Man, this week's presidential race took some surprising twists and turns. New Hampshire, which seemed to be leaning toward Barak Obama, went for Hillary Clinton. All the pundits seem to be saying that the reason she won is because of her now-famous "tearing up" the other day.If you haven't seen it, you can certainly find the clip on YouTube or any news outlet. I'm not going to run it here. But, here's what I saw. I saw an exhausted, frustrated woman who got emotional and momentarily dropped her professional wall in public. I recognized so much of myself in this moment. There have been many times in the workplace where I have teared up when I least expected it, and gotten emotional when it was MOST inconvenient. It's happened more times than I care to admit.
Considering all the times Hillary has had cameras in her face, I'm actually surprised it took her this long for a small crack in her facade to appear. For 15 years, she has had every iota of her personal life questioned and inspected. In my view, Hillary is MORE than entitled to a moment like this.
Most interestingly, I cannot recall a political question (small though this may be) on which my husband and I disagreed. Bob saw Hillary get emotional and stopped taking her seriously as a candidate. While I don't want to characterize his take on this totally, I think he was a little surprised that I - basically an Obama supporter - could even relate to Hillary in that moment. The thing is, women have those kinds of moments ALL THE TIME. It's who we are - we get emotional, we share our feelings, we vent and we move on. In no way do I think this disqualifies a woman for the presidency because any woman who didn't have these types of emotions would be abnormal.
Just consider, if you will, a moment where one of the male candidates gets emotional. It could be Mitt Romney discussing his religion, or John Edwards talking about his late teenaged son, or Barak Obama discussing what it means to be a black man running for the White House. Picture them tearing up while talking to the press. What would that tell you about them? Try to apply the same thought process to the woman candidate. And, also, try to imagine your wife, your daughter, your niece getting the shit figuratively beat out of her every day at work. She's entitled to get verklempt once in a while, right?
So, guys, I hope you'll get used to it because one day - whether you are ready or not - a woman is going to be in the Oval Office. And the world will be better for it.
PS: I'm still voting for Barak. ;)
14 comments:
\\In no way do I think this disqualifies a woman for the presidency because any woman who didn't have these types of emotions would be abnormal.//
DAMN STRAIGHT!! I totally agree. I mean when a man in a political debate gets all angry and does his best testosterone inyourface antics...why doesn't the public think that's not professional or makes them a lesser candidate.
Emotions are good. Venting emotions is better. For her to only show them now...after all she's been through. I'm impressed.
and i heard your P.S. :)
Real men don't cry.
KIDDING!
Not to nitpick... Who am I kidding? It I couldn't pick nits, I'd have no life at all! It's Barack, isn't it?
You lot could end up choosing between three typos (Barack/Barrack, Hillary/Hilary and Huckabee/Huckaby).
For what it's worth, I thought Hillary's tearing up was genuine and way overdue, given what she's had to put up with/put herself through over the years.
Horshamscouse, it must be interesting watching this circus from your position. How is Barack (YES, YOU'RE RIGHT!) being covered internationally? When I was in Scotland, he was the one candidate people asked me about.
Ted, we're going to bring you into the 21st century if we have to drag you by your....collar.
Tex, I knew I could count on you, my friend! I think we see a lot of this in a similar way.
Thanks for the comments, as always, folks!
Ok my girlfriends....I haven't quite jumped on the Barak Bandwagon... Yes, Hillary is human and it's long overdue! I could certainly relate. What made me chuckle out loud is when you said Bob stopped taking her seriously as a candidate. I can picture this physically in my head hear in y'all ville! My vote is still for Hillary!
Monkey Girl!!!!
How the hell are you, woman? So, you're for Hillary, I don't think I knew that. The good news is that we have 3 exceptional candidates in the Democratic party, any of whom can take on the stumblebums in the GOP.
:)
Who is the other person in your house pulling for?
BTW, the "Ted" above is not your former boss, of course! He's a neighbor of yours in Gibsonville, NC. Say hi to him at his blog "Red Sox Dad" linked on my page.
//Ted, we're going to bring you into the 21st century if we have to drag you by your....collar.//
NEVER!
Just wanted to say this. With a daughter I adore, nothing would make me happier than one day there actually is a woman president. Just not Mrs. Clinton.
I'm not really a male chauvanist pig; I just play one on TV.
//Just not Mrs. Clinton.//
Gotcha! We are in agreement, my friend.
Hi. I knew Ted wasn't the Ted I knew! My better half is pulling for Hillary right now too - but we're for anything that removes the current sloth from the White House!
Ted can't help it. he has that disease...what do ya call it?
footinyourmouth?
Never been a fan of Hillary, but I couldn't agree more with this:
//It's who we are - we get emotional, we share our feelings, we vent and we move on. In no way do I think this disqualifies a woman for the presidency because any woman who didn't have these types of emotions would be abnormal.//
I'm unfortunately a very easy crier, because I cry not only in sadness but out of frustration, anger, empathy and joy. While I wish I could reign it in at times, I don't believe anyone should be judged less capable or "tough" just because they can wall up their emotions.
I was watching the news the day that happened, and was pleasantly surprised to hear a man say he APPRECIATED her show of emotion, and it almost made him switch his vote from Obama. Almost.
Maybe if more people cried openly we'd go to war less often. Of course, maybe I'm a closet hippie. :)
I appreciate her show of emotion, but it's not enough to make me want to change my vote for her.
However it was comical to see the Daily Show rip on Fox News on how they exaggerated it to seem like she had an emotional breakdown.
But yeah, I'd like to see more politicians let their wall of professionalism down to see a more human side every now and then.
Yes I do, Tex. In a BIG way. It's all right though. I make up for it by being so adorable. ;)
//Of course, maybe I'm a closet hippie. :)//
Hmmmm...yes, that explains it! :-)
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