Hillary and the Other Woman

[Herb Schaffler]

Hillary and The Other Woman

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. By [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link.
Aug 4th 2008 10:05AM



Hillary Clinton is a pioneer. The first credible female candidate for president of the United States, she came tantalizingly close to securing her party's nomination, and will forever command the respect of millions of supporters across the country. For many of them, the prospect of Hillary being named vice president is tantamount to an insult -- a hollow consolation prize, beneath the dignity of a rightful nominee. To others, the VP is the least that Barack Obama can do, especially if he wants to secure their allegiance in the fall.

That sentiment was expressed in a recent article at [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. :

Marcia Pappas, who heads the New York state chapter of the National Organization for Women, believes that Clinton supporters "would be outraged to know she was not given the right of first refusal."

"She is the only woman in history who has ever garnered this much support," Pappas continued. "She is the only woman in history who was able to raise the kind of money one would need to run a presidential campaign."

Truly, hell hath no fury like a woman [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. . And while Pappas is right about the many achievements of Clinton's historic campaign, the hope is that Hillary has not blazed a trail only for herself, but one for all women to walk. Put another way, because Hillary has represented the best chance so far to see a woman become commander-in-chief, has she opened a door for other women to walk through, or simply reserved her own place at the front of the line?


The "next time around" argument is always difficult to swallow, no matter the cause. That's especially true for many Clinton supporters because of how close she came. And though close only really counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, there's something of a perfect storm brewing in the minds of many women who sense that Obama is about add yet another man to what has become a familiar one-two punch (except for Geraldine Ferraro) of male tickets.

What, then, if Obama chose a woman, but one that wasn't Hillary Clinton? It is no secret that the other woman in question is Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a short-list survivor. Would the addition of a non-Hillary female help take the edge off the "Dream Ticket" hangover? According to Slate's [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. , the answer from Hillary Nation is no:

It's easy to see the logic for tapping Sebelius. Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in the biggest glass ceiling, as she told us in her concession speech. Why should it matter which woman shatters it? If anything, picking a woman other than Clinton reinforces the point that any woman can make it to the top. But selecting Sebelius could backfire big time.

The biggest objection, as voiced by Pappas: Hillary has earned her place on the ticket. On the other hand, adding Sebelius, a most qualified candidate for the job, to the ticket does affirm one principle that Hillary made so glaringly obvious: that women are up to the task. While there is certainly a segment of the population that did not vote for Hillary because she is a woman (just as a small percentage won't vote for Obama because he is black), there are also many voters who love the idea of women in the highest offices in our land, but who simply did not want that particular woman.

In the coming days, the suspense will be over. The ramifications of Obama's choice, however, are sure to linger.