Voting for someone like yourself
As an addendum to this I'd like to add my personal reflection on the recent Oregon primary.
I voted for Obama. So did my wife. But it wasn't until we received our ballots (Oregon is vote by mail) and sat down to fill them out that the magnitude of what was happening struck me. For the first time in both of our lives , we were voting for a presidential candidate that was NOT a white male. For the first time in both of our lives, we were voting for someone who was not like someone we have voted for before.
However, while this was the first time I was voting for someone different than myself (I am a white male), voting for someone different from herself was normal for my wife. This election provided her with the first chance to vote for someone who was like her (a white woman). And she had to make the decision not to do it.
There will be viable female presidential candidates in the future. Clinton's campaign makes that more likely. But I think it behooves us to consider just what Clinton supporting women have to give up when they let go of her candidacy.
I voted for Obama. So did my wife. But it wasn't until we received our ballots (Oregon is vote by mail) and sat down to fill them out that the magnitude of what was happening struck me. For the first time in both of our lives , we were voting for a presidential candidate that was NOT a white male. For the first time in both of our lives, we were voting for someone who was not like someone we have voted for before.
However, while this was the first time I was voting for someone different than myself (I am a white male), voting for someone different from herself was normal for my wife. This election provided her with the first chance to vote for someone who was like her (a white woman). And she had to make the decision not to do it.
There will be viable female presidential candidates in the future. Clinton's campaign makes that more likely. But I think it behooves us to consider just what Clinton supporting women have to give up when they let go of her candidacy.
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