Two TIME readers are already buying into the storyline predicted in this forum back in May: a loss for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will constitute a loss for women or blacks.
An Illinois man writes this week:
Clinton’s credentials are far superior to those of anyone else in the
pack. I consider her the U.S.’s best female public figure since Eleanor
Roosevelt. If she does not win her party’s nomination, it will be a
clear sign to the world that women’s equality is another cause America
preaches but does not practice.
A Florida man aims the blame gun at a narrower target:
What conservatives hate about Clinton is that she is a woman. It’s
nothing more than old-fashioned sexism. Equal rights have always been
anathema to them.
Prepare to see this storyline resurface if/when Clinton and Obama lose the primary and/or general election.
One cannot expect a person who expresses the ideas above to understand (or at least to admit) that a voter might well like to see a woman or black man (or black woman, for that matter) become president ? if that candidate shares the voter’s values and philosophy.
A vote for a candidate other than Clinton does not mean a vote against women. A vote for a candidate other than Obama does not mean a vote against blacks.
