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Jun
7
I never believed that having Hillary Clinton on the ticket would be a downer. I always believed that it would help more women make the choice to run for office, and succeed in doing so. (It’s true that I never actually wanted her on the ticket to begin with, but that’s anothe story. I just never thought the argument that she’d drag down others held water.)
My involvement in bringing the White House Project to Ohio this weekend isn’t a direct result of Clinton’s existent. I laugh but it’s really a high school friend’s voice from 30 years ago – when she said that she’d be the first female president – that still rings in my ears.
In some ways, it’s amazing and depressing that it takes this long for change. But on the other hand, it is so gratifying to know that I’m not the only who believes in the importance of the changes we’re witnessing.
The Washington Post published this op-ed today by Marie Wilson, the founder of the White House Project and force of nature who is here in Columbus this weekend. Here’s part of it:
The fact that we now have women at the top and the bottom levels of politics across this country is no accident of fate — it is the result of decades and decades of work and ambition. And it is a strategic imperative if we are to have a truly representative democracy, one in which women of all colors and from all communities lead in equal numbers alongside their male peers.
As more women enter the political pipeline at all levels, the quality and character of our political institutions will be better off for their participation. They will increasingly reflect the diverse nature of our nation’s experiences and embody the richness of our collective visions for change.
Clinton’s candidacy has brought unprecedented visibility to women’s leadership. We may at times have disagreed with her campaign tactics, her voting record or her political maneuverings. And her candidacy did highlight certain fissures between women of different racial, generational and political backgrounds. But whether we liked Clinton the person or Clinton the candidate pales in comparison with this unassailable truth: Her candidacy has helped change the political game forever.
Now it’s up to the rest of us to do our part — by encouraging women’s leadership in every shape and form. We do that by inviting our female friends and relatives to take the next step in their political lives by running for office, big or small. We do that by being brave enough to run for office ourselves. We do that by supporting the female candidates who do run for office — not simply because they are women but because they are just as qualified as their male peers to bring about the changes we seek.
And at noon today there will be a streaming webcast of Hillary Clinton’s event during which she’ll endorse Barack Obama.
When some Ohio bloggers and I tussled over who needs to do what for the Democratic party to come together, to persuade non-Obama supporters to consider Obama, I said that leadership to me often involves taking the steps that aren’t expected, that aren’t what’s always done (by the way, that’s the argument I made to some entities in Ohio in demanding Marc Dann step down; isn’t it amazing how tentative people can be in taking the real steps that demonstrate leadership?). I wanted Obama to break the mold in the treatment of the presumptive loser and the loser’s legions.
I believe both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have done that in these last several days and are showing that they will continue to do that. It goes without saying that the full power and force of Obama’s candidacy will only be revealed as time goes on. But more stunningly, in many ways, the way Hillary has chosen to irrefutably continue to support the Democratic party, and because that support could result in the election of Barack Obama, her legacy is potentially far greater and far more influential than her husband’s, in particular, will ever be.
That’s exactly the way it should be.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:33 am June 7th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Politics, WH2008, Women
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2 Responses to “WaPo op-ed: Clinton candidacy changed political game forever”
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The jury is out on whether or not she’ll be able to save face from her non-concession concession speech. She really has to come out forcefully and not have any hint of the arrogance and egotism we saw last time. I think she will and know she can. She’s a political animal afterall so she knows when she has the upper hand and when she doesn’t. Right now she doesn’t.
We’ll see. About to post on what I want to hear from her today.
Eric, you didn’t think she was speaking to you exactly did you?