I am alternatively flummoxed and outraged when I hear or read articles that bash Hillary’s contributions during her public life, and particularly when they throw around Bill’s sexual indiscretions as part of her legacy. She isn’t Bill. Much of the “cultural correctness” litmus test of people in the public eye is as transactional as Trump’s behavior, immersed in the present without context or framework or history. Because I began a career in medicine in the late 1970’s, I experienced first hand discrimination and inappropriate sexual overtures, as did most women penetrating the professional domains of men. So Hillary is my contemporary. I know the battles she fought for credibility, recognition, fair financial remuneration. It pains me to see her entire career of public service taken down because she lost to Trump, because her message wasn’t a “meme”, crafted with celebrity charisma. She is smart, strategic, accomplished with a remarkable record in the Senate, and as Secretary of State. And why didn’t we vote for the person most qualified for President? I don’t get it. When you job search for senior level positions, recruiters scrutinize your experience, verify your academic credentials, vet how your experience will achieve the aims of the executive team. And yet we don’t apply similar due diligence to presidential candidates then elect them?
191
It is sad to acknowledge that Hillary's defeat was orchestrated by many women on the left and on the right. She was vilified and hated to the point that many were willing to vote for Trump the crazy or worked against her election. Holding your nose and trashing her endlessly, but does not count as supporting her. She was held to such a high standard even by women that she was constantly digging herself out of a hole and her messages supporting our better natures were ignored. Many women declare themselves the founders of a new sense of justice for their gender the claim to which is sacrificed by these same women trashing Hillary when she needed them most.
115
Hillary Clinton lost by very few votes in key states. Mistakes were made (messaging was too reactive, a misreading of Anglo-European women's sentiments e.g.). Most importantly, however, Democrats were outspent by Republicans and to a significant extent her campaign was the chief manager of the Democratic Party's dollars.
Hillary and her family will be just fine. She has plenty of resources at her disposal to work to support her vision of positive change for women, if she chooses to do so - and she does not need to be the public face of her investment. And we, women and men who care about justice will continue doing as we always do - whether or not there is a Democrat or a Republican in the White House.
Dwelling on these types of questions and the undying cult of the individual in US American politics are distractions. We need collective organizing for the redistribution of wealth and with that power.
26
Yes she’s smart, qualified for presidency, and hardworking. However, she did not do anything to ignite anything. She herself is a relic cut from a slightly better cloth than Trump when it comes to standing up against sexual assault. Bill Clinton has a worse track record than Trump when it comes to power driven sexual assault. Hilary has either turned a blind eye or shamed his accusers. She is not a hero to young women. She didn’t ignite anything.
55
In search for a perfect woman we voted for the most imperfect man to be the President.
121
Why did Mrs. Clinton not sweep the Electoral College?
She said (I am sorry I don't remember the exact wording, but ...) "We will fight for your right to have an abortion!" and that made my livelong, Democratic stomach turn. Is that the noblest goal of the Democratic Party? In my humble belief, this is why she lost.
Let's fight for abused women, support them and give them resources and options, before the morally unacceptable option of abortion becomes the only apparent solution.
Let's try to prevent the need for abortion with all of our might!
15
The Republicans fought against every effort to validate the Russian hacking and electoral college victories in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The 2016 election was stolen.
69
Oh my goodness what an "interesting" take on history; it'll be interesting if time shares the same perspective. I think the current feminist movement in America owes nearly nothing to HRC, in fact her loss in the election allowed for a much more legitimate grassroots and authentic uprising against the status quo that HRC was very much a part of. While not exclusively a conservative or liberal stain, one can't simply overlook the many powerful establishment HRC donors that were simultaneously misbehaving with regards to their own personal conduct. I think/hope that the movement going forward isn't hijacked by those that would have self-serving motives behind their apparent public outrage.
36
HIllary Clinton may not be perfect, but she is more qualified to be president than Trump and would not have been as vulgar or a total embarassment to this country. He has done nothing but anger our allies and create new enemies. His policies only help him and his rich buddies while punishing the poor and middle class. We can only hope that the Democrats make gains in congress and the senate and keep this administration from causing any more damage to our government until Trump is out of office.
52
Hillary Clinton loses to the worst presidential candidate ever by running an inept error-prone campaign, and we're supposed to thank her for starting a feminist revolution? We have an incompetent, ignorant, racist, narcissistic fake president who is ruining our standing in the world and is making us a global laughingstock, and we're supposed to thank her?
No way. The credit goes to the brave women that exposed Harvey Weinstein and the #metoo movement.
46
Enough with the rehabilitation of Hillary. The only thing Hillary has “ignited” recently was her eminently winnable presidential bid. Her poor management of the campaign brought it down in flames.
Hillary's main contribution to the outing of sexual harassers was that by losing, she diminished the utility of herself and Bill to the left. With those two out of the way, it became okay to discuss sexual harassment. If she and Bill were in the White House does anyone think the Times would have printed an exposé on Bill and Hill’s major donor and long-time pal Harvey Weinstein?
55
When it comes to "what if" Hillary, I've read this story before. When Hillary was serving in Congress as our Senator, or in the State Department, she received high marks for her diligent work, except of course from the chronic chorus of Hillary haters. For them, Hillary can never do a darn thing that merits a thumbs up. But the public at large, whether they agreed with her or not, never thought she was completely incompetent or not knowledgeable of the subject matter. Hillary was never thought of as stupid, because she isn't.
On the other hand, Trump's incompetence is blatantly obvious. He failed to enact any major piece of major legislation (the Tax Bill was passed at gunpoint), but he never was a good deal maker. That was just another one of his lies. It's is Trump the bully, the narcissistic, racist, misogynist who is this once great nation's worse enemy. Trump is as worldwide laughingstock. He is a disgrace to our heritage, and we should be ashamed. I firmly believe a year in to a H. Clinton administration, we would not be looked at around the world with such contempt. Hillary haters need not comment. We all know where you stand. You made that choice a year ago and we are paying the price for it now.
DD
Manhattan
90
What exactly are her qualifications for this title as a leader of the feminist movement. Her continuing to accept campaign contributions from Harvey Weinstein, her attempts to blame the women involved for her husband's affairs, her incompetence in managing the health care debate in 1993, her cowering in fear as the Orange Presidential Candidate stalked her on stage, her continuing marriage to a serial adulterer, or running the worst presidential campaign in history. Or running around Wellesley in 1968 spewing slogans full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Or having the arrogance to run her own e-mail system while secretary of state and the stupidity to get caught at it.
45
Thank you for a balanced piece. We no longer need to debate what Hillary did right or wrong, or whether it was misogynist fears of Hillary, or Trump's promise of a vengeful racism, or Russian tampering, that defeated her Presidential bid. Instead, we can marvel at the resistance that has emerged and embrace it.
Last year, I marched (okay most of the time we joyously waited to march) with 2 friends at the NY Women's March. There were so many people and mysteriously dead cell service (what was that about?) that we couldn't join other groups of friends in distant locations in the march. Instead we were busy reading clever signs, marveling at the "pussy hats," and having solidarity-inspiring conversations with people who I would no longer call strangers.
I can happily report that on this coming Saturday, January 20th, many more people I know will be marching. I hope the Times gives some coverage to the advanced planning and anticipation for this year's march. Memories of last year provided inspiration to me for the entire year. As Harvey Milk said, "You gotta give them hope."
20
"..... Mr. Trump, an alleged sexual abuser.........." If one has heard the Access Hollywood tape they know that you don't have to say alleged. He admitted it abusing women. Just say it.
41
Everything Lyin' Crooked Donald said about Hillary was a lie and/or projection.
Everything Hillary said about Trump is coming true, except for her pressured admiration of his children in that "town hall" debate.
She's never been the "Loser" that the Donald surely is.
55
Why does it always have to be about the Clintons? I get that the author is writing a book about Hillary and therefore is trying to tap into the #MeToo movement for her subject, but I don't see it. The real heroes of this movement are the women who stood up a great risk to their careers to say something. The women who stood up to Roger Ailes, Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly and I am sure many others that will never make the pages of the NYT.
32
Oh God, here we go again, another PC story re this subject.
I certainly condemn Trump, but one of the many reasons Hillary lost to him was by running an identity obsessed campaign that ticked off many men and women.
She didn't set off the current sexual harassment furor. She was one of the reasons why it continued to this day by being a co dependent and enabler of men like Weinstein and her husband.
The real heroines in this story are women who stood up to Weinstein like the young Italian model and didn't only complain when the promotions or roles stopped, waited 20 yrs to do something about it or worse initiated the sexual contact.
They did not co depend or enable like so many men and yes women did.
33
Hillary's loss was not because she was a woman. We just elected a black man. With big white male suport both sides of the aisle. So let that go. And Hillary did not win the popular election, there is no such thing. Many people don't vote based on the electoral college, set up - correctly - as we're 50 states - a republic, not a democracy based on popular opinion. Here's a couple reasons HRC lost, to consider. First, "I'm not some Tammy Wynette 'Stand By Your Man' kind of woman' after yet ever MORE of Bill's infidelities. What? HEC is exactly that - the poster child for Petes's sake! Bill and Donald are well matched here. Second, placing trust in Huma as a confidant / advisor (and the Weiner fiasco). Say no more. Yes the alternative was elected, with worse, but that only showed up AFTER. HRC brought it on BEFORE. With HRC, we'd be in a recession by now, and the talk would be only of 'Chelsea for President' kicking the can down the road to 2020/2024 to continue the dynasty. Democrats - please, pick someone better!
25
Keep smiling Lady Hillary and you will continue to have an impact.
"The robb'd that smiles, steals something from the thief."
—Duke of Venice in Othello
30
That she and the DNC thought true liberals and progressives, fresh off the OCCUPY movement, would line up behind a Goldwater Girl from the board of Walmart, who'd spent the past few year's taking millions from Wall Street...delusional at best.
45
I love this column. Question: What is the best thing about Trump?
He is not Hilliary or B.O.!
Think about it!
7
First of all, Hillary Clinton has topped the list of most admired for much of the last 10 years, not just since she lost the election. And second, Amy, didn't you make a living in 2016 writing the negative articles about Hillary for the NYT? Is this article for some sort of apology?
77
Enough already. Women need to stop sabotaging Hillary Clinton. Does she have flaws? Of course. Has she made mistakes? Of course. How about you? Of course you have. So much of the back-stabbing and back-biting has been generated from envy. My doctorate is in why women undermine other women and originally revealed in Woman to Woman: From Sabotage to Support in 1987. Multiple books on the topic and eight national surveys later, nothing has changed.
Knock it off. Yes, Hillary has screwed up; yet she has made huge differences in many avenues. It ticks me off when "the better candidate" is thrown under the bus by the good-doers and the the envy holders. If anyone is looking for the perfect candidate, he/she doesn't exist. They all have warts, just as each of us does. To push her to the side lines because she is "tainted" is nuts.
Hillary Clinton was sabotage by too many, including some of her own actions. We all make mistakes--learn from them and don't repeat.
39
you jst dont get it do you? the dems and hrc lost b/c of their identity politics and the fact her and her staffs problem solving skills were closer to a 6rg graders than trumps.
the dems will again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when they embrace the identity politics and borderline-hysteria of the "me too" nit wits. and you thought the salem witch trials were hysterically quaint.
while things like equal pay (its the economy stupid), job creation (its the economy stupid), health care (its the economy stupid), fixing the broken culture in WVa, OH, KY, AL, TN etc where faking a back injury is a job "skill" (its the economy stupid), trade with china (its the economy stupid). fixing the crumbling infrastructure around here (its the economy stupid) and finding a way to make honest illegals, - no they're not heroes, victims or dreamers, they are people who committed a crime but the best solution is to figure out to make it work, like too many guns- so dems can revive an economy thats existed on war and greed since some guy named clinton ran the show. that is, if they'll quit the professional, full time, woe-is-me, whiny victim card.
either that or all the spineless little whiners in this country who are victims of fill-in-the-blank shoul;d just everybody a favor and just put a gun in their mouth, quit sucking up good air and other resources meant for non-whiners.
11
Face it, wide-spread misogyny played a major role in Hillary’s defeat. Speaking as a male, I would not trust what male voters might do in the secrecy of the voting booth in upcoming elections. It’s up to women run as candidates and take up the fight to remove the would-be oligarchs and neo-Nazis from our government.
38
As a conservative, during the Bill Clinton years I remember thinking the exact same thing Linda Sarsour said; but I was talking about Bill Clinton — I was so “aghast and felt betrayed that so many of our fellow Americans voted for a misogynist, accused sexual predator.” Then to have Hillary Clinton help with the minimalization of Bill’s behavior (similar to the left’s criticism of Republicans now) to advance her own career... This set the women’s legitimate movement against harassment and sexual misconduct back 20 years!! Lost opportunity for Hillary, and even bigger loss for her victimized women constituency who supported her...
Can’t we all agree on this one - thank goodness Hillary LOST!!
Steve
17
Ms. Chozick, whenever I see your byline and any mention of HRC, I cringe. You were part and parcel of the entire "let's trash Hillary" cult in the media. It comes as no surprise to me that many of the media moguls and "stars" were outed as harassers and abusers. The denigrating Matt Lauer interview of Hillary was par for the course. It turns out Chris Matthews joked about giving Hillary a "Bill Cosby pill" before he interviewed her. Imagine if a female journalist joked about giving Barack Obama a Viagra before the interview. It's disgusting and disrespectful, yet this is the kind of treatment that awaited her wherever she went.
Women are fed up with this disrespect. It needs to outed and corrected. Whether or not HRC is part of the movement now is immaterial. I can see many people responding in the comments to the mention of Hillary's name as some sort of signal to continue to trash her. I's Pavlovian at this point. That is immaterial as well. This goes beyond HRC. The women of this country noticed how disgusting her treatment was and the remedy is cultural in nature.
A realignment is taking place that is way over due.
53
How anyone can laud Mrs. Clinton for anything baffles me. She was begged to not run, because of her large negative polling numbers; yet, her ego led her to place herself above the needs of her country. She became the only possible candidate that the madman currently occupying this country could possibly defeat, and he did. She is complicit in his attempt to destroy this country, in the same way that republican members of Congress are currently enabling and covering up for him. Yes, the backlash (resistance, movement) of women in America against this dangerous psychotic was triggered by her, in part. But it is because women realize the need to get involved at every level, so that we never have such a flawed candidate again open the door to this type of extremism.
25
Can we just get a movement to, for GODSAKE, really really get the vote out? In the aftermath of electing Clownstick, all kinds of data showed that if people would have just gotten out to vote, we would not be in this nationally humiliating mess.
Get out there and get the millennial vote out, the men's vote, the women's vote, every race's vote, whatever. Just for godsake get out and vote!
And thank you, African American voters, for your miracle in Alabama. As many have said before me, that was a shot of encouragement and optimism that was sorely needed.
35
This is a story of an opportunist not of a leader of women.
16
Interesting, how many of the comments here perfectly illustrate what I think is the writers point: the absolutely ingrained misogyny of our society, for which alas Hillary Clinton serves as a lightning rod.
If I had a dime for every time in my life I’ve heard “...but not THAT woman...” I’d be a very wealthy woman. There’s always something, isn’t there? Always something one can find to hide behind.
Now, in between calls for her to shut up and go away, HRC is castigated for not speaking up. Please, folks, make up your minds — so she can ignore you and get on with what she’s always done, moving the world towards being a better place.
51
A pearl starts with a grain of sand,avalanche with a puff of wind. Little things can make big differences.
3
I voted for Ms. Clinton in 2016, despite my dislike of her. To me, it was a no-brainer, given the choice of her or the cretin who opposed her. Of course, she turned out to be her own worst enemy. She and the Democrats were so certain of victory that they neglected to repeatedly visit those states in middle America. I support a woman for president, but I hope the Democrats aren't still afflicted with tunnel vision and insist the person nominated must be female. Time to remove those rose-colored glasses.
17
White women voted for Roy Moore. Igniting movements is so Woodstock. 1964 rout to 1980, so uh, it ain't happening in 2018.
I would not be so bold. This IS America. A land where mediocrity is worshipped.
6
The sexual harassment allegations and subsequent firestorms over them only came to light because Clinton lost and people finally felt free to accuse some of her biggest donors and media darlings.
Had she won, her biggest donors and media darlings would have been protected, just like Bill was. No one would have spoken out.
24
"We wouldn’t be here — black gowns at the Golden Globes... without Mrs. Clinton’s defeat."
That is a generous interpretation. Would the Times not have investigated major accusations of sexual harassment if HRC had won? Hillary was totally in the bag for Harvey Weintstien even after Lena Dunham warned them about his past, which this piece conveniently doesn't mention. Maybe because when this came to light HRC's people attacked Ms. Dunham rather than offer any self-reflection. All politicians make choices about policy vs pragmatism and HRC has to live with the choices that she made.
17
I cant think of Three more obnoxious people than The Clinton's including their daughter. I was a big Bernie fan until he dropped out. Still dont know why he dropped out ? Must have been a backroom deal. Clinton's sex episode with Monica is the most disgusting thing I can recall in my 78 years, JFK had the decency to use Hotels. The arrogance HRC displayed during the whole campaign is astounding to me . The Daughters attack on Bernie shows she is not too bright. I'm of the opinion that it makes little difference who is Pres, Wall St runs this country .
