Hillary’s victory merits moment of reflection
There was pride in Hillary Clinton’s voice as she gave what amounted to an acceptance speech Tuesday night. By dominating the polls in New Jersey then California, she had done something no other woman in American history had done – broken through the glass ceiling and unofficially claimed the nomination for president of the United States.
This is less about politics than history. The bigger prize is the presidency. But win or lose in November, she will forever be the first woman nominated for president with a legitimate chance to win.
Having a woman in the Oval Office is overdue. Women have been voting since 1920, and the notion there haven’t been any capable of leading this nation is ludicrous. After all, women have led many of the world’s great democracies, and led them well. Anyone want to suggest Golda Meir wasn’t tough enough to lead Israel? Was Margaret Thatcher – known either as the Iron Lady or Attila the Hen – incapable of leading Great Britain out of recession?
Many assumed power knowing danger awaited. India’s Indira Gandhi was killed in office; Benazir Bhutto was gunned down while preparing a campaign for a third term as Pakistan’s prime minister. Yet, the list of nations led by women today is long, including countries great and small – Germany, Liberia, Norway, Chile, Bangladesh, Croatia, Poland, the Bahamas, many more.
Does gender really matter? Yes. California’s women’s legislative caucus led the fight for the strongest pay-equity law in the nation. Women are at the forefront of better family leave policies for all parents. Women are more involved in partnering with law enforcement to fight the sex trade. And considering the outrage over the six-month jail sentence given a Stanford swimmer for sexual assault, that’s something the next generation of women is unlikely to tolerate. But that next generation needs role models; now they’ve got one.
Only someone as tough, as fierce, as tenacious, as undaunted as Hillary Clinton could make it this far.
No doubt, millions of voters can’t stand her. They vilify her with epithets of swindler, enabler, liar. They’ve tarred her with accusations about Travelgate, Whitewater, the death of Vince Foster and the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi. They ridicule her for an exaggeration about being fired on in Bosnia. They accuse her of treachery for having her own email server. They’ve even dredged up recollections of a former co-worker that he fired her for unethical conduct.
Like virtually every item on this list, that story has been debunked. And about Benghazi, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield even admitted on national TV the investigations were kept alive for political purposes.
All this Hillary hatred is predictable. It happened to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. They’re American heroes now, but all were vilified in their time. Clinton doesn’t belong in league with those names. Not yet. Maybe never. We hear constantly that “her negatives” are off the chart ... if only the Republicans had nominated a more electable candidate ... she’ll be indicted.
But don’t count on any of that derailing this groundbreaking candidacy. After three decades of constant scrutiny, of having every move and motive questioned, there is little we don’t know about Hillary Clinton.
Win or lose, all Americans – but especially American women – will have this moment to savor; the moment a woman got within one election of the presidency.
Someday, that will be no big deal. Someday, it won’t even be worthy of comment. That someday isn’t today.
This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Hillary’s victory merits moment of reflection."