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The discrimination two-step

Feb 29th, 2008 by Taylor Armerding

As we continue to stagger through the endless presidential campaign, there are certain rules emerging that are both rigid and flexible:
It’s OK to vote for Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman - there are hundreds, if not thousands, of news reports out there quoting people who express excitement at “finally” having the chance to elect a female president, and those people are never accused of being sexist.
But it is not OK to vote against her because she is a woman. In that case, you’re guilty of unpardonable sexism.
Same for race. While Barack Obama has made a commendable rhetorical effort to get beyond the politics of racial identity, saying that there is not a Black America, a White America, a Latino America or Asian America, but only the United States of America, the reality “on the ground,” as they say, is different. News reports on the string of primary elections constantly refer to Obama’s overwhelming support from black voters, and there is never an eyebrow raised about whether this might reflect racism, prejudice or discrimination.
But say you intend to vote against Obama because he is black, and you are guilty of pernicious racism.
And then there age, as in John McCain and, uh, well, his “longevity.” Seems that in his case, it’s OK to vote for him because you agree with his principles and philosophy, but it’s also perfectly OK to vote against him just because he’s old. Of course, the age remarks are generally cloaked in euphemisms. Things like, “He represents the past.” Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean, in a speech, said the Republican nominee “looks like the 1950s and talks like the 1850s.” This was a twofer - it let him criticize McCain simply for being white and male, and also reminded voters that McCain has been eligible for the AARP for more years than some young voters have been alive.
I guess if leading Democrats are doing it, age discrimination is OK.
But how can you root out discrimination when it’s such a moving target?

Posted in Presidential race, Taylor Armerding | Comments

  • michael cook
    Touche, Mr. Armerding.
    You've once again hit a pretty big nail on the head.
    I'm a liberal Democrat who's as tired of all this "identity politics" as many conservatives are.
    I don't support Hillary Clinton, but it's not because she's a woman, but because she put her own career interests ahead of the nation's interests out of fear of being smeared as "unpatriotic" and "soft on terror" by the Rovian, GOP slime machine and voted for the Bushies march of folly in Iraq.
    She enabled them, with her vote on Iraq, to drop the very legitimate ball in Afghanistan to pursue the Bush/Hussein family feud in Iraq.
    The world is now paying a very heavy price, from Palestine to Pakistan, for the Bushies' invasion and Hillary's enabling of it.
    And still, she won't say her vote was a mistake.
    That's why I don't support her. It has nothing to do with her gender.
    Likewise, I am supporting Barack Obama, not because he is a mulatto, oops, did I say that? I meant mixed race, but because he opposed this fiasco in Iraq from the get go and he does seem to have the potential to bring a wide variety of people together. And that is something that's been lacking in this country for far too long.
    And finally, I disagree with John McCain on almost every domestic and economic issue he's taken a stand on. But i agree with him on one big issue, albeit perhaps for different reasons. That issue is Iraq.
    I don't believe for one minute troops are coming home from Iraq any time soon, no matter who becomes president in 2009.
    They can't. It matters not a whit the invasion should never have happened, it did.
    the Bushies and their bipartisan enablers in Congress created a power vacuum in Iraq and opened a Pandora's Box that threatens the entire region.
    Lest anyone doubt what I'm saying, just look at the current situation in pakistan.
    Troops aren't coming home ANYTIME soon, in fact, I'd bet troop numbers are going to increase throughout the region.
    John Mccain has the guts to tell the American people those hard truths. To date, Hillary and barack have not, even though I believe they know it to be the case. To do so would irritate and alienate the all important ultra left base of the Democratic party when its support is essential to any candidate vying in the primaries.
    That said, I'm not going to vote for John McCain because of his domestic and economic policies, not because of his age.
    Age, gender, and race, are really, or should be, non-issues.
    It is the ISSUES that should determine how we choose our candidates.
    As the first decade of the 21st approaches its end, identity politics should be as passe as the BeeGees, Olivia Newton John, and Happy Days.
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