16
I don't know why it is so hard to say Clinton was dishonest, dissembling, uninspiring, lacked a vision, angry, annoying, fake . . .
When folks can be honest they will see (and say) Hillary lost not because she was "a woman" but because of who "that woman" was.
28
Clinton has been sidelined by that “basket of deplorables” she sneered at during her campaign. Good riddance. The Democrats can (and must) do better if they want to win elections in the future.
14
Some things/times that lost Hillary the election:
When Bill Clinton got off that plane & crossed the tarmac to the plane carrying Attorney General Loretta Lynch, he put into stark relief people's worst fears about Clintons' not playing by the rules.
When HRC's handlers hijacked the DNC working for her candidacy rather than for a genuine primary with/out special delegates and the likes of Wasserstein Shultz.
When she spent little or no time in the Rust Belt, while doing an inordinate amount fundraising in the Hamptons and NYC.
26
I cannot understand why your constant criticism of Mrs Clinton is published. However, you do represent women who voted for Trump and bear responsibility for the frightening world we now live in.
41
Liberals love a good moral purge....."as liberals rethink how President Clinton's accusers were dismissed and shamed in the 1990s." I'm not sure I recall his accusers being unduly dismissed or shamed. President Clinton had three principal accusers in the 1990s: Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Wiley. Paula Jones took her case to court and lost, though the case brought to light the Monica Lewinsky relationship and the president's perjury. Broaddrick and Wiley never brought criminal charges nor sued him in civil court. Broaddrick filed an affidavit in the Jones legal case denying that anything happened with Bill Clinton. Wiley has made many contradictory statements regarding physical contact with Clinton.
The Left has got to make a decision: are we just going to believe every allegation about every man or will we wait for a court of law to convict? If we aren't going to rely on the justice system, what will our system of checks and balances be? What will our burden of proof be? (e.g. more than one woman makes it more plausible? Out of court settlements make it more plausible?).
Truth be told, Clinton's pursuit of a young White House intern should have been enough for impeachment, much less anything else. At least in that case there was proof and testimony under oath.
4
Dems will never win with Sanders, or Warren. Never.
23
It's a personal decision and we can't tell what goes on in a marriage, but she should have left him. That would have been the pioneering feminist thing to do. Even Huma should have left him sooner than she did.
For me, it was a mark against her ability to assess things....She started many campaign rallies on weekends in 2008 by stating "I know Bill loves me, he's here fighting for my campaign instead of watching football."
Ok, Yale/Chappaqua -- we get it you guys like football. But, I bristled about other ther aspects of that: both the public affirmation of your great love and the view that sacrificing some football is the mark of true love. Like if you wanna be together, ok, but keep the public declarations to a minimum. You do live a glass house when running for President.
In the least, he entered an affair with a former intern near his daughter's age and lied about. In the most, he might have raped and used his power to sexually engage with women against their will. (And allowed the Arkansas PD to cover it up).
She affirmed him in so many ways and was oblivious to his bad side. She was not going to lead this movement.
12
We wouldn’t be here if she had stepped aside and let new blood run in 2016. She had her shot in 2008 and was rejected.
24
SHE was the sacrificial lamb. Next time, WE need the Wolf.
Seriously.
49
I’m going to go back and read all the reporting Chozick wrote on Clinton during the campaign. As I recall, she was part of the reason we are now stuck with this wrong choice.
42
Well, thank you, Hillary. Count me in as a middle aged woman who is equally astonished by the momentum of the #me_too movement, and who feels vindicated for all the sexism women have had to endure until now. Perhaps this momentum will be sustained because many of today’s younger women have been raised to be as competent and confident as any young man, and are not afraid to own it, and that men in their 20’s and 30’s get this. A large number of these “outed” perpetuators of sexual harassment are now old men, whose positions of power hold will soon be ending.
My hope is that momentum is being sustained in retaliation against the blatant racism we are experiencing right now. I can see the outrage in the comments in the Times. I know that the formerly closeted racists will hold onto their hate and insecurities, but we must denounce every racist comment and action when we are confronted with them, not just in the comments section of the newspaper, but at the grocery store, the hospital waiting room, and in “polite” company.
8
What a weak and transparent attempt to keep HRC in the news and give her a false place in history. Where is the assessment of Hillary Clinton's role in promoting the destruction of Libya, the war in Ukraine and the attempt at Regime Change in Syria? HRC lost touch with the American people because she was too connected with the rich and powerful who had no time for "the deplorables".
22
Hillary had little to do with it. In a country that knows so little of its history and literature the selection of men most ignorant about history and literature and a man whose acquaintance with the truth is from a distant galaxy, truth is finally a friend not a fiend.
7
Secretary Clinton is NOT on the "sidelines." She is very busy doing what she has always done. In fact, if I could get inside of her mind right now I'll bet that she is relishing all the trouble she can stir up that she could not have done had she won the presidency. I can just see that twinkle in her eyes now.
Clinton Unleashed should have been the title of this opinion!! ;) And boy oh boy she is dragging a whole bunch of us Unleashed right along with her. Just call us TROUBLE with a Capital T!
14
I sincerely doubt that the women who had the courage to out sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein gave a second thought to Hillary Clinton who was, as with so many issues, on wrong side of this issue through her marriage to a sexual predator and her own actions to attack and denigrate Bill's women accusers. Let's not go to the alternative reality and "alternative facts" that Donald Trump has inflicted on America. Hillary Clinton was a very seriously flawed candidate and her history of condoning sexual misconduct was one of them.
14
The angry Trump voters and all the Dems who said Hilary wasn't good enough deserve what they got. We'll get through this, hopefully for the wiser.
15
Ultimately, what do must women, supposedly feminist or otherwise, consider worse?! The attentions of men, or being completely ignored by men.
1
Hillary's loss to Trump, is exactly what decades of women have experienced while working, the incompetent man got the job, not the smart hard working super qualified woman. Of course for many women that have faced this, they then got to run the department while the blow hard got the pay and the credit. And the luxury or just quiting isn't possible for most women.
31
Permanently on the sidelines, I hope and pray!
12
This article would have been more balanced had Amy Chozick had selected someone other than Ms. Solis Doyle who has not been on Hillary Clinton's staff since the early part of her 2008 campaign. Jennifer Palmieri, would offer a much different perspective.
Secondly, as for previous Women's March, what Ms. Chozick did not write is that not only was Hillary Clinton not considered a "revolutionary leader", many of those who turned out for the march did not know until a few days before that Hillary Clinton would not be mentioned nor honored and were furious.
Finally, Ms. Solis Doyle last quote "“But in terms of Hillary’s perspective and career it’s sad that it comes as she’s diminishing, some would say vanishing, from the political stage.” is beneath contempt from anyone who pretends to speak on behalf of women's rights. Only a few weeks ago, Hillary Clinton once again was acknowledged as the "Most Admired Woman In The World" for the 20th time. Doubt that she should take up knitting just yet.
26
I would like to see Mrs. Clinton groom, so to speak, her daughter Chelsea to run for office. Not specifically the White House, but perhaps congress or senate. Chelsea has amazing potential.
4
"Linda Sarsour, a co-founder of the Women’s March who supported Mr. Sanders in the primary, credited Mr. Trump’s victory — not Mrs. Clinton’s defeat — with the current reckoning among women. “People were so aghast and felt betrayed that so many of our fellow Americans voted for a misogynist, accused sexual predator,” she said."
But so many of them used the excuse of "anybody but her" to vote for that man. Ms. Sarsour can't bring herself to admit she was one of those people saying "anyone but her". People like her helped perpetuated the vile lies, investigations and slurs against a supremely qualified candidate they didn't like - because she was "that women". The author is correct - any qualified women(and don't even think of running if you aren't at least twice as qualified as your opponent) will become "that woman".
It's a catch-22.
26
Giving Hillary credit for a "national awakening among women" is like giving Trump credit discovering gravitational waves.
14
Let Hillary go gently into the night. She did not get jobbed in the last election. Hillary just didn't inspire enough people to vote for her.
14
Here's still another article, completely ignoring the role of Russia in the outcome of the election, bringing it all back to analysis of Hillary Clinton and what she's done wrong.
25
The Hillary Brand™ may have ignited the feminists but she abandoned them, along with her base of progressives and liberals, after conspiring to subvert Sander's campaign with her allies in the DNC (Debbie Wasserman-whatever, and Felon Podesta). Then there was her subservient posturing to Wall Street and Corporate America to acquire $50,000 per speech (has anyone totaled up her ill-gotten gains yet?) as well as the "donations" made to her and Bill's "charitable" Clinton Foundation…Let us not forget the $500,000 Bill got for speaking to a Russian corporation that was tangentially involved in the purchase of US uranium, and the subsequent "donation" to the foundation of a few tens of millions from said Russian oligarchs and corporate cronies. And we are festering over the unproven Trump/Putin connections? Charges that have yet to be revealed by the NSA, who has the capability (See William Binney on the NSA) goods to track and trace ANY email and EVERY telecommunication in and outside the US? And they still won't share that intel with the public or government? So take a break Hillary and go back to your Long Island million dollar plus mansion and stew over the Great Lost Cause of the Hillary Campaign. BTW, I voted for Sanders anyway in a throwaway write-in vote.
10
To leave Hillary Clinton from the organizers of the Woman's March on Washington list of 28 revolutionary leaders who paved the way for us to march is beyond explanation.
We are standing on Hillayr's shoulders as well!
27
"The future is female." A sign in the background of the photo that leads this article says so.
Really? As a straight man I'm not to feel offended or threatened by this? The NY Times would never of course publish a photo of a sign reading "the future belongs to men." I'm sure that many women reading this are saying to themselves with some evident feelings of satisfaction: "Yes! It's about time you should feel threatened, you... *male*... you."
And these are said to be the seeds from which a successful future movement will someday spring? No, it won't. The present incarnation of the womens movement is much closer to the Black Panthers, who trafficked in being threatening figures, than it is to Barry Goldwater.
If the womens movement insists on going it alone then that is where it will find itself.
Alone.
4
Yes another version of “ how could she have lost to this buffoon!” narrative. Never mind that Mrs. Clinton previously lost to a community organizer and almost lost to a seventy something socialist from a small state. Mrs. Clinton isn’t president because she comes across as manipulative, overly scripted, corrupt, a chronic liar and completely lacking in a moral compass. Mr. Trump has many of these attributes but never pretended to be anything else than what he is. Mrs Clinton presented herself as a modern day Joan of Arc. The American people could see through the veneer and passed.
13
The problem with Hillary is that she may not have even received her own party's nomination without all of the secret machinations by DNC.
She is only attractive to all of these Dems in the rearview mirror.
She is - in fact - Tracy Flick.
5
HRC did not lose; she was not defeated by this monster-she was defeated by the undemocratic electoral college. the women's march group ought to put at least as much energy into getting rid of this, or finding a way to game the system-- as the have into demeaning Hillary. twice in 16 years should be enough to wake any Democrat out of the EC blasé attitude.
20
Your headline is misleading.
Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes than Trumpler, and this happened with interference from an enemy nation.
Who lost was our electoral process which showed itself to be miserablely vulnerable to outside influence.
While the vote split between Clinton and Trumpler was roughly 66 million to 63 million.....total votes against Trumpler exceeded eleven million. Meaning 74 million voters in America had voted for a candidate other than Trumpler, who got into office with Russian assistance and a puny 63 million votes.
That is not a tight margin by any means.
25
Perhaps the outright misogyny ( among other very bad characteristics, actions and words ) that this President has shown ( along with the multitude of backers that say nothing after each and every instance ) has shocked the public ( especially women ) into action.
It is on the same level of catalyst ( for the civil rights era ) as when Emmett till was shown in the aftermath of his perishing at the hand of racists.
5
God almighty, when history looks at the gauntlet she ran, and the hells she was put through, with eyes that see more clearly than ours, I won't be the only man who hangs his head--and the women who went along with the absurd calumnies should as well--because then it will be clear that misogyny played a huge part in her journey. That and the unprincipled, racist or greedy band who now feast on our nation's ebbing remains. But she came through it all. I remember how she stood up to 11 hours of interrogation by a band of bullies--and withstood every man jack of them. And onward, and won the populace despite all the enemies' attacks. She has the heart of a lion. That will be recorded in history, no matter what is said here today.
262
Sometimes you win by loosing. Hillary won by 3 million votes because most Americans realized that she would be a good president. But the outdated electoral college denied the country a sane president and gave us the most offensive unqualified person ever seen instead. Now people realize what they threw away by rejecting her. Whether women want to admit it or not we wouldn't be having this moment without the work of women like Hillary Clinton.
35
Less “ME too,” and more “WE too,” would have helped and, actually SHALL help the movements towards equality for all humans, hopefully.
7
Both Clintons are complex people and seasoned politicians with plenty of good to offer the country but also with some GOP-like baggage. (I do not consider consensual sexual indiscretions as political baggage but personal baggage).
Each POTUS has been the glaring opposite of his predecessor for the last several presidencies--an HRC victory would have countered that dramatically.
2016 elections, however, might be the first to spawn a revolution in the opposite direction so immediately after winning.
For better or worse, HRC is done politically. Let's populate DC with women--especially of color--they may be our only hope. That said, please no Oprah! Do you want Dr. Oz to be the Surgeon General and Dr. Phil Attorney General?
8
There are also those of us who continue to admire and respect Hillary Clinton, even more than before.
49
Hillary lost women voters because she fought against the #MeToo movement for 20 years. The first embers of metoo were lit under Bill Clinton's presidency. And while Hillary had nothing to do with the original offences, she actively and maliciously participated in the burial of the victims and conveyed the message that women better not accuse the powerful, especially her husband. I suspect that for this reason a large number of women in America did not see a substantial difference between Donald and Hillary in the last election when it came to improving the lives of women. If she were in the white house, Harvey Weinstein would have been feted for his support of this "women's champion" and seen his power base elevated even more, not decimated as it should be. Remember, she was warned long ago that Harvey was trouble, but she ignored the advice and continued to cultivate his support. Ultimately, her faulty moral compass, lack of believably, and constant entanglement in scandal led her to lose so many people who enthusiastically supported Obama in past elections.
19
The most telling statistic about the 2016 election is that 53% of white women voted for trump, but an astounding 94% of black women voted for Hillary. Having given these figures serious consideration over the last year, I've reached the following, personally-held conclusions:
1. Many of the white women who voted for Hillary are probably completely dependent on "their man" for support and validation, and they really do believe that is the natural order of things, no matter the price they pay. (I know more than a few of them.)
2. The reason the vast majority of black women who voted did so for Hillary is because they've often experienced condescending and cruel treatment at the hands of people like trump. They recognized him for exactly what he was/is.
3. The most hurtful statistic:Only 80% of black male voters voted for Hillary. In other words, there are about 20% of black men who'll vote for a white man before they'll vote for a white woman, even when that man has shown himself to be a racist and the woman has never shown any tendency toward racism at all.
These results have shown me that, as the re-energized women's movement picks up speed, women can expect backlash from a significant portion of the black male community. So, I am watching and listening carefully. One thing to listen for: When you see a black man on TV discussing white supremacy, he is most believable when he always includes women in the minorities who've been exploited and mistreated by white men.
17
100% agree with your #1.
don't know about #2
now #3 interesting will have to mull that over and ask some AA men. or could the stat include men not AA but say from countries where men's role is the provider and women's the server
2
The cause for women's rights, equality & pay equity are an admirable, noble pursuit. Let us support that effort because it is in reality a yearning for all human beings to be treated as we would have the other treat us, with dignity and respect. The movement is presently in its infancy, without a steady hand to establish and maintain focus. Senator Gillbrand and Representative Pelosi good intentioned as they were, were tragically misguided to malign and belittle Senator Franken's request for an Ethics Comm. review and end up conspiring with Trump's Republican campaign manager, Roger Stone, and his pawn a Republican radio announcer who toured with Comedian Franken last Century, to sandbag him. All the good work the Senator was doing for his constituents and women generally was deleted with his forced resignation.
11
Some of us credit women's recent responses to sexual harassment to the women themselves -- and not to Hillary Clinton. This article really runs right over the whole issue of why she can't really speak out in this "me too" moment, namely that she, along with just about everyone else, went after Monica Lewinsky instead of acknowledging the faults of Bill Clinton. There's no escaping that fact. And yes, I voted for Clinton, because she was the obviously better qualified candidate in 2016 -- but better doesn't necessarily mean good. And because we had a better but not necessarily good candidate, she lost. Some of that was undoubtedly due to gender, but not all of it. In this moment in time, with the potential of real change possible, let's please not make this about Hillary Clinton, because it isn't. My hat is off to ALL the women who are pushing it uphill right now, but I'm not mourning Hillary Clinton the inadequate candidate, nor do I wish to credit her for what other people are doing now.
48
The press and populists from both sides tend to dismiss contrary opinions to push a political or policy agenda. HRC loss was not the product of a male cabal as 41% of women voted for Trump but rather a remarkable loss by a candidate with a massive political machine, deep political experience, $800M more in spending (2x) her opponent and most remarkably perhaps the worst, most repugnant candidate in my lifetime. The loss is indicative of a truly poorly run campaign by an arrogant candidate
9
There was never really anything wrong with Hillary. She was fine. That she wasn't good enough, speaks to what every woman faces.
Shame that even women buy into that.
49
How sweet it will be when women march to the polls in November and send a message to all of Trump’s enablers in Congress.
