I am a Independent woman voter who leans Democratic, and a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton. Recently there seems to be a lot of attention paid to the fact that women supporters of Hillary Clinton are genuinely angry and upset regarding the blatant sexism that she has been subjected to during this campaign.
Most people who do not support her for President, and few who do appear to agree that there has been sexism, but then they go on to argue that despite hard feelings on our part, we would be stupid to consider voting for John Macain because of his support for pro life Supreme Court justices.
Before I give my thoughts on this argument, let me say that this statement is likely to make matters worse. It in some way implies that not only are women not supposed to feel mad about the sexism, but are supposed to suck it up, shut up and vote for the greater good.
I believe that Hillary's candidacy for President, has brought about a tremendous upsurge in activism among women who support Hillary. Many of us, including myself, have become much more aware of our own ability to impact political process in this country for the first time. We have become aware of the power of our voice, individual as well as collective, largely due to the internet. We have been inspired by Hillary's ability to not give up in the face of a cacophony of voices asking her to get out of the race. We have been inspired by her belief in herself and her ability to to be true to herself and her supporters.
I believe that this new activism that has been inspired by Hillary's candidacy will impact the political process in this country for generations to come. Our young daughters and sons who watch us and get familiar with the activism will continue this in the next generation.
Do you think that once awakened to the power of this awesome process, we are going to make a decision based on anything other than our own independent judgement regarding whom to vote for in the GE?
Do you think attempting to scare us with the possibility of Supreme Court Justices who are pro choice is going to make us vote for someone who we do not believe is ready to be President at this time?
THe best way forward is to let the process play out. If Barack Obama is the nominee, and the process has been fair, Hillary Supporters will begin the process of assessing each candidate on his own merit and will make an independent judgement of who is best in terms of keeping the country safe, in terms of making the right decisions for the economy, health care and Supreme COurt Justices. My suggestion is that neither candidate should take our vote for granted, but shoudl work hard at earning our votes.
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