While the country waits to hear what Hillary Clinton will do next, I am wondering how her experience as a woman presidential candidate has affected other women in the United States. Specifically,
- Are more women registered to vote, and did Clinton’s campaign bring more women into the political process?
- Will her example lead to more women pursuing — and obtaining — elected office? Currently, 16 percent of Congress, 24 percent of statewide executives, and 24 percent of state legislators are women.
- Do Clinton’s efforts prove that America has overcome the social and cultural obstacles that have previously kept women (and black men) from pursuing the nomination for “leader of the free world”?
- Or, conversely, has her candidacy shown how pervasive and acceptable sexism still is (especially in the media)?
- What does Clinton’s run signal to today’s feminists?
What do you think?
3 important points:
1. Paper trail and valid voting machines are the single most important thing in the election.
2. Our food supply is in jeopardy because of strong pesticide companies. I was for Hillary (as VP) until I learned she is on the board of Monsanto which is buying up seeds throughout the world and genetically modifying them so they will not germinate unless used with Monsanto products.
3. Colony collapse disorder. I am afraid of losing our bees. I’m afraid pesticides are part of the problem. I am afraid of the nicotinoids being produced today and genetically modified seeds–that they are partially to blame for weakening our bees sense of direction.
I think AAUW members need to be aware of these issues.
In the last presidential election, more than 122 million Americans voted. The Upside: Actually a larger number than voted for America Idol, thank goodness! The Downside: Only approximately 61% of the population who were eligible to vote in 2004.
Voter Turnout in Recent U.S. Presidential Election Years
2004 122,265,430 60.7
2000 105,399,313 54.3
1996 96,277,634 51.5
1992 104,428,377 58.1
1988 91,594,805 53.1
1984 92,653,000 56.0
1980 86,497,000 54.7
1976 81,603,000 55.1
1972 77,625,000 56.6
Source: Committee for the Study of the American Electorate
One recent blog put the presidential primary election in perspective for me. Over 99.7 MILLION VOTES were cast for the new American Idol. What percentage of Americans — female or male — even bothered to turn out to cast a vote for president? Says a lot about this country, doesn’t it?
I’m afraid I have to agree with your statement that Clinton’s candidacy does show how pervasive and acceptable sexism still is today – as does Obama’s campaign show that racism is continues to exist. The extent of this is shown only too well in the comment section of news articles or blogs where some opinions being expressed are truly frightening in their extreme bigotry.
It could be that one of the positives of this particular presidential race is that we are made aware of how much work still needs to be done to overcome this negativism.