20
Reading the comments here I am astonished that people forget that she won by at least 3 million votes. In the end it will come out that Russia changed votes in MI, PA and WI. Then what will happen?
31
“It’s now nearly a year since several million women...took to the streets in cities across the country to protest Mr. Trump.” And quite a few men, girls, & boys too. Women’s equality is not only about women, it is more broadly about human rights & dignity.
8
"Shame on you."
There were prominent women I had admired who screamed these words at Hillary. I could still hear their hate echo when I see them on TV. I had never seen women hate a woman this much. For their hatred they truly deserve Donald Trump.
42
I think that we pay too much attention to the spark and too little to the tinder when it comes to the impact that people or events have on a movement.
The historic women's march of last year was organized when most people believed that Hillary Clinton would be our next president.
In reference to "the straw that broke the camel's back," was the straw heavier than the camel's other burdens? No; it was the lightest. It only broke the camel's back because the burdens already placed on the camel made the straw one burden too many. Surely, the camel was hurting and grunting in pain long before the straw broke its back.
One person's actions or words, or event can act resonate so strongly with a large number of people that they galvanize people to action. But it is the multitude of experiences, words, actions, events, actors, and efforts that impact people in their daily lives over years that causes movements to be born and to grow.
And far too little attention is given to those influences, even though they happen in plain sight, over and over again for year after year throughout society.
Hillary Clinton didn't ignite a feminist movement; the feminist movement was around before she was born and it will continue to exist after her death. She has done her part in winning and losing, and that is significant; but so have many, many others, unsung and unnoticed. who keep galvanizing the movenent year after year all across the globe.
5
Hillary Clinton has inspired me since I was a college student. She has inspired millions of women and girls. I met many of them on the campaign trail while volunteering for her, and their stories are real and powerful.
Sec. Clinton has been criticized for every personal decision she has made - from keeping her maiden name, to moving to Arkansas, to continuing to work while her husband was governor, to stopping working, etc. She is attacked when she does and is attacked when she doesn't. Her story is one of a woman pushing cultural norms and being capable and ambitious when it wasn't acceptable - although we may delude ourselves into thinking that we're more advanced than that. Take an inward look America.
The 2008 and 2016 election cycles were filled with rampant misogyny which history will reflect clearly (and which we can't fully appreciate because we're still in the midst of vilifying Hillary Clinton).
Sec. Clinton did help shape the women's movement and history will reflect that truth. The path to the presidency for the first female president is paved by Hillary Clinton's amazing legacy.
218
All politics is local, and in the end, it is each state, and those their voters send to Congress in Washington D. C., that will determine all policy for better or worse, and who also will be held accountable, for the outcomes of all policies, or should be, and for paying for all of it, by borrowing for it, and facing critical financial decisions, shortly, for all of it.
3
When Donald Trump was elected president, it disproved everything we thought was true about our political landscape. In a bizarre way, it was inspiring. It turns out you don't have to have a spotless record to be president; you don't have to have any sort of background in politics; you don't even have to pay lip service to your own party's platform, or have any of its kingmakers on your side. Suddenly that old canard about any child potentially growing up to be president didn't seem so far-fetched. If he can do it, apparently anyone can.
For me, that realization cast Hillary's candidacy in a much different light. I supported her and voted for her, and think she's a great mind of our time. But in retrospect, I'm horrified that my party even entertained the idea of creating another dynastic presidential family. We're supposed to be the people's party, the worker's party. The idea that the best candidate for the presidency is an immediate family member of a former president? That should be ludicrous to us. We should repudiate that kind of thinking at every turn.
I am overjoyed by the surge of new people getting involved in every level of politics. That, right there, is what the country needs, and I don't believe it would have happened if Mrs. Clinton had won the election. As much as it stings, the price we're currently paying right now just might buy us a better future than we could have imagined.
44
adding "if you're a man" to all the statements in the first paragraph makes it accurate.
10
Hillary Clinton would have been President but for her poorly considered (although accurate) "basket of deplorables" remark. That comment became a flag that the people who form Trump's base rallied around. More significantly, it pushed a decisive number of people on the fence of that base, people who felt disrespected by bi-coastal elites, to jump off the fence and vote for Donald Trump. It wasn't feminism or misogyny that brought on Clinton's loss. It was anti-elitism.
4
By standing by Bill Clinton during his sexual escapades, though they undoubtedly hurt and demeaned her as well as his paramours, HRC demonstrated that marital partnership and the creation of a family goes beyond sexual fidelity. It demonstrated, too, that HRC could maintain her commitment to her ideals and when she saw their imperfections, work to fix them. HRC lived through the swinging 70's and the wholesale departure of women from unsatisfactory marriages. Could it be that HRC's vision of human relationships, personal and political, then and now, extends well beyond the bedroom?
9
Hillary Clinton was irretrievably tarnished by her marriage to Bill. I watched the Lewinsky saga unfold here on TV (I think at one stage Hillary was wearing a bright yellow suit). She was caught blind-sided, publicly humiliated by her husband and the bright smiling young Monica. I am a similar age to Hillary, a second wave feminist (the first were the Suffragettes). I have been so surprised by the ambivalence to high achieving women another generation(coming on for two) on from the 1970s. High achieving women actually do have to bake cookies to be tolerated, yes, tolerated. Unfortunately Hillary was kinda "stale": the campaign firstly had to get her grandmother status out of the way which they did by embracing it head-on early in the campaign. Then there was Bill's legacy which she could never really overcome, she was somehow "less than" after it. Then there were the pant-suits. I know Angela Merkel never wears a frock but Theresa May does. Don't have to deny you are a woman. I think people had had enough of the Clintons full-stop. I know she won the popular vote nevertheless, and came awfully close to winning, but sadly it was not to be because so many voters chose to abstain. I hope Hillary is satisfied with her place in history if, as this article suggests, she inadvertently symbolised the incredible obstacles that are put in the way of women in patriarchies. And aren't they all?
OPRAH for PRESIDENT!
3
Bob Dole, in his acceptance speech for the 1996 Republican nomination, actually went out of his way to attack Hillary's book and socially-conscious view of "It Takes a Village."
She won the nomination because she was most dedicated and qualified.
She lost because she was a woman.
For decades she has been demonized for having a "non-traditional" view of what women can achieve.
34
What became stunningly obvious by the election of Trump is that white men hold power not by merit but by gender and skin color.Hillary Clinton is by far his superior in intellect, knowledge, emotional balance,government experience and the willingness to put in effort to do the work There isn’t a single positive moral quality that she doesn’t possess in greater degree than he.
What needs to be rethought is not just the white male monopoly of power in politics and business but also in the family structure.It is in the family that women’s powerlessness, disregard of our hopes and dreams begins.The entanglement of sexual compliance with financial power begins there.There are millions of small-time Harvey Weinstein’s in American homes. And just like his victims women put up with it because of their weak financial position And because of their children.
Feminism needs to get at the root of it all, to emphasize that equality starts in the home. That is where unmerited dominance begins and spoils the lives and hopes of most women. Women all over the world find themselves having to cede power to their intellectual and moral inferiors in family life because that is how the system is structured. When a woman’s voice doesn’t have equal power in the family it is not only a loss to the well-being of women but to the well-being of all
Ultimately,as so perfectly epitomized by Hillary’s loss to Trump,it is a loss to society as a whole since the cream of the people do not rise to the top.
13
Hillary, had lost not once but twice for the Presidency. The first time to Obama, who had the moral certitude to not vote for the lie of the Iraq war. Certainly, Clinton knew the same facts as Obama, but to prove her, "toughness," she played the warmonger, and no doubt, was cheered by George Bush and company.
The second time against Trump, given his baggage, it should have been fairly easy, but no one I have ever talked to said it was an easy decision to vote Hillary. Hillary was in government for many years and her record was not particularly exemplary.
After her stint as Secretary of State she openly took bribes of hundreds of thousand of dollars from finance institutions in the form of paid, "speeches."
We all know what that is, and her explanation was, "that's what they offered," put her in a bubble of entitlement the size of a dirigible.
Trump had never been in government, a huge advantage this go round. He seemed more practical, and championed the common guy. People wanted change and Hillary was status quo.
9
Ms. Clinton earned millions more votes than the candidate who was handed the victory. She succeeded. The system failed and the prize was awarded to the loser.
This movement is fueled by Clinton because of the injustice perceived, in the same way Rosa Parks' story fueled the Civil Rights movement. Humans know when something is just unarguably wrong.
24
I voted for Hillary. Since then I have read more about her and have come to greatly admire her. The multiple investigations, essentially one after the other - all exonerating her, the visceral hatred of her by the Republican Party , the vicious personal attacks on her ESP during the 2016 campaigns would have broke the spirit of a lesser person.
She was expected to be more than, purer than, better than any man as she fought for the improvement of people's lives in all she did. she was a doer. One who saw a problem and said "what can we do about this" and then she did it. She was not one who could carry her heart on her sleeve in public, nor could she make inspiring speeches like Obama or even her husband. But her experience in government, her vast knowledge of foreign affairs, her pragmatism in getting things done are unmatched by any political figure on the scene today.
Why did the demonic reputation carefully orchestrated by the Republican Party but bought in lessor forms by many democrats override her remarkable qualifications and throw doubts on her integrity? I say to women especially : you have to look at the true power of misogyny - esp in yourselves- to know that.
I think Hillary Rodham Clinton's reputation and the truth of her endeavors will be revived in history. If she does not live to see it I hope her daughter will.
32
Hillary Clinton lost for a constellation of reasons, Democrats deciding not to vote at all in 2016, helped cause the catastrophe we are living in today. The "impossible" happened! Mrs. Clinton's loss did not ignite a new women's movement. We've been there, done that since the suffragettes appeared in 1848 America (and UK) dressed in white. White dress is the traditional colour for mourners. In China for millennia. Medieval European queens dressed in white during mourning periods. Hindus, too, mourn in white dress. Mrs. Clinton wore white at her last debate with present President Donald Trump in 2016. The world - wrongly - assumed she would win the election, that she would "make the impossible possible". More telling, she wore white at the Inauguration almost one year ago of the worst president in American history. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
4
Like others, I was surprised by Hillary Clinton's willingness to quietly accept WJC's chronic transgressions, and even defend him. It seemed incongruous with her history of liberal feminism. Some of my Republican friends said she would put up with anything just to get power -- even the pain and humiliation the parade of public revelations (and legal proceedings) must have caused. My take on it was a slightly less cynical -- whatever else she may be, I think Hillary Clinton is a realist. She may have concluded, at some point along the way, that her best chance to make a major difference as a woman in this man's world (and to achieve her own ideological aims) was to accompany this charismatic man to the White House, then use it as an opportunity to showcase her own abilities (and perhaps contrast his failings with her rectitude and self control). Who knows? If that was her plan, she nearly accomplished it, and plainly she made sacrifices along the way. But the biggest sacrifice may have been when she took part in things that were harmful to some women individually, and to all women as a group. Whether driven by ego, an honest desire to promote the greater good by nearly any means, or even her emotional attachment to WJC, Hillary's decisions regarding her marriage were neither personal nor private, and they set a terrible example. That would still be the case had she won last November, and in some ways that might have sent an even worse message.
4
My aunt told me that Hillary Clinton was "left of left" when she saw the now two-time presidential candidate speak twice, both in the mid-70s and early 80's. This helped verify my personal belief that Hillary Clinton, since then, has tried to play the game, to challenge the chauvinist political structure. She has tried her best to play the game, and she has had to compromise much of herself in her plight. Considering her confrontation of this institution of chauvinism, Ms. Clinton is still significant in the feminist movement...yes, and regrettably, in her "loosing".
I think it important we now raise Ms. Clinton up higher than we currently lack in doing, and open dialogue about how she jeopardized her once "left-of-left" convictions--perhaps down to the minutest detail of that ground she had to give away. This won't reconcile what we now face as a nation, but it can clear the path for the future of the feminist (or feminine) plight in America's ideologically-riddled politics.
5
Are we supposed to believe that, had she won, she would be leading the movement? What in her background would suggest that? She is so very cautious, why would she use the office of the President to call out powerful men who harrass? I don't see it.
Enjoy retirement Mrs. Clinton. Someone will break that glass ceiling soon, and it will be someone whose politics are more acceptable to a majority of Americans.
9
"Political analysts predicted that Mrs. Clinton’s loss would cause women to retreat from running for public office, turned off by the combat and nastiness ushered in by a reality-TV star who vanquished the bookish, dutiful woman."
Complete nonsense. What's your source for this claim? Which political analysts? Name one.
"Instead, data shows the number of women seeking office is rising at every level."
Yes, that's been a long term trend. So what?
4
I think that a lot of people turned against Hillary when she tried to step up and be president because she went against the narrative they held so tightly in their minds. For some, the idea of a woman stepping up to lead offers another context that women can be more than the wife, home maker and mother. That very idea is something that a lot of men in our country were not able to embrace. Their attitudes and opinions are so engrained, when Hillary tired to lead, she challenged that narrative they hold so tightly to about women and they demonized her. Luckily time and history will be on her side and we will see that she was actually the most capable person to lead and the blatant engrained sexism in society was part of what held her back in addition to Russia, Comey and ignorance .
12
I found Hillary Clinton utterly inspiring during the election and continue to find her so afterwards. We have never had such a qualified and competent candidate and it's a depressing comment on the sorry state of the electorate that many people did not see this.
I don't believe she lost. She hasn't been sidelined (give it up, NYT!). She is exemplary.
31
I wish this columnist had address the elephant in the room. Why do millions of Americans hate Hillary? She is one the most mistrusted professional politicians in the modern era with record breaking unfavorability ratings. Why? Her links to Wall Street, her missing emails & her supposed responsibility for the security failures that contributed to the attack on the Benghazi consulate are the ostensible reasons for some deeply personal attacks in 2016. But the roots of hostility towards her go so much deeper. Some say she's unlikable at a visceral level like Nixon. She's widely viewed as changing her views to suit the prevailing wind to an extent that is unusual even in a politician, in other words, she's seen as having no ideals, no principles, other than 'I want power'. Her preposterous 'landing under sniper fire' lie is also enough to put a lot of people off her by itself. Perhaps rigging the Democratic nomination in her favor was a bad idea. She may be about the only candidate in 2016 that could have conceivably lost to Trump. That's a really low bar. She was an off the charts bad candidate. That is beyond debate. Some might say misogyny. There may be grains of truth there, but it's missing the point. Maybe she is unlikable in part because she is a politician who has had successes & failures over the past 30 years, all of which gain you enemies. She is also a centrist which gives both left & right reason to despise her. Even still I'm surprised how many people hate her.
5
As an Independent voter, I could never vote for Mr. Trump, and had a lot of problems with Ms. Clinton. Primarily the exorbitant "speaking fees" she accepted from Wall Street firms, many tens of millions as I recall. It brought to mind her husband's role in the pardon of Marc Rich, a fugitive whose wife made substantial donations to Ms. Clinton's Senate campaign. Even President Carter called it "disgraceful". And BTW, I did vote for a woman for president last year, one whose policy positions I agreed with.
4
Unlike most ordinary women, Hillary Clinton likely never had to deal with sexual harassment or assault during most of her career. As the wife of the state attorney general, governor, president, ex-president, she was protected from the reality that most women face in the workplace. She and her supporters don't seem to appreciate the privileged life she has led. During the 2016 campaign, the accusations against candidate Donald Trump, as well as the Access Hollywood tape, seemed more to disparage Mr. Trump than to address the very real issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Mrs. Clinton never brought out any woman who was targeted for sexual misconduct by anyone other than Donald Trump. To the contrary, as recently reported, the Clinton campaign was warned about Harvey Weinstein's offenses and ignored the warning, I guess because his money and status were too tempting.
Finally, Hillary Clinton received a plurality, not a majority, of the popular vote. Given that, along with the low voter turnout, it is a stretch to claim that a majority of Americans wanted her to be president. In the long run, the results of the 2016 presidential election may not be as disastrous as many women feared.
4
I was a child when Bill Clinton was President and it always made me angry and confused that the First Lady was expected to be a homemaker above all else. My mother told me about her law degree and a little of her history and it made no sense to me why she was expected to pick out decorations for the Christmas tree rather than be in the fray. My mother didn't really support her for president (although I'm fairly certain she voted for her), but I did fully and I would again. As a child I also did not understand why she didn't leave Bill, but she explained it in her book. And frankly, I trust my partner, but I can't control him nor should I. So why must Hillary pay for the sins of everyone else? I'm sure there are elements of her that are not pure as the driven snow but this is what feminism is about. Women are people subject to the same ills and deserving of the same respect and access to power as men. I'm furious with the "Women's" March for not including her and Sanders has my eternal ire for his repeated sexist remarks, behavior, and inability to so much as scold his followers. I also think a great deal of this idea that women would retreat is based on the sexist myth that we're all white suburban housewives. Clearly, some women voted for sexists like Sanders and Trump, but many regretted it. We do have brains and we can think for ourselves. I for one am furious that men have a super-majority in congress. Clinton said it herself; "representation matters."
24
"The 2018 midterm elections will test whether the Women’s March and related movements can translate into electoral power..."
Some 30 million women voted for Donald Trump. The revolution is not going to be built on #MeToo. If the left doesn't work hard to communicate policies that will work for the average American then there won't be enough wins to stop the ongoing GOP desctruction.
