In my first post for this blog in February, I enthusiastically and ardently supported and defended Hillary Rodham Clinton, a leading Democratic candidate for the US Presidency in the 2008 election. "She has the intellect, experience and ability to achieve these goals. 'Calculating' is not necessarily a bad trait, if she is calculating for the sake of the higher good...The U.S. and the world need her integrity and trust and respect." Now, I still support Hillary over all other candidates (probably with an exception of Dennis Kucinich), but my faith in her is dwindling, and for me not a single day passes without having some thoughts and temptations to switch my support to Barack Obama.
Around me, almost all of my left, liberal-minded friends support Barack Obama (or Kucinich, Nader. I haven't met a single Hillary supporter. I am confused and isolated; one day, the moment I pronounced my support for Hillary, my friend with an incredulous look quizzed me "how dare you support that warmonger corporate pupper, a right-winger in Democrat's clothes?". Yes, I was aware of her past ties to Wal-Mart, the Arkansas retail giant corrupted by horrendous sexism, racism and exploitation; also Murdoch's support for her. I read some of compelling leftist pieces of article criticising her for being too "moderate", or conservative, such as "Hillary Inc." and "Who is Hillary Clinton?" by renowned and admired Barbara Ehrenreich. It seems there are far more than enough reasons for me to convert to Obama, but one crucial factor has kept me from abandoning my support for her; feminism and misogyny.
My point is not that I simply support her only because of her gender. Obviously, voting for a female candidate doesn't always mean voting for feminism. I would have vehemently opposed Margaret Thatcher had I lived in the 80's Britain, and I would support almost anyone who's standing against Katherine Harris, the worst thief in history. (In contrast to these right-wing female politicians, Hillary's feminist credential is impeccable; even among left-wing few questions her commitment to feminism, demonstrated by her masterpiece 1995 speech.) But my concern is, why this hostility and anger against her? Aren't all these negative remarks about her partly prompted by hidden, insidious or even subconscious misogyny? Though the Right is much more sexist without a doubt, it is also naive to think that the Left is totally immune from misogyny. Were she male, would she have been criticised and slammed harshly and intensely as this? Doesn't abandoning my support for her, influenced by these criticisms of Hillary that might have been influenced by Patriarchy, mean submitting to, or tacitly cooperating to, the structures of Patriarchy that is the reason why more than 5 in 6 Representatives and Senators "lack ovaries". As this insightful article rightly points out, " Clinton's supporters also argue that women candidates are unfairly subjected to higher standards," and I never, ever wish to contribute to any form of misogyny by ceasing to support her.
I have always been an enthusiastic supporter of Obama; far more strongly than I supported Kerry in 2004 and Gore in 2000. However, I just can't desert her unless it is proven that Hillary isn't subjected to higher standards than other candidates because of her gender (that is, by credible liberal sources that criticise her). Any opinion (especially from Obama supporters) that might change my mind is welcome.
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