I love politics. I wish I could say that it's because I have passionate feelings about the major issues of our time, or a burning desire to change the world. That's not to say I don't have opinions or questions or frustrations about domestic and international issues. But what fascinates me most about politics are the characters that make it up, the actions they take, the motivations behind those actions, and the way they react to, make, and change history.
I am so looking forward to watching Obama and McCain duke it out, and though I'm pretty confident I know who I'm voting for, I'm curious to see if there will be one statement or cause or event that might change my mind.
And then there are the Clintons. I think Bill is brilliant, charismatic, and was a very effective president. However, he's also, in my opinion, quite sleazy. As for Hillary, I wanted to like her for so long, I really did. I was offended and alarmed by people's hatred of her not for her stance on fill-in-the-blank, but because she didn't dump her husband after he cheated on her. I don't have a problem with ambition in a woman, even when it's as naked as it is in Hillary.
However, I just couldn't ever warm to her. Her repeated lying about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia realllllly bugged me. (It's weird how certain things can get under your skin, while you can forgive other transgressions) I just started feeling more and more uncomfortable with the whole Clinton clan. (Except that Chelsea; who's doing her hair? Fabulous!) But what most turned me against voting for her was the aforementioned hatred of her. Our current President is, um, somewhat divisive. I'm exhausted by how divided we've become over the past 8 years. I don't think either McCain or Obama will inspire such division, but I think Hillary does, and I didn't want to vote for that.
All that being said, I'm watching Hillary's concession speech (oh, sorry, "suspension" speech), and I'm truly sad to see the closest shot we've had at a female president leaving the race. I wouldn't vote for a woman just because she's a woman. But all things being equal, seeing a woman in the White House would be amazing. I don't like her, but I'm saddened. I'm saddened to think of the women who fought for the equal rights amendment, who feel that this might have been their last chance to see a woman president in their lifetime. It very well may be.
But hey, there's Ted Danson in the audience!
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1 comment:
hooray for more posting! I too bailed on trying to like Mrs. Clinton over a small thing. One word, in fact; 'elite.' As in, 'I'm not going to listen to smart people because that's not what middle america is really like' It was a quote that I couldn't believe wasn't made by Bush and I was d-o-n-e, done. On with the show.
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