq? She doesn't advocate sending child refugees back? She didn't recently say she'd be willing to compromise on abortion? She never defended DOMA?
I am so sorry I've gotten all these things wrong.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)that she didn't lie about being under fire in Bosnia? Or any of the other things I cited.
I won't use the L word here, but you are absolutely wrong because she did claim she came under fire in Bosnia and so on and so forth.
It may be that you're just fine with those things, and that's certainly your prerogative, but many of us are not.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)They are also following a corrupt person who has them as hornsswaggled as Trump has his followers, IMO.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)We post specifics about what we don't like about her, and people like you just say we're wrong. No counter evidence. Just we're wrong.
And what exactly is corrupt about Bernie Sanders? Corrupt to be consistently on message for some fifty years? Corrupt for not taking money from banks or corporations? Corrupt for responding very quickly to slams on him? If that's the case, you and I seem to have very different understanding of the meaning of the word corrupt.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)out response from the Hillary side.
Thank you for your extensive, enlightening, and wholly informative analysis. I appreciate your taking the time out of your day to respond in such detail.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)And deserve
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)why we tend to dismiss them out of hand.
It's exchanges like this, where you act like a 5 year old, put your fingers in your ears, and just go, "Naa, naa, I can't hear you."
If you honestly expect to make a difference in our perceptions, you really ought to engage in actual back and forth, not silliness like this.
Prism
(5,815 posts)Who knows what candidates we may have had this primary if the party didn't bully the field clear so Hillary could be crowned.