Friday, June 06, 2008

The Clintstones

Realclearpolitics links to a good summary in The Economist of why Hillary Clinton went down.

Judith Warner is acute on sexism and the zeitgeist, but Chrystia Freeland is still right (Hillary Clinton's real lesson for women):
feminists need not be too heartbroken at their heroine's loss. The truth – and it is one worth remembering this week as paeans to Mrs Clinton's stalwart campaigning come pouring in – is that the New York senator was always an imperfect standard-bearer for the cause of female advancement in the US. Even her harshest critics admit she is smart, tough, disciplined and incredibly hard-working – but none of those sterling qualities negates the biographical fact that the US's first credible female contender for the White House owes her national political career to marrying the right guy.

In using her marriage – notably her eight years as first lady, which was often invoked as evidence that she would be "ready on day one" – as her launch pad, Mrs Clinton has more in common with the wives and daughters who inherited high office in dynasty-friendly regimes in south-east Asia and Latin America. It contrasts with leaders such as Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher, who were elected to run Group of Seven high-income countries under their own steam.

No comments: