I missed this Palin/Clinton Saturday Night Live skit. Absolutely brilliant, spot-on performances by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. I’m still not sure what a flurge is. Anyone?
I had no interest in history or politics when I was a kid. From the time I was a little girl, the only history I was interested in was European history. They had queens and princesses there. American history was about men and I wasn’t a boy, so why should I care about history? I never believed a woman could be president. Hell, I was told a woman could never be president. Which meant I could never be president.
So why should I care?
Regardless of how you feel about Hillary, her politics, her husband or her hair, you know what? There are a lot of little girls who now believe they might be able to be president. President of the United States of America. That’s just amazing to me. It almost makes me want to cry. (But then the media would jump all over me and say I’m just a weak, emotional girl.)
I really like this Presidential Candidate Selector. It covers all the issues, both big and small, and really made me think about which ones are most important to me. I also realized that I’m not as up on all of the issues as I should be. I’m going to work on that. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what should be done about Iraq and let the other stuff slide by.
With an 84% match, it looks like Barack Obama is as close to the “Theoretical Ideal Candidate” as I can get. Funny, I thought it would be Hillary Clinton-- who came in at #7 with 74%. Still a strong showing, but now I want to evaluate why she didn’t score higher. Does this make me an Obama girl??
So, how about you? Who is your close-to-ideal candidate? Were you surprised by the results? Most importantly, are you well-informed about all of the issues?
I minored in History as an undergraduate, mostly because I had more credits in that subject than any other. I wasn’t particularly interested in history as a kid-- the history I knew was men’s history and my history books were filled with stories about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and the rest. Women’s history was relegated to those little boxes off in the sidebar about women like Betsy Ross, Dolly Madison and Martha Washington. Not exactly my idea of role models.
American History was written by men and about men and I had little interest in a subject that didn’t include someone who represented me as anything more than a seamstress or a first lady. I found European history to be more interesting-- at least the women got to be in charge sometimes! I was obsessed with Joan of Arc for a few years-- she was strong and independent, she was a soldier and a leader. She was also burned at the stake at eighteen, so there went my career aspirations as a woman warrior.
I have said for years that if a woman ever ran for president in this country I would vote for her, regardless of political party, because we need to set the precedent. I want to live in a country where a woman as president won’t be any bigger a deal than having a man as president. The only way to accomplish that is to get the first woman into the White House so she can hold the door open for other women. Given the current political climate, I could no longer in good conscience vote for just any woman presidential candidate. Condi wouldn’t get my vote, for instance. On the other hand, I have always said if Hillary Clinton ever ran for president, I’d back her. She’s smart, she’s experienced and her politics are to my liking.
Guess what? Hillary is running and she’s in it to win.
Hillary in 2008. Barack in 2016. That’s my dream.
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