HILLARY'S MOMMY PROBLEM: Now that Hillary's announced, the media will surely start wondering how her gender will affect her electoral prospects. I think some interesting clues are in my Campus Progress colleague Dana Goldstein's Prospect web piece from Friday. Dana argues that female politicians like Hillary and Nancy Pelosi may actually pay a price for presenting themselves as mothers, as on the cover of Hillary's recently re-released book It Takes a Village. As Dana points out, voters currently rate terrorism, Iraq and the economy as primary concerns. Would they entrust a person who claims caring for children is one of their primary acheivements, as opposed to, say, winning a war, with the presidency at a time like that? I think Dana is right to argue that the Democrats' "mommy party" image may continue to be a liablitiy in '08 and it is not one that their candidates, especially female one should play into. But I think Dana is wrong to assume that the mommy party stereotype is always a negative one. When Chris Matthews invented the mommy and daddy party dichotomy in the 1980's it was simply descriptive, not a normative judgment. During wartime the mommy party is clearly at a disadvantage. But in 1992, Bill "I feel your pain" Clinton, won on a classic mommy party platform. Of course, women in politics may have an extra incentive to avoid the label. In any case, it certainly seems like a bad strategy for Hillary in '08. Another interesting question is how much sexism Hillary will face regardless of her campaign style. Dana cites "According to a December Newsweek poll, 86 percent of Americans say they would vote for a female presidential candidate, but only 55 percent believe the nation as a whole is 'ready' for a woman president, suggesting some ambivalence." I think those numbers suggest more than ambivalence, maybe even outright hostility. 86 percent is lower than the proportion of Americans who typically claim that they'd vote for a black or a Jew. And more people claim they would vote for a member of a disadvantaged group than actually will. I think the 55 percent saying the country is ready is more telling--and it's very striking. All the more reason Hillary should not try to further feminize herself as a candidate.
--Ben Adler
