I Truly Believe That There Are People Who Will Not Vote for Hillary Clinton

[Dems to Win]

83. I suspect not.

In my own family, the only woman excited about a Hillary presidency is elderly. I hope she lives to cast her vote for Hillary, assuming Hillary's the nominee, because she is quite frail and in poor health.

One woman in the family, a normally reliable Democratic voter, will absolutely not vote for Hillary because of her vote on the Iraq War. She's very adamant and stubborn about it. She grumbled about having to vote for Biden, due to the same reason, and would not have voted for a Biden/Obama ticket. Polls show that a large majority of Democrats oppose the Iraq War and believe it was an enormous mistake for our country. It would be a lot easier to get all of them to the polls to vote for someone who opposed that war from day one, like Obama. Hillary's femaleness won't overcome that disadvantage in the case of all voters.

As a feminist, I'm not at all excited about Hillary Clinton as the first woman president. Nor are my young female relatives.

When I voted for Obama, I knew that I was also voting for Michelle Obama to become the First Lady, and I was quite pleased about that. Six plus years later and I still have positive feelings about the First Lady and First Grandma and First Daughters, and it's a factor in my positive feelings toward President Obama, in spite of some policy disagreements with him. Michelle has done a great job encouraging American children to eat right and get some exercise, and it's actually shown up in improved childhood obesity stats. Good job, Michelle. And I smile when I see a pic of Sasha in a Tshirt with a big peace sign, or a pic of the First Grandma joining the family at the Christmas tree.

When I vote for Hillary, assuming she's the nominee (and I will), it will be with disgust at the idea of Bill Clinton returning to the White House as first horndog, and no joy at the thought of a couple of hedge fund sharks as first daughter and son-in-law. I'm sure the first grandbaby will be a cutie, though, so there is that.

The Clinton baggage is so heavy that I truly don't believe she can win, no matter what the polls might say today.

Returning Bill Clinton to the White House as First Spouse will not be a feminist triumph. Polls might show that young feminists are excited today to vote for Hillary, but they are too young to have lived through the Lewinsky saga. If Hillary is the nominee, the right wing will make sure the story is rehashed fully.

As a professional woman not much older than Lewinsky, Clinton's behavior was quite troubling and wrong to me at the time. I didn't believe it was worthy of impeachment, but it was sexual harassment. The power differential between Clinton and Lewinsky made that relationship all kinds of wrong, and it was incumbent on Clinton to say No, no matter if Lewinsky was 100% willing.

The best evidence that the relationship was wrong and abusive is the fact that Bill is now considered a respected former president, rolling in money and prestige, while Lewinsky has never been able to find a job or a boyfriend. The Clinton machine threw Lewinsky to the wolves. Of course, the Republican wolves have plenty to be ashamed of, too.

No, Hillary was not, and is not, responsible for Bill's behavior. But a vote for Hillary is a vote for Bill as First Gentleman. I can imagine a lot of young feminists, after a full airing of that old laundry, might feel a little bit of hesitation when it actually comes time to vote. They might decide to wait for a better candidate to come along to be the first woman president and first gentleman, since they will see themselves as having lots more elections to vote in.

Bill's horndog days are not behind him, as made clear by testimony in the ongoing Epstein billionaire underage sex slave court case brought by three victims. The depositions publicized have made clear that Bill did not have sex with underage victims, but he did party with men who were doing so, while surrounded by his own entourage of women. Who knows what might continue to drip out of that court case, just in time for the election.

As far as Republican women voting for Hillary to make history with the first woman president, I don't see it happening much at all. I sure wasn't tempted to vote for Sarah Palin to make history as the first woman vice-president. Woman vote with their ideology, for the most part.

Another issue that I'm concerned about: Low turnout elections are won by the Repubs. I can't imagine a more surefire recipe for the lowest turnout election in history than a Clinton - Bush mashup. Disgusted anti-dynasty voters will stay home in droves.

If Dems want to win, we'll need a candidate who can fire up enthusiasm and bring lots of voters to the polls. My gut is telling me that Hillary's not that candidate. If and when she becomes our nominee, I'm going to hope I'm wrong.