4
I've been a regular supporter and fan of Hillary Clinton from the beginnings of her presidential run. I still find her eminently superior to most politicians, and certainly superior to all of those who were running against her in the 2016 election cycle (including Bernie Sanders). I openly admit I want a woman to crack this particular American presidential glass ceiling as well as to crack other glass ceilings en masse rather than as one token woman at a time. I saw a lot of misogyny and double standards among the media, voting electorate, and Republican politicians, and, unfortunately, the deep dishonesty and partisanship among Republicans is what won the election. For me, Trump's win is a triumph of Machiavellian and Hobbesian sorts of politics, and I see much of the voting electorate as dumbed down by reality show spectacles, conscious and unconscious sexism, dishonesty, and ignorance. I saw online postings by blue-collar truck drivers and FedEx delivery men who were ridiculously overjoyed by the false notions of how Trump would deliver them large tax breaks. I doubt they even paid attention to how Trump's tax plan delivers the largest tax breaks to corporations and to the wealthiest Americans, not to blue-collar workers like themselves.
14
Oh puleeze. HRC could not beat the most beatable candidate in history.
For the record - she made a mess of health care in 1992 and was a very forgettable carpet bagging (moved to NY) senator prior to becoming Secretary of State.
She was beaten by Obama in 2008 because she had no message other than some centrist nonsense that had the look and texture of old polenta. That and the fact that many Dems simply did not like record and personal associations.
No. Shame on the DNC for sabotaging Bernie Sanders who actually did have a clear and powerful Great Society message.
Both HRC and trump glommed the best parts of Bernie.
The Dems couldn't believe that someone like Bernie could get elected. How ironic that the Republicans had no such lack of imagination regarding the pig dog in chief.
9
Any discussion of the disastrous 2016 election should include these factors: first of all, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by some three million; somehow the GOP allowed a vastly unqualified candidate to represent them; gerrymandering of political districts led to unfortunate electoral college results; and finally, along came the Russians. Going forward, those who care to preserve what’s left of American Democracy might begin by working to require qualified candidates from both parties, outlaw gerrymandering, eliminating or at least changing the electoral college, and kicking Russians out of our business. Otherwise, we continue on the path on our current disastrous path to ruin.
12
Women will never have equal opportunities to men when child rearing is seen primarily as her job. Every ambitious women has to worry when she has a kid - how do I start a company without paid maternity leave? How do I manage my workload and get promoted when I can’t afford the $30k a year in daycare? Will I have to work part-time? Until men have those same personal worries we will not have equality.
10
There were younger women who could have stepped up to the plate but didn't. Hillary was not my candidate nor did I like very much. 2020 should be the year we finally get a woman candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand comes to mind but please don't give us another celebrity.
The DFL often has a very progressive platform. They do not however typically implement that platform/agenda when they are in power. Many real liberals are tired of the fake liberalism of the DFL. Add in that many of the things they supposedly fight for are things they somehow evolve on once the majority of Americans are polled to support a given topic. In some ways that is good, because they follow somewhat the will of the people, but they also look as if they really don't believe what they are saying. It looks as if the most important thing is getting re-elected.
They tend to be afraid of shrinking the military too, which is the definition of fear and fear mongering. Do we really believe that the terrorists will kill us all? Does the biggest military in the world protect us from world nuclear annihilation? Will terrorism ever be defeated, or can you simply define more things as terrorism?
The DFL seems to want to be conservative and authoritarian just like the GOP, just with a little less racism and prejudice, but still intolerant and prescriptive of morality. They are no less prone to become authoritarian than the GOP.
Hillary exemplified the conservative DFL.
2
Hillary Clinton was a stronger candidate than Bernie Sanders would have been. That comes from a Democrat who supported Bernie, firmly believed that Bernie would have been the better president and then supported Hillary Clinton.
The irony is that Hillary Clinton lost to the most unworthy candidate since Barry Goldwater. Her book does not accurately explain either her loss or the increasing activism of women since her defeat.
Hillary Clinton lost because she failed to inspire voters generally and white women voters in particular. 2016 was a pivotal campaign for Democrats and the party failed to realize that voters wanted a Democratic candidate who's sounded more like Elizabeth Warren than Hillary.
My conversations with white women voters make me believe that many of them rejected Hillary because she was an elitist woman who viewed women's issues from an elitist perspective and failed to affirm the worth of women who worked in low-paid jobs and raised a family, but found that their personal sacrifices had not kept pace with the costs of health care and college education.
The reaction of women voters since Trump's inauguration has shifted the focus of the women's movement back to the universal issue of gender abuse and discrimination. That has solidified women as women have run for and won many state and local elections in the last year.
If that trend is to continue, Democrats must expand the conversation to include economic issues.
5
Well said. Much to do, and sometimes you win by losing, so to infuse the passion needed to get involved, and win elections so justice and equality can shine bright...while ousting unrepresentative politicians sold to the status quo of misogyny. A sane society can only be restored by women's involvement, ironically men benefiting the most from it.
1
I have a great deal of respect for Hillary Clinton but people could not look past her baggage much of it contrived and eggaerated and look at her strength, intelligence, poise, education and achievements. As a nation we have become fixated on scandal, backroom talk, innuendo, celebrity and equating wealth with accomplishment and worth. Now we have what we deserved in the Oval Office. It remains to be seen if we have learned our lesson.
10
Note that at about the time of Trump's victory over Clinton, there was a worldwide wave of misogyny all over the globe. The female presidents of both South Korea and Brazil were impeached and removed from office. They were not above reproach like Clinton, but would they have been removed from office if they had been male? Unlikely.
4
I voted for neither Trump nor Clinton.
I'm not for Mrs. Clinton not because she is a woman - I am a woman - but because she has lent her voice and vote time and again to death. Iraq, Libya. Especially Libya. Other places.
I am so tired of hearing about her and her feminism and her support for women and children. Which ones? Certainly not for the ones who have died on her watch in the State Department, in the Senate.
9
All Rosa Park wanted to do was sit down because her feet were tired.
Saying that Hilary Clinton has been diminished and vanished as a result of an election loss, and calling this tragic is an insult to what she has really accomplished. This is easily the most significant event of her career.
It's likely that her influence will be greater than if she had won the presidency.
2
I wanted her to win but in the end believe that she did not run a good campaign and was too driven by celebrities. Now the only reason I would want Oprah, who I admire, to win is to knock out Bernie. As a senior I proudly say that the Democrats need to start running young bright people for high office..
She was nothing more than a cog in the Clinton machine, nominated to get around the Constitutional limit on Presidential terms. She lost because Americans (or at least those chosen for the Electoral College) believe that in a democracy high office should not be inherited.
If you are looking for a female politician getting ahead on her own merits, look elsewhere.
8
Until we know the granular details of how the Russians knew to target those specific geographical areas that flipped the electoral college to Trump, despite HIllary's winning the general vote by 3 million, we will never be able to explain whether Hillary's loss was a function of her campaign strategy, her personal baggage, her gender, or voter manipulation Trump and Putin. I suspect that Trump's unending obsession with not just the smearing but the absolute erasure of Hillary Clinton and her campaign has to do with his fear that as long as she is around, his "win" is suspect. Hillary Clinton is a living reminder of his most successful assault on not only on women but also on the public he so desperately depends on for his much needed attention. Our greatest punishment for Donal Trump would be our immediate refusal to report and to respond to his tweets, his bombast, his profanity, his stupidity. If we did refuse to give him the ONE thing he wants (i.e., attention), we could erase him from our national problems and focus on the real problems and their solutions. And then we could turn our very close attention to our representatives and senators and make sure they serve the citizens of this country rather than the trumpeter in chief -- Donald Trump.
8
The unwillingness or perhaps the inability of conservatives to debate publically the role of government is the meaning behind Hillary Clinton. That conservatives would allow all manner of false things regarding Clinton, only shows they know they would lose a public debate about the role of government. Little did independent voters realize that the Clinton that was presented, was a product of years of propaganda against her. And the left was hardly better, saying there was no real difference between Clinton and Trump, because of her Wall Street connections. It must be stated and clearly understood, that Clinton was disregarded, because she was a woman. If a man had her positions, talent, and experience, he would have won in a landslide.
10
In reading this article, which made many fine points, I found it instructive and empowering to read "Mrs. Clintons CAREER" instead of "Mrs. Clintons DEFEAT"... There is not total defeat in "losing", especially in a goat rodeo of an election like 2016. Maybe she was not defeated. Her life, hard work and career should be assessed, just like a mans would. She has been forced to walk a tightrope her whole career. If she was male, she would be President.
10
Some of us liberals simply didn't like Hillary's politics, her harsh and conservative views on things like the minimum wage, he closeness to banks and they ultra-rich and didn't want to vote for someone who was the opposite of where were wanted to go. I voted for Bernie, but only with difficulty did I vote for Her. I wish she is the Blue Dog Democrats would simply disappear. The democratic party needs to move on!
4
I'm 66. I've lived through a time of separate job listings--those for men; those for women. I've lived through a time when it was perfectly legal to fire a women for if she became pregnant. I've lived through a time women could not obtain credit in their own name. I've lived through a time when women were routinely asked questions in job interviews; questions never asked of men. Questions such as "do you have children? have you arranged child care? do you plan on having more children? how does your husband feel about you working?" I've lived through a time when even the most talented female athletes were denied scholarships and opportunities to compete. I could go on and on. Hillary Clinton was among the first women to brave the brutal world of presidential politics. Life every male politician, she was ambitious, but "too much" ambition in a woman was suspect. She has been tarred with the actions of a philandering, morally flawed husband. She demonstrated a physical and mental toughness and discipline that led her to a Senate seat. She served as Secretary of State. She became the first woman to win a major political party's nomination for President. She won the popular vote in that presidential election. She has my admiration and thanks.
24
She's not diminishing, she's not vanishing from the scene. I still admire her.
13
We'd have a woman president right now if the Democrats had not been so committed to the idea that Clinton was entitled and had worked to bring other talented women to the political forefront.
5
An absorbing & intriguing article that engrossed me from the start!
Can anyone else correlate the prurient similarities between Mr. Trump and JFK.
1
The most important movement Hillary Clinton's movement should initiate in addition to a fight for women's rights is the battle to repair the broken electoral system that was used by Republicans with Russian assistance to steal the election away from Hillary. She won the popular vote and actually would have been elected President but for the deliberate scheme to undermine our democracy by the corrupt GOP.
8
One of the most difficult moves in chess is a queen sacrifice. Yet, timed correctly, it leads to victory. And a queen always returns to the board for another game.
5
Some points mentioned in this article and by those who commented ring true. One person pointed out that a Gallup poll found HRC to be the most admired woman in America. But if another Gallup poll was run asking for the most disliked, unpopular woman in America it is likely HRC would score high in that one too. HRC is simply not a likeable person. Maybe that is the reason some said “they would vote for a woman, just not that woman.” She may want to believe her gender was the reason for her loss but she is simply not a very likeable person. She comes across as someone who believes she is better than the ordinary person. She needs to be aware that we are allowed to vote.
Is she the person who began the present campaign of the sexual exploitation of women by men? One person attributed that to Mr. Weinstein and Mr. Trump. So true. The real trigger was Mr. Weinstein. It was someone else that first came forward giving others the encouragement to speak up. Giving HRC credit for this is a stretch.
Another person referred to her political beliefs? Could that person have been referring to statement such as the following:
“We’re going to take thing away from you on behalf of the common good.”
Why work if we are not going to get to keep what we earn? I do not believe this is kind of government our country’s founding fathers intended to create.
1
Perhaps we made a bigger mistake by listening to a constant liar rather than blaming her for her personality, her past, her husband, her mistakes, etc. Maybe our bigger mistake was choosing what we have now - his abhorrent past, his vile present, and his sickening personality. We elected character flaw over character imperfect.
Perhaps good will come from this complete mess.
7
"The collective voice of victims of sexual assault, spurred by the revelations against the movie producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men, has become a forceful, cathartic revolt."
Thanks for confirming what we already knew: that this sudden wave of accusations is purely political. What's really telling is that the accusers can't even get the political affiliations of the alleged "tormentors" right: most are Liberals! It seems that the drive to accuse is partly motivated by a will to take men out of desired positions of power, and thus have a shot at replacing them. No wave of accusations of janitors or general low-level employees, whose positions don't appear to be desirable to feminist plaintiffs, for some reason. I doubt, however, that low-education, working class men are realistically far more behaved and respectful of feminist behavioral demands than high-earning executives who also happen to be able to afford much larger settlements, incidentally.
The fact is, the metoo "movement" (fad, really), the wave of unsubstantiated accusations, and Hillary's variable views on harassment, all have in common that they're self-serving. Her surprisingly diverse perception of victimhood (depending on whether Bill was implied), the weak excuses of the women in the WH for keeping their jobs (good money apparently trumps ideals), and the absurd reasons "wronged" actresses failed to come out earlier (a role pending, a settlement accepted) point to the same hypocritical leanings.
2
I voted for "that woman," but I did so, mainly because of the Clinton pair and the complacent political team they gathered around them, with my nose clothespegged. I wish that others, with pure and transparent villainy of "that man" staring them in the face, had risen above the smallness of their pique and done likewise.
To Mrs. Clinton, her loss must indeed have been a "cruel twist in [her] public life" but if her losing campaign indeed triggered the current outpouring of feminist activism, then her contribution should in no way be disparaged in the way she herself was. Her contribution is huge and, notwithstanding the inevitable future setbacks, it will be permanent.
Regardless of gender, this should prompt a celebration for the endurance of common human decency.
5
“Mrs. Clinton enters a select club of losing presidential candidates whose defeats lead to larger cultural movements. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was defeated by Lyndon B. Johnson in a landslide, but the bruising finish motivated conservatives to organize, establish think tanks, publish right-leaning magazines and encourage other conservatives to run.” And that organization grew to elect Trump, because over time evangelicals, Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, David Duke and others found a seat at that table so elegantly set by plutocrats without character or respect for the opportunities they seized that could only occur in a nation of laws and democratic institutions.
We have Trump because of Hillary. If Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders were the candidate, Trump wouldn't have a chance. People are not voting for the most qualified candidate; they are voting for the candidate they like. They don't like Hillary, sorry.
5
Whatever the deal is, it can't be Hillary.
I'm all for a woman President. Many are qualified.
But not Hillary. Her handling of health care reform ushered in the Gingrich crew in Bill Clinton's first term. She was such a repulsive candidate that she lost to and brought us Trump. Enough damage has been done by Hillary.
Yay for feminism. Women are rocking it, in work force, in leadership, in science, in the Olympics. If it weren't for women Olympians, the US wouldn't be nearly as strong and dominant in the Summer Olympics.
Angela Merkel may be the best leader in the world right now, and since 2005!
We need an American Angela Merkel now.
3
The more apt comparison is Al Smith. The first Roman Catholic nominee by a major party lost in 1928. It was still an issue when JFK ran in 1960 but he was able to overcome prejudice to get elected. Let's hope we don't have to wait 32 years for a female President.
4
The news media cast Hillary as "that woman". When she stood up to the senate at the Benghazi hearing and after her term as Sec'y of State she was well liked. The media kept saying she was not likable until people started accepting it. Btween the media and COmey, she was doomed. Had she been elected, there would have been a backlash in Congress and that would have spurred the women's movement.
9
Any Democrat who couldn't beat Trump didn't deserve to be President. The economy was good, getting better and building to where it is now. The wars were winding down, there was a the relative peace in the world and we had good relations with most of the countries in the world. Hillary Clinton was a dismal failure and she has no one to blame but herself for loosing a sure thing. She should stay away from politics and drift off into the sunset, a new breed of woman has been born from the ashes of her disaster,
2
I agree and I hope HRC takes some comfort from this article. People who couldn't vote for that woman saw only Wife of Bill, as women are so often seen.
Although not a participant in the MeToo movement I'm empowered by it as I am by HRC's persistence.
7
Disagreed with the author's saying if Hillary won, Harvey M and likewise would have been elevated not chastised. Come on! with the Hillary's zealous critics and pessimists alive and all around, the water shed of exposing sexual assaults would have been much faster and more monumental, not in a fashion of drip drip drip, such as facing law suits by lying current president: As we would agree Hillary would support and initiate policies to correct the inequality of pay at minimum and as herself experiencing misogynistic treatments throughout her life, she would welcome to dialogues on an honest, soul searching platform. Honest Hillary would be admitted her dilemma and her short-sight. What a day and night contrast would have been! dumb Trump keep insulting our intelligence by lying and bullying and he thinks he can get his way out. Experiencing all these dramas and paradoxical twists, I think Hillary's presence still very much alive not fading into the past!
9
Looking back at Hillary's record as a member of the Walmart Board of Directors, her inattention to workers pay, benefits & conditions and issuing the excuse that she was the lone woman on the board and thus powerless, I'd have to question her strength & character.
Incidentally, I've yet to hear of a woman giving Harvey Weinstein a quick kick in a sensitive place after he made his demands. If that woman entered politics, I'd vote for her.
4
HRC failed completely on one major test: will you start more wars in the middle east. For a brief moment during the 2016 campaign, Trump looked better than Clinton on this issue, and he is now proving himself a liar on that, too.
I am a far-to-the-left liberal on all issues. I think HRC failed the USA by supporting every war, every military action, every bombing campaign, and every attempt at regime change. There is only widespread carnage in its wake, millions of dead, and tens of millions of refugees.
