Why I Am a Woman for Obama

I’m tired of pseudo-feminist interpretations suggesting that contempt for Senator Hillary Clinton is rooted in misogyny. I’m disheartened by sisters guilt-tripping sisters for not supporting the first woman to run for president of the United States. So, even though I’m not eligible to vote, I’m a woman supporting Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Yes, I’d very much like to see a woman be the president of the United States, but not any woman, not if this woman is yet another tough guy on the establishment block. I thought the idea of having women in a position of power was that they might introduce some empathy, dialogue and unity to our testosterone-driven, conflict-wrought world, and I don’t see divisive, war-supporting Hillary going that way. She says the White House needs a fighter. I say it needs a uniter.

So how about Hillary’s opponents taking issue not with her double-X chromosomes but, say, with her behaviour of a political chameleon who’ll do whatever is needed – shed a tear, get nasty in a way that would make Karl Rove proud, adjust and amend her stance on important issues like NAFTA, like the war on Iraq, to bring it into alignment with the key electorate’s stance as identified by the latest polls – just to get votes?

If there has been one consistent message in Senator Clinton’s campaign, it is that she is the more “experienced” candidate. But ironically, ask anyone to name two things that stand out in Hillary Clinton’s political career, and you’re likely to hear about her failed health-care reform initiative (a commendable effort, brought to futility, in part, by Mrs Clinton alienating members of her own party who were kept out of the close-door talks) and her vote in support of the war in Iraq. In the meantime, in her eight years in the Senate, she managed to introduce and pass into law a mere 20 bills, only five of which are of social significance. (I don’t mean to undermine the importance of naming libraries after prominent public figures, but it does pale next to immigration issues.) There are also her eight years of service as First Lady, except Senator Clinton is quick to take credit-by-proxy for the successes of the Bill Clinton administration and to distance herself from its failures, saying that behind the scenes she was all against the wrong calls.

In the meantime, Barack Obama is perpetually put on the defensive when it comes to his experience. His critics have repeatedly pointed out that Obama’s speeches, however inspirational, do not offer much substance and details. When asked about that on CBS’s 60 minutes on February 10, Obama recalled how when he started campaigning people were complaining that he was too professorial, too mired in the details. Was he going to turn out to be another John Kerry? Where is that inspirational guy we saw at the Democratic Convention four years ago? they wanted to know. “But if you have specific questions, I’m happy to address them now,” Obama concluded. Sadly, the interviewer didn’t.

Still, the dichotomy persists – Hillary = experience, Obama = inspiration. They both vouch that they will change the ways of Washington, but have chosen a different key message. This is a philosophical choice. It is not to say Hillary can’t be inspirational (though I do have some doubts), nor is it to say that Barack is inexperienced (he has a long legislative record as Illinois senator and has introduced 130-plus bills in his first year as a US senator). The difference is more in their style than in their platforms, and even the two candidates are often quick to point out how overwhelmingly similar their positions are. Hillary wants to fight her way through Washington, Barack wants to negotiate it. So let’s not fall prey to the faulty assumption that “talking” is a sign of inaction. We’ve seen plenty of the perils of too much wrong action and too little talking – the world’s aflame.

So why Obama? Because there is a lot to be said about the complacency of the American nation, but they can take pride in the fact that every once in a while, the American people get so sick and tired of their leaders doing harm in their name, that they rise to the occasion and demand a return to their values, to what they believe is right and good. There is momentous potential in a nation’s desire for change, more momentous than what a single person in the top office could do. An engaged civic society is a prerequisite for policy change and in this campaign alone Barack Obama has proven his ability to awaken the American people from their political slumber and bring them back as active players in politics. He has rescued young people out of resignation and indifference by galvanizing young voters who have come out in unprecedented numbers to cast their vote in support for him. He has attracted more independent and Republican voters than any of the Democratic candidates. Currently all polls say that he is the candidate with the greatest chance of beating the likely Republican nominee, John McCain. And, he has made the single statement that really amounts to a paradigm shift in American politics – “Of course I will talk to my enemies.”

At the end of the day, and on day one, it’s not only about knowing what you’re doing, it’s also – and maybe much more so – about being right at what you’re doing.