I have been against Hillary being the nomination ever since it was first proposed. It wasn't about gender, it was about having a Clinton dynasty perpetuate itself (which is no different in broad strokes than the Bush dynasty as the disasters associated with it's concentration of power).

Interestingly enough, many women are voting for Hillary because she is a woman.

Most of the comments I have heard for people voting against her center on her being Hillary Clinton.

At the end of the day, the sexism really seemed to come from the supporters.

You may want to inspire your daughter with the thought that the #2 person in line for the POTUS is already a woman -- Nancy Pelosi. That people stopped being hung up about *her* gender about a day after she became speaker said much more for a gender-neutral society than Hillary's run for president.

You and your daughter should be thanking a number of other women who proved the fairer sex was capable of serving not only in government, but the military, in higher education, in religion, in science and medicine and music and the arts.

You might want to thank Sen. Margaret Chase Smith Republican of Maine. For years she was the only woman in the Senate. You might not have liked her husband's politics, but gee... Lurleen Wallace served as governor of Alabama when black folks were still having a real hard time just being able to vote. That took some real political chutzpah: to run in order to exploit a loophole and give your husband another term. You could offer thanks to Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas who was the first woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic convention. Not to mention she was also an African American. As was Rep. Shirley Chisholm, who ran an anti-Vietnam war campaign at a time when it wasn't all that popular.

I know you have strong feelings about Hillary, but there are plenty more women who blazed trails on both sides of the aisle in politics. How about Dianne Feinstein? From city supervisor to Mayor of San Francisco. Do you remember when Supervisor Harvey Milk was killed? It was Dianne Feinstein who told the nation about it. Elizabeth "Liddy" Dole ran for President as a Republican. So did Kay Bailey Hutchison and Bay Buchanan.

The point is there are a lot more women who did more to open doors, smash the so-called "glass ceiling" than Hillary has done. She's not the first and will not be the last. She's just one of many. Like many, she has a political husband to thank for getting her into politics in the first place.

Say your thanks, but don't forget the thousands of other women who blazed the trail long before her. Hillary didn't accomplish anything today without their help and hard work yesterday.

Thanks for your comments MassDem. It is worth reminding ourselves how transformational Senator Clinton's candidacy has been, though like all path breakers (Obama included), she herself has had trouble living up to her ideals.

My daughter was the one who emphasized the dynasty part--she thought it would be really weird (and not in a good way) that we would have potentially 28 years of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. She thought we were due for some other family!

I had the Hobbes avatar first. BLEH

Thankyou is in order.
Not only has she raised the bar for my Daughters but she has also toughened Obama up for the fight he's entering.
Obama deserves a big thankyou as well, he has smashed all previous paradigms in connection with AA politics. The Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton mold has been shattered & that's also a good thing. So even though it has been a nerve racking experience, it does seem to be coming to a peaceful end & we will be stronger for it. Peace.

More to the point, Michelle and Barack and you and millions of others won't have to "make sure" that their daughters don't forget. After this, it will be taken for granted that women can run for (and certainly will become) president.

I was born in 1975. No one needs to remind me that man has walked on the moon. I take it for granted. As far as my experience is concerned, man has ALWAYS walked on the moon.

For children born today, no one will need to remind them that a woman can become president. As far as their experience is concerned, women have ALWAYS been able to become president.

While I certainly appreciate the message you're preaching, I have issue with it because I don't really think Hillary Clinton got to where she is on her own merits. Would she have done as well if she was not Hillary Clinton, former First Lady to President Bill Clinton, a revered Democratic President? I have huge doubts. I don't consider her a truly viable candidate because of that, so I can't really say her success (comparable to other women who have ran for President in the past) is truly a huge step forward. Is it a step forward, though? Sure. Just not a giant leap like many people would have us believe.

I'm sure you have heard this before, but it seems to require reiterating frequently. Please base your vote on the candidate and what he/she stands for - not based on what bloggers, media pundits, and other random "supporters" say. If you truly feel that Obama or his immediate campaign has participated or promoted the "slings and arrows" (outside of legitimate political wrangling) then I suppose this argument will not sway you. I challenge you, however, to produce an example of Obama denigrating Clinton for her gender or behaving in a low-class way to her. He is the candidate - not anonymous blog dwellers. Do you honestly believe that John McCain is the better candidate on women’s issues?

A fair observation.

In line with that...

I watched HRC's new South Dakota ad.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Clinton_Responsibility.html

It made me really sad for what her campaign could have been. It might not have changed me from a supporter of Obama. But had she taken the approach reflected in this ad, it would have made me far more open to a joint ticket.

"Perhaps I am suggesting that you give Hillary Clinton far too much credit for improving political opportunities for women, when there are some of us who might make a compelling case that she has done (and continues to do) more damage."

Exactly. I hope, as with post-childbirth, we eventually forget all the PAIN she has caused so that we might welcome another woman running for President.

All credit is due to Hillary Clinton for her accomplishment, my opposition to her and husband notwithstanding. She indeed touched if not broke the glass ceiling and that is an accomplishment. Whether she did it in an admirable way should be a topic for another thread.

But in all fairness we also need to recognize other women who became heads of state in the past, some with less help from their husbands: Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher come to mind. These women broke glass ceilings too, and it is not as if they did not in important ways help Hillary.

In some real ways, Hillary was standing on the shoulders of these women. It might have been nice if during the campaign she acknowledged her debt to them.