I am very happy that thousands of women are running for offices from the bottom to the top. A good predictor was "Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World," by Malcom Potts, et al. It may take 20 years, but we'll get there.
3
Hillary Rodham Clinton has walked point for us for a long time, taking the bullets and arrows of calumny, intrusion and insult...helping to make a clear path for other women to gain the high ground. It's important to note and honor. Don't let it go to waste - vote, run for office, get involve and expect a place at the table and respect.
17
I remember on November 9th 2016 feeling like a good friend had died suddenly. It was a sick feeling. It like the friend died because they failed to get the brakes on their car fixed, even though they had been warned over and over that the brakes would fail. This friend was Democracy and it DIED when Donald Trump became President. Well maybe now, we as citizens of The United States of this so called Democracy; we are getting the brakes checked and our woman are leading the way.
5
this article gives Clinton too much credit. Many of us never wanted her to run, and in fact think she was the worst candidate the democrats could have chosen. I thank them for the nightmares we are all living thru since Januarhy 20, 2017. She has never been my version of a feminist.
8
Something being over looked is the obvious deal/dirty tricks used to insure HRC got the nomination. BHO basically promised her the nomination if he supported her. Bernie was under cut by the democratic leadership to insure this. The repubs with all their faults, appear to have, for a change, a far more open free wheeling nominating process than the democrats. This didn't make trump or the clown car of other republican candidates look any better but it sure made Hillary and the democrats look like old style machine politics. If the democrats can manage to put someone out there that isn't a fossil or a product of a process like last year, I think the majority of voters will give that person a fair hearing no matter their sex or race.
7
A charismatic young southern governor won the WH in 1992 which scared Republicans silly; and when everyone realized that his wife was even smarter and tougher and more accomplished than he it scared Republicans even more: they saw a Democratic political dynasty in the making. And so the demonization of Hillary came…and came…and came...relentlessly for a quarter century. Republicans try to break political opponents so they can fix government toward their narrow interests. Whitewatergate was Ken Starr's initial charge which grew to no less than SIX investigations, not one of which found any wrongdoing on her part. The Whitewater land deal was a run-of-the-mill real estate investment in northwest Arkansas—the common small land deal your average Republican legislator has enriched himself on for generations all across the land.
Thing is, Democratic Party leaders hardly raised a word in her defense over the decades. What a shame. What a broken political system: one party is feckless, the other is evil.
15
Given the enormous amount of information that has come out of the me too movement, I would think every women must be giving 2nd thoughts about how "horrible" Hillary Clinton was. Hillary is an American Hero! Imagine the misogyny, harassment and anger by men she has endured in her life time. All of us know how frozen we feel when we experience verbal and emotional abuse by men. The subtleties and nuanced ways men belittle and betray us is told with each new story we hear from women who share their stories. That second debate, when Trump followed her around brought a tidal wave of fear into my heart for Hilary. She is a brave Global women. She was "cheated" out of her rightful place as the commander in chief. Now our country is in a downward spiral that we may never come out of. Shame on the cowards Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell for putting their misogyny first rather than our country. I WEEP FOR MY COUNTRY!
19
Correction she was never 'poised to lead', only poised to 'assume'. Wanna-be from the word go and disingenuous to match. If only a strong well-intentioned female had been nominated we wouldn't have Big Button and women's rights would've been furthered dramatically.
5
If Hillary had properly handled the abuse heaped upon her by Trump, especially
during the debates, I think she'd be president today. Instead her reticence
was interpreted by many as weakness for not putting him down the way
any American president is required to put down any despicable bully. Yet
in each debate she had a golden opportunity to do so but didn't.
For that matter, we needed the strong and wise woman she is in the White House far more than we need the feminist uprising that too her place. Moreover we forget that 53% of college educated American women voted for Trump.
Whether male of female, whoever cautioned Hillary even to surmise
that in the face of such dispicable bullying, it would be wise to speak softly without carrying and if necessary using, a big stick, as TR might have added, should have his or her head examined.
3
All professional women of my generation (I'm approaching 63) have had to deal with the double bind of navigating previously male-centric and male-dominated domains. When we stand up and speak with courage and authority, we're accused of being unfeminine. When we cooperate and try to get along, we're accused of being weak. And, there's more, so much more...
As a smart, well-educated, woman with principles, Hillary Clinton is simply a very public archetype--a perfect example of what it costs to balance on that razor's edge for one's entire professional life. Sadly, it's the no-win situation that all women of achievement still must navigate today. Because we've let some women in, but the rules of the game have yet to change.
When do we get to be seen as heroic for even surviving to achieve ANYthing in such a hostile environment? When will speaking up for ourselves not be mis-characterized as "man hating"? When will men recognize their part in keeping these attitudes in place? When will women (and men) simply be allowed to JUST BE--whoever we are, however we are?
175
Hillary who? Enough about her. Let's figure out which women can actually take out Trump in 2020. My money's on Kamala Harris. Please run so we can finally rid ourselves of this pestilence known as our current president.
3
Harris has drawbacks too. She doesn't think citizens should have the right to keep handguns in their homes for purposes of self-defense and while in San Francisco worked to get a measure barring such possession put on the ballot. After the Sup Court declared Calif's prisons so overcrowded they inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, Harris (as Atty Gen'l) fought federal court supervision. After Calif failed to implement the court's order to reduce crowding, and was ordered to implement new parole programs, lawyers for Harris appealed the decision on grounds that if forced to release these inmates early, prisons would lose an important labor pool. In 2012, the LA Times published an editorial calling on Harris to release Daniel Larsen from prison. Larsen, who was sentenced to 28 years to life under Calif's 3 strikes laws for possession of a concealed weapon in 1999, was declared "actually innocent" by a federal judge in 2009 and ordered released. Evidence in favor of Larsen included that of a former chief of police and the actual owner of the knife. Larsen remained in prison because Harris's office objected to his release on the grounds that he missed the deadline to file his writ of habeas corpus. The Times said that if Harris was unwilling to release Larsen, Gov Brown should pardon him. In 3/2013,Larsen was released on bond with the case on appeal by order of Attorney General Harris "on technical grounds". In 9/2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
America had the opportunity to elect a brilliant and eminently qualified woman as president, and instead chose a totally incompetent buffoon and vile male.
What's wrong with this picture?
23
I suppose that Hillary should have hosted a couple of seasons of The Apprentice.
And now people are extolling Oprah, who yes, would be an improvement.
4
Wake up and smell the coffee.
There is only one reason why Donald Trump is in the White House. The same Donald Trump so hated and maligned by the New York Times and most of its readers, CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the left wing mainstream media. That reason is because the Democratic nominee was the one person Trump could beat: Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton is a "congenital liar," as William Safire put it. She is totally unable to tell the truth. About anything. She is corrupt, as we were beginning to learn about the Clinton Foundation, and others of the Clintons' dealings, with many more details to come. The corruption extended to rigging the Democratic primaries. She is a presumptive felon, with an indictment spared only because higher-ups would not let law enforcement do its job. The idea of Hillary Clinton as a champion for women is a joke. She was the chief enabler of her husband's cheating, lied through her teeth on 60 Minutes about Gennifer Flowers, and led her husband's defense against sexual harassment claims, seeking to destroy his victims in the process. Her place in the political stratosphere came about only because of the coattails of her husband.
All of the above was just for starters.
Donald Trump is what he is. Excuses for him are hard to come by. Politically, however, he would have been just another losing presidential candidate had the Democrats not had blinders on about Hillary Clinton when they chose their nominee.
15
HRC, after vilifying a victim of sexual assault as a lawyer, after vilifying every woman who called WJC3 a sexual predator, is now empowering women.
HRC, the opportunist.
10
Hillary is my hero. She is brilliant, courageous, inspiring, compassionate and endlessly pragmatic. A true leader. To use a term that has been completely overused by the disingenuous liars in the white house, the way she has been treated is a national disgrace.
18
Perhaps what feminists learned from the American evolution of 2016 is that you have to have an actual set of ideas to run for President besides your gender. jus' sayin'
The real long-term question is whether the American voter will remain turned off to career criminals running for high office by the messy spectacle of a woman openly accepting bribes for engineering international deals from high government offices.
While most of us walkedd away from that election with whatever wea carried along, Hillary gets to decide what to do with the hundreds of thousands she erne as a deal-maker while part-timing as our ''Secretary of State for Foreign Businessmen with Cash.''
3
It's all so absurd how tribal this thing is.
Any day of the week we can point to the 4 or 5 lies the joke of a so-called president told yesterday.
And in his defense, the Branch Donaldians will say that Hillary's the liar because she once made up a story about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia.
It is breathtaking how dishonest the right-wing has been in attempting to make Hillary look like a liar.
10
I like Hillary. She is very bright and has a strong sense of public service, if she is at times calculating to a fault.
But can we finally acknowledge that her husband's behavior was extraordinarily creepy toward Paula Jones, that the rape accusation by Juanita Broaddrick against Bill Clinton is actually quite credible, and the fact that she stayed with Bill all these years makes her something less than a feminist icon?
4
I think that the value of Americans watching the interaction of a woman finding out about her own husband being a violator of others is just becoming understood. Yes, she enabled him but she also has shared the denial we all experience because the truth is too difficult to fully process. We like to think that people in power won’t abuse others through sexual harassment and exploitation. When you are close to this you can see how people deny what is happening with many platitudes and rationalizations as to why we should not believe the crime occurred.
By watching her experience this in public we all have had this denial removed from our collective consciousness. This doesn’t in anyway change her history or responsibilities around Bill’s behaviour but we must also acknowledge how she represents a human beings struggle with coming to terms with a loved ones predatory acts. Is isn’t the perfect gift but it is a gift that has allowed us to learn. She is person who wants to help others she has tried to keep fighting in and around circumstances that would have kept most of us in bed.
3
I see that the Times is still pushing the "Hillary as feminist" notion.
When her husband's female victims came forward, Hillary attacked them.
The fitting description of HRC, "feminist war hawk", is an oxymoron, and it goes against the proud tradition of feminist pacifism.
And finally, a review of salary/gender data in the Clinton Foundation found appalling disparities - she can't even practice what she preaches.
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/14473
13
Hey, Amy Chozick, I recall you were among the mainstream media who churned out a steady stream of non-stories about the hacked emails that only served to damage Hillary's credibility. Good for you to see her more clearly, finally.
13
Think of all the women leaders of major countries ---Thatcher, May, Merkle, Meier---and google shows many more---and they weren't the wives of a president.
Also the US ranks behind dozens of nations with a higher % of women in their legislatures. Why is this?
This should all be the topic for the next op ed---especially from the NY Times, an international paper.
And btw, why does the NY Times have only 3 women as regular op ed page columnists--in 2018? And the 3rd added only this past year after decades. What rationalization would they think up for that imbalance? And only 1 black columnist also.
What message does that send?
6
Why is the Times even running this piece??? Enough already with Hillary Clinton. She is a smart woman and would have made a much better informed president than Trump, and thus probably a better president, but she was a very poor choice of candidate, given history and baggage. Time to move on!
4
It wasn't Clinton who got today's women realizing they were sick and tired of being treated like objects — invisible objects if they happen to be old, unattractive, or unhealthy — that are supposed to cheerfully accept the premise of most powerful men that their contribution to our country is worth a dollar amount way less than any male's.
It was Trump. And his greedy band of pious old white male sycophants.
8
She was dead right back in the day when spoke of the "vast right wing conspiracy" That's what did her in: 30 years of slander. That's why Hillary Clinton lost. No, she didn't murder Vince Foster among other crimes she never really committed Dems need a stealth candidate like Obama was to win. The right never had time to destroy his public image so he won the low information voters
7
52% of white women voted AGAINST a white woman for President.
Why not write what this is really about? Liberalism
Can’t wait till Nikki Haley runs for President - Then we’ll see who the ‘Feminists’ support..
7
More than Hillary Clinton, I think Donald Trump created the metoo movement. Our first Black president galvanized racists around the country. Our first president to brag about sexual assault galvanized women. If Hillary had lost to Jeb Bush this moment would look very different.
4
Even if it had been Bernie who lost in 2016, I—and no doubt many others—would still be very angry that a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women had become POTUS.
7
I mourn Hillary Clinton*s loss of the presidency.It cannot be made right.
14
Not to be churlish, but one cannot ignore the key role that Chozick played in bringing down Hillary Clinton with her relentlessly negative portrayal of Hillary's candidacy.
15
Still blaming Hillary , for, losing , for staying married to Bill, for Bengazi, for the uranium deal, for assuming her election would lead to complacency , for sexual harassers , give it a rest people. Let's just agree that between the media , and writers like Amy not to mention how some , yes they were women and men , accused her of just about everything under the sun they managed to throw the election to the biggest masher of all. How soon everyone one forgets her ceaseless work on behalf women and children . Yes her defeat has brought about more women running for office , black dresses abounding on the red carpet, rightful and false accusers of sexual harassment but only because women are just as guilty and as responsible as her basket of deplorables for what sits in the White house . Enough already and admit that even though she is now in the shadows , the dislike has a lot to do with how women feel about each other ; there is no perfect vessel ladies , no virgin Mary . We as a nation not only worship youth but beauty so if Hillary wore pant suits to cover heavy legs , or because they're more comfortable . We need to rise above all the falsities that are churned out by the red carpet ladies and give women that don't look like movie stars a chance for an Angela Merkle or an Indira Ghandi , not perfect but leaders just the same,
15
She was poised to lead and now is completely immaterial.
3
Love her or hate her, Hillary is certainly powerful. Trump can't get enough of her. Every day he tweets either her name, the election, or both.
Although I did vote for her, the reason I initially didn't want Hillary in the White House was because of Bill. Years ago I wrote NY Times comments about how the media would bring all of the drama of the Lewinsky years back to the fore. This is way before Trump got into the race. Indeed, this would have been 2010-2013, when I was wondering who would succeed Obama. I was figuring Hillary or Jeb Bush.
During that time, I wrote about how we would look back at the Obama years as a time of peace.
Well, that's certainly true thus far, with Hawaiians running for their lives yesterday morning while 45 golfed. And that we are all relieved that he WAS golfing when that alert went out to the people in our 50th state.
Hillary certainly seems to be a better alternative to that. Of course I voted for Hillary Clinton. "Me too" and the Women's March would not have happened but at least we wouldn't be having dreams of a nuclear bomb, like I did this morning. I lived during the height of the Cold War and never had a dream like the one I had this morning.
Hillary should have won and Trump would have happily tweeted against her every day. After all, that's all he's doing anyway.
13
Hillary may have been the most prepared candidate, but she was not the best candidate. The best candidate is the one who can win.
My democrats have squandered their future by allowing money to decide everything, including who owns the press (Republicans) and who gets to run (rich people and their wealthy donors). They have lost their base with a lack of ideas and business-as-usual governing.
You cannot just be the nicer Republican in this racially-charged, gerrymandered and poorly-informed America.
The perfect storm that led to the hate-filled Trump Show has been years in the making. Hillary was just the proof.
5
So, Hillary was an "imperfect" choice? Hopefully, those idealists whose perfect votes effectively elected the "stable genius" have learned something about cognitive illusions.
36
There are many silver linings to the very dark trump cloud; energizing the struggle against the tyranny of patriarchy is not the only one, but perhaps the biggest one. I believe trump is, fatefully, a terrible lesson that America still needed to learn. Many reforms are called for - shouted out - from his debacle. Further, Hillary's "vanishing" from the political stage, I believe, is not true, but her faded visibility is largely her choice, and perhaps only a temporary one.
13
The problem with Hillary (who I enthusiastically voted for in the primary) was her basically closed and secretive nature. I honestly think of this as a coping mechanism since she had been pilloried by the (mostly right wing) media for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.
Sadly, though, this allowed people to see her as a blank screen that they could project all of their negativity onto her, attributing virtual characteristics that just weren't real. Trump and his ilk ran with it, and successfully turned her into a cartoon. I tend to think he would have had less success at that with Bernie Sanders.
8
I always felt the problem with Hillary is that she did not divorce Bill.
In the end, many people saw Hillary as a return of "the Clintons".
3
I agree with your "blank screen' comment but as far as Bernie was concerned he would have been rejected by many women who would see him as the second man to knock her out of the running. I also think that Trump would rip him and his wife to shreds
8
What do I really know about Bernie Sander's "nature?" Probably not more than can be cobbled together from a Facebook profile. I don't really know about his relationship with his children or if he practices his religion or fill-in-the-blank personal detail. I knew what I needed to know for the job he sought: his politics and his plan and, more generally, his ethics. I haven't the slightest idea what George W. Bush or Mitt Romney are really like on a personal level. Do I need to? I don't believe it's even knowable between candidate and voter.
Hillary's Clinton's flaws as a candidate aside, bigger brains that mine have wondered if we simply lack the IMAGINATION to see a woman as president. It could be argued that we knew vastly MORE about Clinton because of her 25 years in the public eye. Yet we continued to demand the "real" Hillary — whatever that would be — in a manner we don't seem to care about in a man.
Have you ever seen images of Trump cuddling with his grandchildren? Do we even know their names? I assume cuddling is something grandparents do. I don't need evidence of it in a presidential candidate. Except we seem to require it in a candidate who happens to be a grandmother (i.e., Charlotte and Aidan).
