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The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

Clinton vs Feminism

By The Daily Dish
May 2 2008, 4:30 AM ET

Kudos to Betsy Reed for calling it like it is:

What is most troubling--and what has the most serious implications for the feminist movement--is that the Clinton campaign has used her rival's race against him. In the name of demonstrating her superior "electability," she and her surrogates have invoked the racist and sexist playbook of the right--in which swaggering macho cowboys are entrusted to defend the country--seeking to define Obama as too black, too foreign, too different to be President at a moment of high anxiety about national security. This subtly but distinctly racialized political strategy did not create the media feeding frenzy around the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that is now weighing Obama down, but it has positioned Clinton to take advantage of the opportunities the controversy has presented. And the Clinton campaign's use of this strategy has many nonwhite and nonmainstream feminists crying foul.

The Clintons may end up not just losing this race, but their reputation among liberal Democrats as well.



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