The Political Voices of Women

Here is a guest post from community member Marcella Peralta Simon – Are Democrats Getting What They Deserve?

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In the interests of full disclosure, I am a lifelong Democrat, having licked stamps for Johnson in 1964 as a tot, voting the first time for Jimmy Carter in 1976.

I watched the Hillary-Obama contest from the distant vantage point of Australia. I became increasingly disturbed by the dismissive, angry comments attacking Hillary and the Clintons by the press and bloggers. Equally disturbing was the near worship of Obama as a kind of political messiah. Nothing is scarier than someone with a messianic complex and I became worried. (I am just as scared by a “maverick” who takes risks and is hated by his own party).

Hillary has plenty of baggage but she also has substance and experience. But Democratic voters chose style over substance, the rock star over the school marm. In a culture obsessed by celebrity, this is not surprising.

As I came to understand Obama, I began to appreciate and admire him as a savvy, smart politician, much in the same vein as Bill Clinton. I feel comfortable with a good politician to solve problems that require policy interventions as one would want a good plumber to fix leaky pipes, not tear them up and leave the mess for the next generation to clean up.

However, now you see a new rock star, Sarah Palin, also light on resume and heavy on charisma brought in to counteract Obama. They both are inspirational speakers, come from relatively humble beginnings, and rose up through the ranks of local politics. Granted, Obama is better educated and more worldly, but when did America care so much about that?

The Republicans brought Sarah Palin in very cynically because they knew that people who have been put on pedestals can fall off with a slight nudge. And the Democrats by nominating Obama have left themselves wide open for such a tactic.