I didn't vote for Clinton because I wanted a best friend. We just may have to get over that.
5
It was good to see Jesse Jackson’s tears of joy in Grant Park on election night 2008. But I never felt race was a major point of Obama’s candidacy, and don’t see him as responsible for the scorched earth politics of the right (epitomized by McConnell) or the identity politics of the left.
Trump seems to play his own brand of identity politics. It’s hard for me to see how a candidate of the left or the right can do that and then be president for all Americans.
So it seems to me that viewing Clinton’s candidacy through the lens of the gender wars is a philosophical and strategic error.
Quote by Oveta Culp Hobby, head of the Women’s Army Corps in WW II, inscribed on the WW II Memorial in Washington: “Women who stepped up were measured as citizens of the nation, not as women. This was a people’s war, and everyone was in it.” She served in Ike’s cabinet and it’s said he tried to convince her to run for president. But she went home, ran the Houston Post, and served on numerous boards. I don’t remember people thinking of her as “that woman,” though one member of Ike’s cabinet is said to have called her “the best man in the cabinet.”
3
And what national offices did they run for and win? I'm curious.
2
I cried on that night in 2008 too. And I am a 60 year old white man who grew up in the Midwest. Obama's election was post racial, Trump's election is a return to racism.
4
It was good to see Jesse Jackson’s tears of joy in Grant Park on election night 2008. But I never felt race was a major point of Obama’s candidacy, and don’t see him as responsible for the scorched earth politics of the right (epitomized by McConnell) or the identity politics of the left.
Trump seems to play his own brand of identity politics. It’s hard for me to see how a candidate of the left or the right can do that and then be president for all Americans.
So it seems to me that viewing Clinton’s candidacy through the lens of the gender wars is a philosophical and strategic error.
Quote by Oveta Culp Hobby, head of the Women’s Army Corps in WW II, inscribed on the WW II Memorial in Washington: “Women who stepped up were measured as citizens of the nation, not as women. This was a people’s war, and everyone was in it.” She served in Ike’s cabinet and it’s said he tried to convince her to run for president. But she went home, ran the Houston Post, and served on numerous boards. I don’t remember people thinking of her as “that woman,” though one member of Ike’s cabinet is said to have called her “the best man in the cabinet.”
2
It is a sad reality that women judge other women more harshly than they judge men. It is a sadder reality that despite winning the popular voter, Hillary Clinton is not now the president.
33
It’s also a sad reality that Bill Clinton was allowed time and again to suffer almost no consequences for his sexual predatory behavior while Hillary lead the team that dragged those poor women through the mud. Imagine where we’d be today as a society if she’d had the guts to leave Bill on the side of the road. She’d be president today.
1
Sadly, despite her qualifications, Hillary has always carried her husband's problems on her back. Then there are many who simply don't like the idea of a woman with power. I hope she removes herself from politics, only because I think I she'd be toxic at this point. She could work on problems through her foundation. I voted for her, but would like to see some young energetic faces in the lineup, men and women.
4
If Hillary Clinton - an awesome powerful woman is toxic it's because people accepted and wanted to be poisoned.
Millions of people voted for Mr. Trump knowing full well what kind of man he is.
7
Well I hope that she is chosen for a cabinet position when the Democrats are back in power. We need her expertise somewhere. We shall see.
10
Anyone who saw Clinton's full throated defense if abortion rights in the last debate would call her a feminist icon; exit polling showed that her strong words may have hurt her electoral chances in western PA.
14
I truly believe, and still do, that Hillary was the most qualified Presidential candidate ever; regardless of gender. The fact that she lost only proves that the American Voter isn’t that concerned with FACTS; only show!
Where do we go from here? Who knows? I think we really need to learn some very powerful lessons from this last election. Lesson 1. Find a candidate that has the pulse of our country, and then get behind them. My choice right now is the Lt. Governor of California Gavin Newsome. Look him up. He’s pretty impressive.
11
I can understand how some felt "so aghast and felt betrayed that so many of our fellow Americans voted for a misogynist, accused sexual predator", but that feeling also betrays a lack of understanding of what the election was about. Many were so determined to wrench their federal government back from the Washington establishment that they were not going to be picky about their change agent. Hillary Clinton, representing continuity with the outgoing administration, could not be their messenger. Whether a new feminist movement can translate into political success will depend in part on a wider understanding of the electorate and the issues then a narrow agenda based on gender politics would reach.
11
Hillary is neither“fading” or “diminishing.” She is organizing and come the summer of 2018 candidates and organizations will be seeking her endorsement as well as funds from Onward Together. I can promise you that.
13
Hmm? I viewed the Clinton loss as a rejection by Democratic and non-aligned voters, tired of the Clinton aura.
Hillary may indeed be part of the inspiration igniting a determination among women (around the world, incidentally) to seize their rights. But, make no mistake, America was tired of the Clinton aura.
3
She won the nomination and she won the populace's vote for the presidency. That's an odd kind of rejection. I certainly wasn't tired of her; I believe her presidency would have left us immensely better off--even without the horrible gauge of Trump as a measure. Make no mistake, you do not speak for America.
8
I voted for Sanders in the primary and volunteered for Hillary in the general.
I would say Hillary is smart and has done a lot of good things.
She also takes money for speeches which is no worse than any other politician.
Hillary's biggest problem is 25 years of right wing media and unwarranted high negatives.
In the 90's, I wondered when Hillary said the right-wing media conspiracy. But after a while, it was obvious.
I have neighbors who still believe the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered.
30
Hillary Clinton lost for a constellation of reasons, but they all boil down to Democrats deciding not to vote at all in 2016. Mrs. Clinton's loss did not ignite a new women's movement. We've been there, done that since the suffragettes appeared in 1848 America (and UK) dressed in white. White dress is the traditional colour for mourners in China. Medieval European queens dressed in white during mourning. Hindus, too, mourn in white dress. Mrs. Clinton wore white at her last debate with present President Donald Trump in 2016. More telling, she wore white at the Inauguration almost one year ago of the worst president in American history. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
3
It's too early to make any definitive statements about HRC's impact on the women's movement since losing to Trump. For some, her loss to Trump, a text book misogynist, may have been the galvanizing force allowing them the courage to step forward. For others her failure as a candidate was simply the much needed end of the Clinton years, Chapter 2. More time is needed for any accurate assessment of her loss to be deemed valid. Clinton brought too much baggage and that may have skewed a few voters who were on the fence. WJC, for all of his post presidential work, will always be seen as a womanizer with trouble keeping his libido under wraps. In effect, that allows me to cast HRC as a victim who chose to remain silent because it provided benefits....so..she remains part of the old consciousness and apart from the new day the Me Too movement has provided.
5
HRC is a modern-day Moses. Her journey has led women towards a promised land, but her personal failings have prevented her from entering. Surely a tragic figure worthy of a John Adams opera.
6
"Personal failings?" That she is somewhat introverted? Has difficulty going on the attack, so that in the end she appears to lack some sort of "je ne sais pas"....? How perfect does one have to be to run for president? Surely Bernie is no example of such elusive "perfection".
6
The author is wrong about the November 2018 elections. They will be a test of the electorate in that turnout will be all important. But more importantly it will be a revelation to many about how gerrymandering and voter suppression has undermined our democracy and turned it into a plutocracy. If the turnout is large but the effect is relatively small will the women continue to fight? Will men understand how they have themselves been undermined?
Given the mini-catastrophe that comes out of the White House every day I am simply hoping that the nation is recognizable in November. And BTW let us hope that the states are already working to counter the ongoing interference of Russian hackers into our elections. Bad enough to have to listen to FOX’s overt propaganda lies and fake news.
10
Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate. I supported her in 2016 both in the primaries and in the general election, but, when she lost in the primaries in 2008 to Barack Obama, then a freshman Senator and an unknown name on the national stage, astute Democrats might have figured out her weakness as a candidate and chosen someone else. The relative success of the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, a Socialist unknown with a very limited legislative record from a small state, was further evidence of the problems with the Clinton candidacy. I like many other middle of the road male Democrats am pleased to see that other women are not intimidated by Hillary's loss. I hope that the next president is a Democratic woman, but I muse of what might have been. If neither Hillary or Bernie had run in 2016, we might well have President Joe Biden rather than the person who now occupies that office.
10
Thank you. I agree on all points. The fact that Obama defeated her and Sanders came close to doing so (after starting at 5% and growing to getting 45% of the voters) should have been a warning. If she hadn't told every qualified candidate to clear the decks and not run, so she could run and win in 2016, her weaknesses might have been visible. The DNC made an error in refusing to hear that.
14
A common "refrain ...on the 2016 campaign trail was that they were happy to vote for a woman, just not "that woman"". In the print edition, the article immediately below this article is "The Heartbeat of Racism is Denial".
I would suggest that "just not "that woman"" is a denial of those who say it denying their buy-in to the dominant male centric, mysogynist culture.
"just not "this woman"" is primarily the politically correct statement by so many in denial.
19
I couldn't disagree more. Mostly people said "not that woman" when they were being called anti-feminist for not gravitating to HRC. Not that woman is a reponse to being told someone must support someone because she is a woman. Put "not that " in any other context - not that school, not that man, not that doctor, not that organization and it's not offensive.
8
I believe you're the one in denial. You're denying the truth of what people have said about their choice in order to bolster your own fantasy that all voters who rejected Clinton are sexists bound by the rules of some misogynist cult. You're denying that millions of people found Clinton as loathsome as Trump for a plethora of reasons having nothing to do with her gender. Denial that their candidate lost due to her own flaws and mistakes is a hallmark of the Clinton faithful. Elitism still runs deep in the true believers. Have you learned nothing?
5
I'm proud to say I supported and voted for Hillary. There were strategic mistakes to her loss: not stomping through the Rust Belt, talking more about trump than about her platform, and, of course, Bill.
Much of the media focused on trump and his outlandish comments and campaign. CNN was so focused it gave trump a platform by constantly talking about him. They aired his campaign stops, Hillary's seemed to be forgotten. Of course we all know of Matt Lauer's famous interviews- soft peddling trump and blasting her out of her seat. Hillary (and Bill's) history seemed to follow her and was constantly referred to. Despite her hours of testimony on Benghazi (talk about a witch hunt) the Entertainment Tonight tape, while outrageous, didn't seem to harm trump (even among the Evangelicals).
She has even been lambasted for her friendship with Harvey Weinstein while Meryl Streep seems to have been forgiven.
Hillary is a lightening rod. Not the first females Sec of State, but certainly a pivotal one. Not the first strong female First Lady, but again a galvanizing one. Not the first female Senator, but she could work across the aisle, which many Senators have forgotten how to do. Warts and all, she should be sitting in the Oval Office.
Shame on the Women's March movement for not putting her among the leading American women. Her biggest mistake was how she dealt with her husband's accusers. Not her finest hour, but don't we all have one?
243
Hillary with all her personal baggage also suffered from long time right wing demonizing of her. With all these obstacles, she still won the popular vote by over 3 million. It was our archaic electoral college that did her in. The people were robbed of our rightful president, Hillary. If the Reagan movement took about twenty years to come into its own. I hope the women's movement doesn't take that long.
12
Like Eleanor Roosevelt, I've concluded that Hillary Clinton will not be truly free and happy and liberated until (if) she becomes a widow. It's a sad commentary on American life that in the late 1990s not much had changed from more than 50 years earlier when Eleanor Roosevelt was in the White House. A sitting First Lady felt that she just could not divorce her philandering husband.
Eleanor Roosevelt had to wait until April 12, 1945 to live the life that she'd always wanted. She had to endure one last indignity--learning from her own daughter (who knew but had kept the information from Eleanor while Franklin was alive) that mistress Lucy Mercer had been seeing FDR until he died and in fact was with him when he passed away in Warm Springs, GA. But Eleanor was lucky to live for 17 years after that until 1962--the 17 happiest years of her life. She worked at the United Nations, met Harry Belafonte and Martin Luther King, and probably would have become a radical anti-Vietnam War activist had she lived into the late 1960s.
Why, in 2018, does any former First Lady feel constrained as Eleanor Roosevelt did in enduring her dismal 40-year marriage to Franklin?
13
I find it very telling that neither Clinton nor Obama has opened their mouths about all the travesties of this first year of fascist Trumptopia. If they cannot be the voices of real opposition, then who will rise from the Democratic party to be the new voice of the future? My opinion is that all these career politicians are on the payroll of big money interests. If we don't get term limits---if we don't change the whole electoral college mess---if we don't get rid of Citizens United--there is no hope for change. And quite bluntly I don't see any current or past Democrats making a big noise and leading the public to demand such changes. Obama was a huge disappointment. Clinton was deaf and blind to reality regardless of what her intentions were. The US is getting what it deserves with every disgusting move of the Republican Party and Emperor Trump because everyday Americans are too indifferent to the changes around them to really do something along with protest.
3
I don’t know where you have been, but HRC has denounced Trump and his racism and misogyny seversl times.
5
A woman who spent her life preparing for leadership is defeated by an otherwise unqualified 'Alpha Dog'. Forget the hand-wringing 'How could we have lost???'. That is easy, for two reasons. First, since the founders most Americans have believed that men are genetically more suited to lead, and that the same Alpha Dog traits that lead to misbehaviors are crucial in battle, and thus are to be tolerated. Now we are seeing what's wrong with that idea.
Second, Americans have been suspicious of electoral dynasties from John and JQ Adams to the Roosevelts to the Kennedys, but even more suspicious of dynasty through marriage. Whether Hillary or Michelle or Eleanor, we have wanted the First Lady to be a Lady first. Fearing the likes of Imelda Marcos or Grace Mugabe, we precociously disqualify wives, like the British do not allow the wife of the deceased king to succeed. Thus, whether in 2008 or 2016, Hillary had an extra mountain to climb, and Bill's past behaviors made it worse.
It is women who succeeded based on their own career, not their husband's who have been elected and proven effective worldwide. We could certainly use an effective woman in the White House today instead of Dog One.
2
But Democratic Alpha Dogs are not tolerated: Bill.
To all the women who didn't vote for Hillary because of your various reasons. Maybe you wanted Bernie and were angry when he didn't get the nomination. Maybe you thought she should have dumped Bill for his escapades. Maybe you believed Comey really had something on her because of his perfect timing.
Whatever your excuses, by not voting, you gave the election to Trump.
We would not be in this mess today if a majority of women had gone to the polls and voted for her. Wear your pink hats, march, protest, write letters. You owe it to the rest of us to admit your previous bias. We may never have another opportunity like the one we lost because of sheer stubbornness.
29
Nobody's perfect. Hillary Clinton was an extremely well-prepared, hard-working candidate, and we are worse off for the holier-than-thou attitude of voters who couldn't vote or "that woman."
21
This country avoided what would have been its worst nightmare by not electing Rodham.
2
Absurd.
Why not attribute it to Trump having won?
And that fact CAN be blamed on Hillary Clinton.
3
Hillary was a major reason for Trump's election. She does not have the public's trust.
And that goes triple for sjws like Sarsour. The left does not understand that their identity politics was a huge factor in electing Trump. And may be in 2020.
3
Hillary Clinton is a hero because she is an imperfect, but brilliant woman. Who has not stumbled through life? Yet Clinton keeps coming out ahead. That’s the sign of a winner. Trump will be remembered by history as a very dark figure who made every effort to destroy the world. Clinton on the other hand will be remembered for fighting a good fight and shining a light on the transformation that is called Feminism.
24
As a contemporary of HRC, introduced to the Women's Movement in a conference at Yale in 1969, then in a consciousness raising group of students and "faculty wives" (almost no faculty women then) at Oberlin College, I understand the forces she faced as an ambitious person, who happened to be female, at the end of the back-to-the- kitchen- have 4-5 babies- post WWII era of the 1950s and 1960s. I understand her work in Washington DC on the Senate committee to force Nixon's resignation led her to see that her dream of being a president of the United States (a dream any white boy was entitled to at the time) was "not gonna happen". So she did the next best thing, married an equally ambitious white boy named Bill, who also believed in her dream for her but only after he had his. etc. etc. etc. I was sensitized to the sexism in all the Ap/UP/NYTimes?WP articles about her over the years including in the 2008 primaries. It was horrific. Go back and look at it. Not from Right Wingers only but from Liberals. Babsically from the white patriarchy. She has always had all my sympathy and my vote. She's not perfect. No one is. But she fought the good fight. Thank you Ms. Rodham-Clinton!
28
Perhaps, some day, when enough time has passed to gain perspective, someone will write an in depth analysis to help us understand why so many women voted for Donald Trump over one of the most qualified candidates for president, who happened to be a woman.
Clinton’s flaws pale in comparison to Trump’s. Yet women, 52% of white women, preferred the self proclaimed sexual predator, the thrice married philanderer, with little knowledge of foreign policy and less of the Constitution to “that woman.”
I can’t figure it out. But I am willing to wager that in the years to come, when historians analyze this election, they will see the fault lay, not in the candidate, but in the voters.
17
It amazes me that people still will not see what happened, but I suspect the history books will state it clearly. We had the opportunity to elect an incredibly qualified candidate, but because she was a woman, the country collectively rose up and spat in her face - and the face of all women. “She didn’t read the electoral mood - concerns were economic” - blah blah blah. They loved Obama and he had the exact same policies. They just couldn’t stand her and that was pure misogyny.
