I am definitely one of the women in this piece. And the Clinton campaign's claim that it's the "obama media barrage" is total bullshit, because I don't see Obama commericials, or Hillary ones for that matter, here. This is how it happened for me too. And it was a terrible disappointment for a long time. It was made much worse for white women like me, by the unrelenting, blatant misogyny coming from the punditry. And from here. It's hard to turn your back on that fight when you know it's your fight too. It's like having divided loyalties.
But she went too far, and then once she did, she was so revealed that there can never be any going back for women like me. Women who can't embrace racism because they want to fight sexism. So you just walk away, and say that you'll fight that fight another day, with another woman. This isn't the one.
White women begin to turn away from Hillary Clinton
David Lightman * McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: April 13, 2008 08:14:00 PM
LEVITTOWN, Pa. — Like many women over 50, Paula Houwen was eager to vote for Hillary Clinton for president.
"I was impressed when she was first lady. She wasn't the country's trophy wife," the 56-year-old suburban Philadelphia pharmacist recalled.
Today, though, Houwen's no longer a Clinton fan.
"I do not like the way Hillary Clinton has run her campaign," she said.
Clinton's strongest core of support — white women — is beginning to erode in Pennsylvania, the site of the critical April 22 Democratic presidential primary, and a loss here could effectively end her White House run.
A Quinnipiac University survey taken April 3-6 in Pennsylvania found that Clinton's support fell 6 percentage points in a week among white women. Nationally, a Lifetime Networks poll of women found that 26 percent said they liked Clinton less now than in January, while only 15 percent said they liked her more.
"These are Democratic women who waited all their lives for a woman president, but Hillary is not turning them on," said polling analyst Clay Richards.
The Clinton campaign is aware of the danger, and last week it began dispatching friends of Clinton from New York, Washington and elsewhere to key Pennsylvania communities to have "living room chats" with women.
"We thought this might happen," senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis said of the erosion. A key reason, she said, is rival Barack Obama's ad barrage, notably his gentle but persistent reminders to TV viewers that he's well-equipped to heal the ailing economy.
"I can't overcome the media barrage, so we need to go back to talking to people about their personal concerns," said Lewis, "and emphasizing her experience."
Economic concerns are at the top of most women's lists, and "Obama is coming across to more and more people as qualified on that issue," Richards said.
Interviews in suburban Philadelphia, an area full of swing voters who are likely to determine the outcome of the primary, found other reasons for Clinton's shaky support.
A lot of white women, and for that matter white men, want the race to end and increasingly consider Obama an acceptable nominee.
"There may be a general, reluctant acceptance that things just don't look that good for Clinton," said Susan Carroll, a professor of political science and women's and gender studies at Rutgers University.
The most familiar echo among many Pennsylvania women when they discuss Clinton, however, is disappointment. Ask them when they became disillusioned with the woman who would be president, and they can cite almost the exact moment.
For Clare Howard, a meditation teacher from Southhampton, it was the night in January when Bill Clinton suggested that Obama did well in the South Carolina primary because of his race.
That went too far, said Howard, 60. "It was like they would do anything to win," she said.
Joan Schmidt, 60, a school psychologist in Levittown, grew tired of hearing Clinton tout — and exaggerate — her experience.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/33411.html
But she went too far, and then once she did, she was so revealed that there can never be any going back for women like me. Women who can't embrace racism because they want to fight sexism. So you just walk away, and say that you'll fight that fight another day, with another woman. This isn't the one.
White women begin to turn away from Hillary Clinton
David Lightman * McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: April 13, 2008 08:14:00 PM
LEVITTOWN, Pa. — Like many women over 50, Paula Houwen was eager to vote for Hillary Clinton for president.
"I was impressed when she was first lady. She wasn't the country's trophy wife," the 56-year-old suburban Philadelphia pharmacist recalled.
Today, though, Houwen's no longer a Clinton fan.
"I do not like the way Hillary Clinton has run her campaign," she said.
Clinton's strongest core of support — white women — is beginning to erode in Pennsylvania, the site of the critical April 22 Democratic presidential primary, and a loss here could effectively end her White House run.
A Quinnipiac University survey taken April 3-6 in Pennsylvania found that Clinton's support fell 6 percentage points in a week among white women. Nationally, a Lifetime Networks poll of women found that 26 percent said they liked Clinton less now than in January, while only 15 percent said they liked her more.
"These are Democratic women who waited all their lives for a woman president, but Hillary is not turning them on," said polling analyst Clay Richards.
The Clinton campaign is aware of the danger, and last week it began dispatching friends of Clinton from New York, Washington and elsewhere to key Pennsylvania communities to have "living room chats" with women.
"We thought this might happen," senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis said of the erosion. A key reason, she said, is rival Barack Obama's ad barrage, notably his gentle but persistent reminders to TV viewers that he's well-equipped to heal the ailing economy.
"I can't overcome the media barrage, so we need to go back to talking to people about their personal concerns," said Lewis, "and emphasizing her experience."
Economic concerns are at the top of most women's lists, and "Obama is coming across to more and more people as qualified on that issue," Richards said.
Interviews in suburban Philadelphia, an area full of swing voters who are likely to determine the outcome of the primary, found other reasons for Clinton's shaky support.
A lot of white women, and for that matter white men, want the race to end and increasingly consider Obama an acceptable nominee.
"There may be a general, reluctant acceptance that things just don't look that good for Clinton," said Susan Carroll, a professor of political science and women's and gender studies at Rutgers University.
The most familiar echo among many Pennsylvania women when they discuss Clinton, however, is disappointment. Ask them when they became disillusioned with the woman who would be president, and they can cite almost the exact moment.
For Clare Howard, a meditation teacher from Southhampton, it was the night in January when Bill Clinton suggested that Obama did well in the South Carolina primary because of his race.
That went too far, said Howard, 60. "It was like they would do anything to win," she said.
Joan Schmidt, 60, a school psychologist in Levittown, grew tired of hearing Clinton tout — and exaggerate — her experience.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/33411.html
