my pink toes

I am very torn between Clinton and Obama. I have a deep abiding passion and admiration for Hillary and have since the early 90s. I was exactly 20 when Bill Clinton was elected the first time, finishing up college and developing an awareness of where I fit in to society as a woman. I burned with rage at all the guff Hillary got for being too strong, for having an opinion, for having a brain, for not having a chocolate chip cookie recipe for heaven's sake! I appreciated Hillary and all she was doing (and had done through her lifetime) to promote women as capable, thinking leaders. I cheered when she became a Senator in New York. She was quite a role model to me for what women's place in politics or business could be. Even though I don't necessarily subscribe to Hillary's "brand" of feminism, I have great thanks for her work and others of her generation who blazed a trail for we younger women to follow. In her day, it did really have to be work OR family, politics OR chocolate chip cookies. Because of the work of her generation, we now have the option of doing things a bit differently, but we wouldn't have had that option without the sacrifices of those like Hillary.

But, and it's quite a big "but", I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea of another Clinton presidency. Not for reasons you might think (I actually really liked Bill, his personal moral failures aside). But because I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of 2 families running the United States for 24-28 years - an entire generation. We had Bush Sr, then Clinton, then Bush Jr.. Mrs. Clinton would make for a long string of the same folks in the White House (in her case, quite literally). It bothers me because we should be a nation without dynasties. We are so vast in area and so diverse in population that it strikes me as impossible that we could all agree that only two families should govern us in succession for such a long time. (Matthew at Defective Yeti has a great argument about this - and he's way more thoughtful AND much funnier than I am.)

Which is why I am really excited about Obama. He has little to no connection with the Bush/Clinton power bases. I also really like the fact that he's Black. It's about damn time someone other than a white male ran this (increasingly non-white) country. I know race is not the only issue (as gender is not the only issue with Hillary) but I also am not so naive as to pretend it's not an important issue. I like the way he motivates people. I like the way he inspires people. As far as the ISSUES go, um yeah - I should probably to a bit more research on those. But I like Obama a lot.

Also, I think the Republicans all secretly want Hillary to win the nomination. I think they roll around in their sleep, laughing gleeful laughs about how awesome it will be to trounce her in the run-up to the general election. I think that fewer Republican-ish swing voters will be able to bring themselves to vote for Hillary. Remember all the vilification she took when Mr. Clinton was president? The Republicans are salivating, bucking like horses at the gate, waiting to unleash on her in the general election. I think she's much less electable than Obama in the long run.

Here is where Dave points out that I haven't even bothered to mention who I like in the Republican party. Um, yeah. I'm not-so-much a swing voter, but that's probably an issue for a different entry. I *did* really like McCain in 2000, when the Democratic options were so very 'meh'. (I think Gore has found a much better niche for himself promoting Global Warming awareness. If anyone could win an Oscar for a PowerPoint presentation, then my hat is off to him!). John Kerry didn't inspire me in 2004, but I couldn't abide voting for another 4 years of Bush.

Anyway, I guess I'm an Obama supporter - or a "Barack-Star" as my friend likes to say. But I feel a bit guilty about it. I still love you, Hillary! I admire what you've done babe, and just wish you didn't happen to have already been in the White House.

Although, how cool would it be to have "President Bill and President Hillary Clinton" on your return address labels?