17
Crediting the national awakening among women to their power to go public over sexual harassment to Hillary Clinton is like Lincoln's quip that the whiskey Grant drank was responsible for his triumph at Vicksburg. Only difference: Lincoln was kidding when he ordered his aides to send a case of the stuff to his eastern generals. The claims of this op-ed rest on zero evidence. For every day we continue to talk about Hillary we extend the political life of Trump. Bad deal. Bad editorial choice for op-ed space. Get over it.
2
Please, please vote during the mid-terms, and oust the decrepit, dysfunctional GOP from office. That's the only thing that can save this country now.
7
An extreme distortion of reality. How about how the "stoic" HRC has blamed everything and everyone else for her loss rather than her publicly plastic convictions and public attempts with Debbie washerman Schultz to undermine Bernie's campaign. Her embrace of the sexual harassment and women's rights issues are a tacit assertion that "she lost because she is a woman" rather than the truth that she is a bad candidate.
11
William, The DNC is not a public organization whose aim is defined by democratic ideals and/or laws. HRC was deemed by the DNC elite their candidate, the ONLY candidate. Bernie was their opponent, not their team mate. (plus he's not even a Democrat! )You and others might not like that, but that's the reality. The DNC was poorly led by Wasserman, that's the crux of it. Its still hard to say how well the DNC is being led by Perez. He's there, occasionally making appearances...but not much else. Hard to judge right now.
Only a slice of the electorate thought she was a truly bad candidate. FYI, she won the popular vote.
4
Read her book. That's not what she's saying.
3
Hillary Clinton would not have offended me or hurt my heart, which is the daily experience with the wretched donald trump. She would not have demeaned other people, or pursued racist policies and enshrined bigots and authoritarians. That America prefers thugs and mediocrities instead of earnest hard workers, is telling.
36
Hillary Clinton’s long term membership on the Walmart board demonstrate her anti-women credentials real well.
A more up to date example of Hillary Clinton being anti-woman: Her part in the destruction of the functioning and wealthy state of Libya; a state where, unlike much of the Arab world, women had rights before the law.
So in many regards Hillary is anti women, unless this Times essay means she’s like Oprah good at self aggrandizement.
Specifically, as late as October 2015, Hillary was talking about turning Social Security into means tested welfare, so that office workers, and yes floor workers at Walmart, many of whom are poorly paid women, would have to work longer years for Social Security benefits.
9
I think you are about to tell me that Bernie would have won.
1
I would recommend that we all stop referring to Donald Trump as an "accused sexual predator," as thought his status were just a matter of opinion. Granted, legally speaking, he has yet to be condemned as such in a court of law, but while cases against him are still working their way through the courts, can we not at least call him what The Bus Tape proved him to be, a "self-proclaimed sexual predator"?
12
HRC lost because she was the candidate, not because she was a woman. While there is no question that sexism, along with racism, is and will remain huge issues in this country, BHO showed that by and large the American public is willing to look at almost any candidate, with the possible exception of a Muslim or an atheist for president (go figure). Even these barriers are going down in some areas. If either party runs a woman without some of Hilary's baggage I think they'll be given a fair look. After all, Obamma (and trump to a certain extent) showed you don't need any experience or accomplishments to run and be elected.
2
I am glad HRC lost the electoral vote in 2016. If she had won, the most positive results would have been in the judicial part of govt.; especially, with SCOTUS. But, at the same time, probably or possibly, the GOP grip on Congress would have strengthened ... more Bengazi inquisitions, attacks on the ACA and immigrants, social benefits and gridlock.
Instead, the GOP is getting a chance to reveal who they really are and what they value ... very ugly.
So, while there will be some longer-term problems in the US judicial system, the others may be dealt with each time there is an election. Fight On.
70
"Instead, the GOP is getting a chance to reveal who they really are and what they value ... very ugly"
& yet from the outside, electing Trump simply reveals what America really thinks it is and what it values... very ugly
2
The GOP has not only a chance to reveal who they are......but also to destroy the country. The real question is if our democracy, perhaps even the planet, will survive a Trump presidency. Obviously the GOP has no intention of reigning him in.
3
Moses never entered the promised land either.
8
Hillary lost much if not most of Trump's American back in 1992 when she said something to the effect that "I suppose I could just sit around and bake cookies [like the rest of you losers]".
When she voted for war in Iraq she lost me and many others. I was at the Washington State caucus the day Obama took the delegate lead and never looked back. He would never have been heard from had she voted otherwise.
My point it, the Clinton's lost; Trump did not win. The outrage that built up over decades concerning the "I did not inhale" wing of the democratic party was too great for the mere outrage that flowed the the state of New York, the only place that knew Trump well. Now, that tide has turned and everyone has had a chance to get the measure of Trump. If the democrats are smart (and they aren't), they will keep the Clintons and their toxic legacy away from cameras and microphones and just let the outrage flower.
My father was correct when he often said that you are generally voting against somebody. Without the Clintons to kick around anymore (in Nixon's toxic phrase), it should be easy to let the Republicans sink themselves, as they carry on with their despicable ways. (Do they not know, or do they not care?) Of course, that assumes the Dems don't, like a bad sports franchise, find another way to lose -- which they are certainly capable of. The choice between despicable and pathetic is not an easy one and many make it by staying home on election day.
2
The bigger issue is that transferring power back and forth between family dynasties is terrible for democracy. Years of Bush v Clinton created a royalist atmosphere, disconnected from real concerns — on both sides, don’t forget about Jeb! — and now here we are suffering under Trump’s fake populism in what is easily the mo
3
I've said many times since the Women's March of 2017 that fake forty five ignited a rage that lay dormant or depressed in women. That awful day in January when a new president described a dystopian America was more fuel for the rage. In the last year, women who never thought they would enter politics are running in red and blue states while men of the GOP are running from Washington. I'll be at the March for Democracy in a few days; I suspect (and hope) it will out do last year. Times Up...fake forty five. We are coming for you and those who support you will be ousted on November 6, 2018.
11
Interesting article, but ends on a strange note. Hillary may be currently on the sidelines of the political world (for obvious reasons), but her defeat in the election and all the events that have followed put her squarely at the forefront of history. It was not *just* that an unqualified misogynist won the White House -- true, that was a horrible outcome! -- no, it was that the unqualified misogynist beat an OVER-qualified woman. This confirmed for all capable women the ugly reality that we have tried so hard to ignore as we urge our daughters to work hard in school and seek careers: an unqualified white man will always get the job you want, no matter how superior your character, capacity and education. THIS is the vile truth that sparked the current women's revolt.
If Trump had won the electoral college over Bernie Sanders, you would not be seeing this moment unfold with quite the same fervor. HER role in the equation is vital, catalytic, undebatable. Those, like Linda Sarsour, who wish to say this is merely a reaction to the horrors of Trump are sorely mistaken. I donned my pink hat and marched last January -- it was without question one of the best days of my life, and I will do it again -- but Sarsour and the self-proclaimed feminist leaders MUST give credit where it is due: to Mrs. Clinton.
32
Had Clinton won, the obstruction and demonization of the Obama years would have continued exponentially. Her loss/his win has changed the trajectory and exploded the conversation. I just hope we survive alive.
4
The 'Rehabilitate the Clintons' movement is underway. It is amazing how many people support HRC despite every evidence indicating how little daylight shines between neoliberal Democrats like her and people like Dubya, his Dad, Reagan etc on economic philosophy. Economics matters less for those who are wonderfully ensconced in some lovely stable job for life like maybe - academic and tenured?, husband works for hedge fund?, employed by city government in permanent blue district?, military? air force? navy? etc. The suburbanites feed at a slice of the economic pie that is untouched by NAFTA, CAFTA, Globalization and the other assorted trade pacts and the harsh whip hand of neoliberal dogma. Their protected purses make their politics a purely identity politics. Income inequality to them is a matter of merit. They revel in their ignorance that when they climbed the ladder of career, they waited behind 10 people for their turn but today there are 1000s waiting biding their time at the foot of that same ladder. The #metoo movement has achieved great success, naming and shaming Hollywood predators but lets not forget that the Clintons were darlings of the Hollywood set. This article is an insidious attempt to ride the #metoo train and nudge the discussion away from economic issues towards identity politics
4
Hillary came out against the TPP and began to move away from neoliberalism long before Election Day. Your problem is that you didn't trust that she was sincere.
I really abhorred the Clintons and yet, of course, voted for her -the alternative being was it was/is. It’s the shame of the Democrats to have become such a marginalized party, with a vague message and nominating compromised leaders. HRC was indeed technically qualified, but people want more than that. They want perception of leadership and real change. She was not that. Trump is clear representation of...something, mostly awful, but there is something obscenely and fatally attractive and refreshing about him to many. He speaks his id and the truth, even sick, is more powerful than HRC’s well-intentioned script.
2
Hillary Clinton has been out in front, taking the full brunt of masculine rage for decades. In addition to the fact that she is (and was) the best qualified in her profession to lead our country, she is a trailblazer and deserves warrior goddess status.
38
Any business person will tell you that you learn from failures more than successes. Hillary may be the exception in that she did made the same mistakes in 2016 that she did in 2008. Though I voted for her in the general election, she was the best of a mediocre lot of candidates. Sexism played a huge part in her lost but so did the repidly growing xenophobia which increased in direct proportion to the lost of permanent jobs. And a reality show fraud like Trump was able to capitalize on that to win the election. This election was so profoundly disturbing that even a year later I'm still upset that so many American believe in this incompetent buffoon and all he stands for.
Bill Bradley hit the nail on the head when he quit the senate: Politics is broken. And that was nearly 20 years ago. Democracy is on the verge of becoming a huge political failure and there apparently is no way to fix it soon enough to matter for the vast majority of us. The age of the human widget is here and even that will go away as automation takes over everything.
At the end of day, as much as I respect Hillary Clinton's achievements - her career went on far longer than her husband's and history should respect her with more regard than her husband - she was another political hack who is part of the problem, not the solution.
3
Hillary lost because she is a corrupt political hack who ran a horrible campaign. President Trump also defeated a large group of male political hacks in the primary.
Hillary lost because large industrial states that voted Obama in 08 and 12 flipped their votes to Trump. Both Obama and Trump connected with these voters while Clinton ignored them.
Hillary did not do as well as hoped with women voters because she threw tens of millions of pro-life women into her basket of deplorables. I'm not sure if the feminist movement realizes pro-life women are actually women, or if they just believe them to be an inferior subset of humans.
In the end, as James Carvel said, "It's the economy stipid". Trump grasped this. Clinton didn't. I believe an outside the beltway female candidate who understood the issues of ALL Americans would have defeated Trump.
8
Right, because an outside the beltway made candidate didn’t need to understand the issues of all Americans. Lord help us. The misogyny is mystifying.
4
her career is a peeling mosaic of accomplishment and self inflicted wounds.
she enabled her husband from the very
beginning of his career to assault ,abuse,
and in the case of Juanita Broderick, allegedly
rape women.her own political ambition stopped her from leaving him and striking out on own.it is a supreme irony that many of her
supporters,the very ones who stood by in
stony silence as she denigrated his victims,
are now throwing her under the bus and
putting on virtuous airs.yes,history has passed her by,but the real tragedy is not hers,but Americas:Donald Trump is president.
3
Every single one of these comments demonstrates the result of a 30-year campaign against Hillary Clinton, that began because she stood up for herself and called herself Hillary Rodham. Then, she committed the heinous crime of saying she wouldn’t just bake cookies (and instead took on health care reform). Then, she committed another heinous crime of standing by her husband. Her biggest crime? Being the first at a time when uppity women were seen to overturn the "natural order" of male domination.
So she took upon herself all the slings and arrows. And this massive campaign continues under the outrageous double-standard that is imposed on women generally, and Hillary Clinton specifically.
I have followed Hillary Clinton for more than 25 years and actually listened to her. There has never been anyone who was that intelligent, that committed, that passionate, that hardworking on behalf of women, children, the disadvantaged, the struggling. Anyone who actually read her policy papers, her agenda, her plan as president, would appreciate her and realize what we have lost by the presidency being stolen away from her.
Women were snowed by the anti-Clinton forces and especially by the Bernie Bro’s.
And still she won an unprecedented 3 million more votes than the inept, corrupt, creep who was selected by an Electoral College that violated its responsibilities under the Constitution: to protect the United States from coming under the control of a foreign power.
49
During the campaign women would tell me I can’t vote for ‘that’ woman, yet were (curiously) unable to articulate exactly why (vague references to ‘emails’ don’t cut it). The 25 year campaign against her of lies and self serving propaganda by progressives and conservatives alike, aided and abetted by a press besotted with the trump circus, with a little of Putin thrown in for good measure, was despicable. More importantly, in the present metoo moment, would we judge and reject a woman because her husband, boyfriend, companion was accused of sexual harassment?
19
I admire Hillary but did not think of her as presidential. Trump of course is dictatorial. People vote for the president because of many reasons. First and foremost is he a leader. does he have moxie, chutzpah, charisma. Is he engaging and visionary. Sadly it is hard to put together candidates who like Roosevelt Or Kennedy Or Reagan or Bill Clinton or Obama, truly inspire people to get off the couch and vote. This next election in 2020 will need more than anger to unseat our current president. One of the best hopes for a presidential run would have been Al franken. But sadly he was “kneecapped “ and thrown out like the trash. Which to me was nearly as depressing as watching trump get elected. Hillary never really had a chance due to the baggage and the kneecapping done to her and bill over the years. Sanders did nothing but feed his own sense of self importance. Hillary can however aid the democrats in the search and the vetting process for the democrats choice. Soldier on.
2
The way many people outside the NYT liberal NYC bubble talk about Hillary Clinton absolutely turns my stomach and makes me feel like the future for strong/smart women is hopeless. I am a woman and training to be a surgeon and I find myself getting similar feedback about being "that woman" when I try and lead or alternatively getting feedback that I am too "insecure and weak" when I step back and don't lead. It's not just in politics. Many people cannot tolerate a woman in a position of leadership.
21
What became eminently clear this election news cycle is that you can always spin any story from any angle to try for the desired effect. Whether it convinces anyone else besides the converted is another matter. Hillary a heroic martyr who changed the course of women as victims and brought down the moguls, anchors, chefs, maestros, movie idols? Or Hillary the self-promoter who constantly overestimated her ability and worth, personified arrogance and entitlement, lacked warmth and charisma, was filled with greed, dishonest and corrupt to the core, and used the feminist mantle while attempting to destroy any woman who came forward about her husband's exploitations and abuses? Well, if we lose, all it takes is a revisionist writer to present a different slant. We feel so much better already!!
3
The truest "feminists" will not be at the Women's March next week nor did they vote for HRC last November. They can't afford the bus ticket to DC and were too busy earning wages to get to the polling booth. As a leftist and a woman and the first in my family to finish high school, I instinctively distrust anyone who continues to prop up HRC as a role model for women.
68
You have insight that the majority here are missing.
Clinton's only allegiance is to the Deep State, those in power both economic and military around the world. She was useful, a very loyal servant for them. Want a war? She'll push and vote for it. Fracking? Check. Overthrow a democratically elected government in Honduras? Check. Take "donations" from the most repressive regimes that are really muderously cruel to their women. Check?
The list goes on and on. But her most basic loyalty is to the group of mostly older, wealthy, white oligarchs who run the world. Not women. Not even all those women, and children, that "she cares about" in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine. etc. For them, drone bombs, severe injuries, maiming, displacement and death. That is the real Clinton, and those who think otherwise should wake up. Trump's supporters are not in the least more deplorable than Clinton's.
3
!Would #metoo have happened without Hillary losing?
Hard to say, but look at what resulted from the first black man WINNING:
The White Supremacists came out of the woodwork in their last gasp for relevancy and were rewarded with a racist misogynist abomination in the White House.
After all, in 2012 the GOP performed an Autopsy on how Romney could have lost to make Obama a two-term President and publicly conceded that their long-term future in the face of rapidly changing demographics depended upon building a bigger, kinder, and more inclusive tent.
But apparently that was too big a sacrifice for their old, white, wealthy donor class so they instead went for the short-term greed-grab of Trump.
In the end, it's hard to say Hillary actually "lost" when so much was stacked against her and the nation's biggest "Loser" is in the Oval Office.
Even Trump, who tries to mythologize himself with constant exaggerations, still repeatedly points out that Hillary "should have won."
And the cultural shift resulting from Trump will hopefully have historians agree that the American Union finally won, once and for all, by overcoming the last push of the Confederacy.
We just have to get through the next 3 years.
Yes, we can overcome.
5
Just as Jimmy Carter is more popular now than when he was President, I hope that the passage of time will result in history having a more favorable view of Hillary.
5
The "sidelines" can be the best place to inspire a movement.
5
Perhaps she did win.
6
Terrible candidate. Hopefully the Dems will learn from her mistakes and grow, not just a movement but their own political party.
2
The womens' movement ignited by Clinton's defeat cannot succeed because at bottom it is a man hating movement. The recent letter from 100 French women pointed that out and was predictably dismissed by feminists. But hetero men see it plainly enough. All it can do is fragment opposition to the predatory right. What should have been the cusp of a great victory over ignorance, irrationality and corruption is being destroyed by this sexual politics transmitted social disease.
2
I will be marching in Washington, DC on Friday, January 19, 2018 for the March for Life. I will not be marching at the Woman's March the next day because I am not welcomed. They exclude those of us who are pro life and will not let are voices be heard. This is too bad because they are silencing many female voices that should have a voice. This is a form of discrimination that would not be allowed if committed towards any other group.
