A memo to Donald Trump: So you think you can damage Hillary Clinton
by reminding the nation of her husband’s sexual exploits or her bathroom habits?
That is risky politics. You just do not get it when it comes to women. In
national polls, 6 in 10 women do not believe you “represent their
interests”. Why? It is about respect.
Hillary was not the
perpetrator in the blue dress affair. She was the victim. Women understand. She
is not the first woman to be in that situation. The marriage almost broke up, but she put
family and her support of Bill’s political accomplishments above it. She
deserves respect for grit and determination, and for what she has accomplished
as her own person and not your crass reminders of those times.
Here is the significance
of what Hillary Clinton has accomplished. She is paving the way for so many in
the future. In the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s,
women had to overcome a charge that they were “underqualified”, with no
experience in government or political leadership. No wonder.
The corporate and governmental powers
were not friendly toward women moving up the ladder. They may have been loved,
but they were disrespected.
In the FDR era Frances Perkins served as the first woman
cabinet member as Secretary of Labor and in the early 1950’s Oveta Culp Hobby
was the first head of Health, Education and Welfare. My mother considered their service as proof
that women could do such jobs as well as men. Nonetheless, women
governmental officials and CEO’s were rare in the 1950’s and ‘60s. A few took
over position left by deceased husbands. Participation as unpaid volunteers and civic activists
were the other routes left to women and those credentials were not respected as
much as experience in government and the corporate world.
That began to change
with the women’s rights movement in the 1970’s, and now women are governors, many
more than in the past serve in Congress and as mayors, and cabinet officials,
including Hillary Clinton. They have become ones mothers can hold up to their
girls as how far women can go because now they have achieved the experience
needed to gain respect.
There is still a long
way to go. Only 20% of Congress are women. Nonetheless, it is a foundation on
which girls in the future can build because the possibilities of success have
been publicly demonstrated. No candidate running now can claim the international
and domestic experience Hillary Clinton has: lawyer, Senator, Secretary of State.
Bill Clinton deserves
every bit of criticism for his personal follies, but if you persist in visiting
the sins of Bill Clinton on Hillary Clinton, you will have also risked giving
the opportunity for Bill Clinton to remind voters of successes on his watch
that puts the GOP in a relatively bad light. When Bill Clinton took office, the
deficit was 4.7% of the GDP; when he left, it was a surplus of 2.4%. Inflation rates were reduced and growth was
3.8%. Under Bill Clinton’s watch, the
unemployment rate was 3.9%. With GOP presidents, the average is 6.1%. More jobs were created per month during the Clinton
presidency than during any other presidency in recent U.S. history.
A version of this was published in the Skyhidailynews.com January 8, 2016
A version of this was published in the Skyhidailynews.com January 8, 2016
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/14/women-have-long-history-in-congress-but-until-recently-there-havent-been-many/
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/12/05/in-ranking-presidents-by-job-creation
https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/685147564325273601 Panetta endorses Hillary; experience counts
https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/685147564325273601 Panetta endorses Hillary; experience counts
No comments:
Post a Comment