Last night, the 'Presumptive Nominee' lost the West Virginia Democratic primary by 41 points. Hillary Rodham Clinton won 67% of the votes, Obama claimed 26%. She won by a landslide, but as we know the media continues to proclaim the race over. But still she continues.
You would have to be an absolute fool not to recognize the awesome courage of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Or you might be someone who only recognizes courage when it can be best described as manly.
Like the other states, West Virginia saw a pronounced gender gap in the preferences of voters.
Hillary won 73% of the female vote and 60% of the male vote for a gender gap of 13 points. That puts West Virginia in the same league with states like California and Massachusetts. Both these states saw gender gaps of 14 points.
It is a testimony to the low status of women in this country that the media narratives revolve relentlessly around race and class. Rarely do they recall the gendered dimension of an election involving the first woman in the nation's history to have a shot at the presidency. We had a race speech, and the nation patted itself on the back. We didn't have a gender speech because it would be just one more opportunity for the boys to jeer, ridicule, and laugh at Hillary for daring to play the gender card.
It's painfully evident that the feminist dream of putting a woman into the White House as something other than somebody's wife is not exactly the cherished dream of the boys in charge of the media. Nor is it the dream of those in charge of the Democratic Party. They didn't want us to win the right to vote either.
Women are the majority of the electorate nationwide. In West Virginia 55% of voters were women, 45% were men. Other states have seen greater gaps in the number of male and female voters. In Massachusetts, the total number of women voters was 58% compared to 42% male. In California, that was 54% female and 46% male.
With numbers like these, one might think that the first woman in the history of the nation to have a shot at the presidency would get a little respect. Obviously, one would be a fool to think that. The worst crime of all is the silence. Those who have the power to speak out against the misogyny, against the national pastime of belittling and ridiculing and hating the woman candidate - in ways that are never done to men - are silent. Barack Obama, as the number one beneficiary of the misogyny, is the guiltiest of all.
Politics as a majority male sport sucks. It is crude, rude and hateful. It is just like MSNBC. It is a politics that lives with outrages like misogyny and outrages like a filthy rich nation boasting the highest child poverty rate in the industrialized world.
Hillary has not given up. Until she does, I won't either. Contribute to Hillary's historic campaign.
"No one sex can govern alone. I believe that one of the reasons why civilization has failed so lamentably is that is had one-sided government. . . Women have got to make the world safe for men since men have made it so darned unsafe for women. "
-- Nancy Astor
AP: Maybe Obama Should Worry
TalkLeft: Hillary Picks Up Tenn. Superdelegate After W. VA Win
TalkLeft: Hillary's Win Grows in West Virginia
Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Democratic Primary News Race Gender Class West Virginia Kentucky Oregon Media Bias Sexist News Feminist Backlash Misogyny Politics
