By Toma Lynn Smith
As an African-American woman who is a democrat and a feminist, this year’s democratic presidential hopefuls couldn’t be more fitting. I was proud that Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus but ashamed that Hillary Rodham Clinton won the New Hampshire primary.
I am ashamed because I have witnessed the power of recent political female figures like former and present U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice and others such as former Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor. These figures have endurance. Throughout the history I know of, I never saw or heard of them doing what Mrs. Clinton did in public: cry.
On January 7, Mrs. Clinton lightly came to tears during a public forum when someone asked her, “How she does it,” regarding her bid to run for president.
This action is not a good trait to display if one wishes to be the next Commander in Chief. I understand her loss in Iowa may have been a blow to her and her campaign, especially coming in third. But one of the desirable traits in a leader is strength. Crying is a sign of weakness (that’s debatable) and too much of a stereotypical commonality among women when the going gets tough.
As the viewers who saw this, are we to think it’s just menopause or worse, a plea to get votes from women? Regarding the New Hampshire Primary, CNN stated that, Clinton also claimed the majority of women’s votes, according to the polling. That’s in contrast to last week’s Iowa caucuses, in which Obama surprised observers by stealing the female vote from Clinton.
I guess all politicians have their tactics, but I would like to think she wouldn’t stoop that low. But I did watch Michael Moore’s latest documentary, “Sicko” regarding health care and health insurance in America. A small part showed how Mrs. Clinton’s goal was to reform health care when her husband gave her the job to do so. She got much applause for taking on this duty and offered hope to U.S. health care recipients.
That fizzled after she was given a nice sum of cash from a major health care company and many like them have contributed to her campaign.
But if Hillary wishes to be the first skirt-wearing president, showing that much emotion (rather real or not) is not the way to go about doing it.