We are large in number but so much for feminism. You do not count or matter unless you tow their progressive agenda. How can you be taken seriously when you do not have a variety of viewpoints in attendance. That is the point. You are not because you do not represent all women. Very sad.
2
Since the election I have found myself capable of both sympathy and animus toward Hillary Clinton. She was undoubtedly the most qualified candidate in 2016 and I believe her administration would have been professional, ethical, and incrementally progressive. She would have faced strong headwinds from an intransigent opposition, but she would have been a better negotiator than her predecessor. Perhaps the sympathy is more for me and my country than for her. The animus arises out of the fact that she lost; that her sense of entitlement clouded her vision and that because of it we are stuck with the most venal and base imbecile the modern nation has ever seen. She stood between him and us and she blew it. I still can't forgive.
3
I admire HRC's intelligence and perseverance. The puzzle for me is trying to figure out what's in her heart? Was she so driven throughout her life so that she could do good or was she driven for baser reasons.
Her enabling Bill doesn't really answer that and it wasn't pretty, but what if it really was in the service of trying to do good? I don't think we'll ever know.
1
When ever i read comments about Hillary's short comings I feel rage.The media once again play a role in pointing out her "weaknesses in the feminist movement.
I am a strong supporter of womens rights and what many forgot is the an aspect of the movement was to ignore the stay at home moms. Hillary did not forget these women , mothers and their children. She fought valiantly for them.
When you look at the flawed men who have been President and compare their flaws to hers, it is a joke!!!
Everyone including the author points out Hillary's Flaws and we all have them. No man, even Obama , has not been put under a microscope the way Hillary has.
During the campaign, every time she was interviewed , the misogyny stuck out all over most interviewers, especially men. The lies, distortions of who she was was so horrible that many of us could hardly stand it.
She is the most respected and honored woman in the WORLD. AND THIS COUNTRY THREW HER AWAY. This article demonstrates we are still doing it.
538
thank you for saying everything we in our household feel every day. What a waste. We are truly a ship of fools in this nation. I urge you to read the latest biography of General and President Ulysses Grant-another gentle, intelligent, steely, diligent, astute and intelligent person much maligned in his time. History will be more kind to Mrs. Clinton just as it has been to Grant. I find that somewhat comforting.
5
The only reason HRC is so examined is that women could never ever determine if she was truly w/ them or just a narcissistic user of the movement.
As to bing thrown away you clearly do not understand how elections work. She never did anything to convince anyone but those already yoked to her wagon that she was worth voting for. Being competent is not enough. You have to convince people to do so. when you walk on a stage as the most stage managed politician in America and announce to white men you are going to take away there jobs what white women whose husband job/career is under the same stress is going to vote for her. these women are going to do the same thing HRC did and stand by her man.
3
Yes that's EXACTLY what this country did, threw her away. Never a truer phrase spoken. It galls me so badly.
4
"Hillary Clinton, the first woman who had a real shot at the presidency, has finally set off a national awakening among women. The only catch? She did it by losing."
Where? Certainly not here in the US. This awakening has nothing to do with Honest Hillary's loss. In fact, she has been swept aside as detritus with it's advent.
Further, this is not a rekindling of feminism...it's simply a response to too many years of silence in the face of unacceptable behavior by men towards women. Honest Hillary and her steady and unwavering protection of her pig husband is part of what is being swept aside.
14
I love Hillary, and so it pleases me no end to see that in defeat Hillary has managed to harness history. Her loss to the worse candidate and president ever pointed out in bold-faced print the latent misogyny and racism still prevalent in American society. No man with the credentials Hillary has would have lost to this creep Trump, no man.
On the anniversary of MLK's birthday, Trump is a disgrace to this nation. He hasn't an ounce of empathy for anyone. The unmitigated gall of Trump to come before the American people and claim "I am the least racist person ever", really takes some nerve. With every step he takes, Trump stains the Oval Office and the White House with his words and deeds. He is a horrible excuse for a human being. As an avid Hillary supporter, every day Trump spends in office only brings to mind what Hillary would have done. In every case I see the past year under a Hillary Presidency as an uplifting, stable captain of the ship of state. Her steady hand on the helm is so sorely missed. I firmly believe that we would be a far better nation one year in than we are today. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be living in some parallel universe.
DD
Manhattan
29
Sorry. Another article perpetuating a lie. Hillary was complicit in her husband’s sexual exploitation’s. She thrashed other women who brought sexual charges against Bill. How can she be a hero for others ? It is insulting that readers don’t know her duplicity. I voted for her not because she is great but because the other candidate was bad.
It was just the right time for women rights to come out with Trump in WH. It is a result of a flawed candidate in Hillary that lost so many Midwestern states.
9
So true, Dave. I voted for HRC but only because the alternative was laughable. HRC was not only complicit in Bill's denial of sexual misconduct
but also was a key player in destroying the life of "that woman." I am shocked that she is identified with the #METOO movement. HRC has been and will always be interested in 1 person and 1 person only - HRC.
2
She is loved and hated because Hillary did what any man would do... only better. Except when protecting a philanderer... men are infinitely more effective.
12
"She is loved and hated because Hillary did what any man would do... only better."
Classify information? Maintain a secure email server? Dodge Bosnian attackers? Or shut her mouth about a vast right wing conspiracy once the blue dress owned by another woman with her husband's sperm all over it was uncovered?
"Except when protecting a philanderer... men are infinitely more effective."
Actually, she was pretty good at publicly savaging the female victims of her predator husband. The dress was just a stroke of bad luck.
2
In the sleazy world of NYC real estate, Trump has always been the bottom of the barrel.
10
Hillary Clinton supported the invasion of Iraq, overthrowing Gaddafi and other imperial adventures that have destroyed the lives of millions of women. She supported the racist war on drugs that has threw disproportionate people of color in prison.
None of this seems to matter to the pink hat crowd or entitled women who look down on working people without degrees.
Nothing better demonstrates the moral bankruptcy and selfishness of these faux feminists than their support for Clinton.
13
So, you voted for Trump because he is so much better--a true "stable genius". Okay, I see.
3
Keep Hillary Clinton on the sidelines. Please. Better to send her to the locker room actually. Maybe send her to the parking lot instead. Keep her as far away from the playing field as possible. No good can come from inflating Clinton's false sense of popularity. We have Chelsea Clinton to fear as well. You can laud Hillary's accomplishments at the retirement party, if you can afford a plate. Until then, please keep your mouth shut. This nation doesn't need what you're selling.
9
So, why has there been no coverage in the New York Times of this year's Women's March On the Polls, scheduled for this coming weekend (January 20-21), the anniversary of the "Great Awakening"?
12
Why does Mrs. Clinton not say anything—even now—while Trump keeps calling her “Crooked Hillary”? And he wants to make libel laws less restrictive. The movement today is fighting back. That is the big change. Time for another march.
2
"Why does Mrs. Clinton not say anything—even now—while Trump keeps calling her “Crooked Hillary”?"
Um...because it's true?
3
I'm sorry--at last count women constituted 54% of the population.
Yet today, we have all 3 branches of the federal government and 29 State legislatures under full Republican control! How did this happen....think about it?
To all the women who didn't bother to vote...
To all the women who voted for Jill Stein....
To all the women who voted for Trump, because....you know...they just couldn't vote for Hilary....
Thanks for nothing!
So glad you're coming out I force now.
The hashtag campaign is really energizing, and those pink knit caps look so cute.
And so glad women candidates are coming out in force to run for office.
I foresee a great electoral sweep in 2018, with a flurry of legislation to undo the damage of the past 24 months.
And all these legislative efforts to improve the environment, workplace safety, consumer rights, voting access, and most importantly women's rights will be systematically struck down by Trumps radical right wing Federal judiciary for decades to come.
Decades....
Hashtag: TOO LATE
32
You have a lot of gall attacking Democratic women for not voting Hillary. Maybe she was just a bad candidate? And what about the majority of white women who voted for Trump?
1
For the life of me, I can't see why Hillary was such a "bad" candidate. She was smart, prepared, and kept on campaigning while sick--and left herself open to big fat Trump's claim that she was weak--tell us about those bone spurs again, please. But then I don't ever watch Fox News, and haven't consumed a force-fed diet of Banghazi!!! for years, and I never read a hair-on-fire story about Pizza-Gate--only the NYT's debunking it.
I do know a number of what I call "self-hating women" who assume that because they are crabby every month for a few days, no woman could ever do a good full-time job. I suspect that many of them are now wondering if it was such a good idea to vote for the guy who sneaked up to ogle young women in their dressing rooms, stuck his hands up random women's skirts, and who had to import two wives because there just weren't enough extraordinary women here already. How could that possibly go wrong? I imagine they justify their votes by thinking: at least we don't have to look at Miss Smarty-Pants telling us how the government is going to run. Thanks a lot, ladies. Now get back to the kitchen. Dad's hungry.
22
Paula, Donna Brazile reported in her book (a must-read) that Hillary was sick when she gave the "deplorables" speech. That one thing may have cost her the election. She collapsed on 9/11 two days later. I understand why she didn't trust the public enough to admit she was sick and take a few days off, but she needed to trust, understand herself, and do what was best for her and her campaign.
Losing? No t really. Nasty man is in office thanks to Russian interference...and becoming nastier everyday.
9
Good riddance! A 40-year obsession with living in the White House is done.
Germany and Great Britain have had tremendously successful female leaders, for whom their gender while not irrelevant has been quiet and not part of their fundamental narrative and screamed from the mountaintop as HRC has done.
And Mrs. Thatcher and Merkel achieved leadership on their own, not on the shoulders, or perhaps better genitals, of their husbands.
14
First of all, Margaret Thatcher was an irredeemable politician who did more to hurt England than any prime minister before or since.
Second, I tend to doubt that Germany and England have the misogynistic streak and propensity to sexually harass and demean women than WE do. That seems to be very specific to the United States.
1
So sorry to burst your bubble but Hillary had very little to do with this movement!
9
I can take care of myself, thank you. #fakeoutrage, #IAmNotYourVictim, #MAGA
4
Guess if more of the voters want to satisfy some identity-demographic bucket-list than some other criteria - a time will come for all those juggling unicycle riders and left-handed sculptors...
That so many voters see - or are coaxed into seeing - the symbolism of the office, rather than its substance...That's why fewer and fewer of our roads, rails, and runways, or schools work - measured against the rest of the world...
Watched from relatively close, as Mike Bloomberg did his thing in NYC - rezoning almost the entire place, to allow the private-sector real estate industry to flourish...Yet very few New Yorkers appear to know or want to acknowledge that Bloomberg was ever mayor...
Why not somebody like Jeff Bezos...
If the US were run like Amazon - even for just four years - it'd be a different country...
And for all the folks who talk about the relentless pressure on Amazon employees - of all types and at all levels - to produce...It's called being competitive...
In a recent NY Times interview, Bezos said something about the established book publishers that would be so appropriate for DC...
“...It’s very difficult for incumbents who have a sweet thing to accept change...
Imagine someone whose obsession with winning exceeds Trump's, and whose analytics and introspection exceeds Obama's...
ObamaCare sounds great if you're getting free stuff - or one of the incredible number of make-work jobs generated by the horrific inefficiency of the system...Otherwise - no...
1
This article skirts around what I see as the elephant in the room with HRC: why has she stood by her man all these years? I wish Salma Hayek would do a bio-pic that would give us an inside look at the tortured calculus of ambitious, successful women who are beholden to powerful men. More on my Transition Times blog: https://bethechange2012.com/2018/01/14/will-the-real-hillary-rodham-clin...
4
I will be a happy man, what's worse, a happy, white, christian man, if I never hear or read the name Hillary Clinton again. Please go away. She has done more than enough damage.
5
Another thinly disguised attempt to resuscitate the political career of Hillary Clinton. Now, she's the mother of a reinvigorated feminist movement. Hard to see how she lost the election to begin with. Fact is, we already have a Republican in the White House. Time to look forward Democrats.
8
I am shocked that the piece features Linda Sarsour, as if she were some sort of champion of women, when she stands credibly accused of enabling the sexual exploitation of harassment of women that she supposedly opposes. Details can be found here: http://www.uncoveringlinda.com/
Are the charges true? I don't know, but they are there and I am not going to just dismiss them as in the past - that's part of the #metoo movement - empowering women by, for starters, believing them when they come forward. And Sarsour's cred as an advocate for women is already dubious in any case for her unabashed shilling for the hijab as "fashionable" and "liberating" when there are Muslim women harassed, arrested, assaulted, shamed and even killed for choosing not to wear it. Is there a more potent symbol of male patriarchy that the hijab the Ms. Sarsour so passionately champions? Listing her alongside the true icons and fighters for women's empowerment is deeply insulting. But I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume that she is flying low enough below the radar that the author may not have known. In that case, let's shed some light on Ms. Sarsour.
10
The metoo movement would have never been allowed to happen with Bill Clinton sitting in the White House.
Younger women won when Hillary lost. That's a good thing.
10
I am pretty sure the article could replace almost every instance of "Clinton" and replace it with "Trump" and it would read almost exactly the same. And Trump won. Why would the NYT try to spin this back to Clinton?
2
Ms. Clinton's defeat, far from radicalizing the country, just brought out a different set of protesters: the comfortable, for whom "competence" is being at the center of somebody else's disaster, one after another, for years running. Neo-liberalism at home and bombing campaigns abroad worked so well for this crowd apparently, until Donald and Harvey.....
Wearing black is dandy, but where were you when we needed you?
8
It's been 14 month that the election was lost, and they are still licking their wounds talking and writing about Hillary RC. Oprah is being pushed as our best hope, Chelsea Manning is running for Senator. The Democratic party will never again have as much as a potted plant in the WH if they don't wake up and get serious about real candidates with skills to serve this country.
16
Does anyone believe HRC's political star would have risen had she not married Bill? Anybody? HRC is no feminist icon.
11
Before Bill was president (before he was governor, even), Hillary had graduated from Yale law school, served as congressional legal counsel, co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, was appointed the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation, and became the first female partner at Rose Law Firm. (This is from the second paragraph of her wikipedia entry, I didn't know this off the top of my head.)
To me, that indicates someone with a lot of potential. I think it's unlikely that she would have become governor of Arkansas (as a woman in the 1980s), but I don't think she owes her entire career to Bill.
3
She was a bigger star than her husband in their early days!
2
Let us not forget the continued hypocrisy of Republican voters who, on the one hand, said HRC was too shrill, but DJT just says it like he sees it. That HRC is so flawed, but DJT is just charmingly open. That HRC is a money-grabbing criminal, but DJT is a successful, art-of-the-deal genius. That HRC was nasty, but DJT was strong.
It saddens me that Democrats kept saying "Well, she's not perfect, but she's knowledgeable, experienced etc", while Republicans played this game of our tribe hates your tribe. Republican voters, can you explain how one candidate can be entirely evil, and the other entirely perfect? How does an adult do that? You can read just as well as I, and stuff like Benghazi and Uranium and emails are fact based issues. We can learn and conclude.
Unless FOX, blaring all day long in your house, screams at you to hate instead.
18
That cloud still has a lining. Not silver, but radioactive, it's called Trump.
He will be the end of the Republican Party. Karma IS delicious.
Thank you, Hillary Clinton.
17
I recall a steady stream of NYTimes articles penned by Amy C during the 2016 election campaign throwing shade on Hillary. Dealing with the aftermath of that election has been horrifying, anger and grief provoking - every day. I’ve been awakened to a dark reality that provokes a profound disrespect for the 35% of the electorate that cheers or turns a blind eye to what disgusts me daily. The academy of false equivalence of which Amy C was a part of is as much at fault for the daily horrors many of us experience as those who voted for and continue to support the current occupant of the White House. I’ll certainly not be buying this author’s book.
32
Mary--Wish I could log many more "Recommended" to your post.
5
crediting h(r)c (in defeat yet!) for the present wave of black dresses (dark in color but the same in cut as the red ones) is a refreshing spin on her blaming everyone and anything for said defeat.
so, we can, now safely, credit her for the election of trump and the subsequent increase in our awareness of all the terrible things for which he stands and by that declension, all the energies rising in opposition.
thanks hillary.
thanks
3
"Hilary Clinton ignited a feminist movement, by losing."
So, following that logical thread .. if Hillary reenters politics, that would setback the feminist movement?
That's good enough reason for her to permanently retire and stay out of our lives.
8
As any surgeon will tell you, you must expose the cancer before excising it.
I will go as far as predicting Donald Trump’s ascension brings to the surface the remaining racism and still rampant sexual harassment and will help us, in the end, move away from accepting either. We can hope.
6
Don't ever count this brave woman out. She will be back, which is more than this country deserves. It was shameful how ugly the attacks were on her, primarily because she is a woman.
At this point in our country's history, we can only hope that there are thousands more like Mrs. Clinton who will come forward and continue the fight against the troglodytes who are currently running the country.
22
Outside of mostly scurrilous, fantastic and ridiculous Republican criticisms there are real reasons to not support Clinton. She's a warmonger. She is at best a gradualist, and at worst a impediment to social progress. She loves Big Brother. She'd pursue persecuting and prosecuting Edward Norton. She is at the heart of the factions inside the Democratic Party who work in their, not the party's interest. Clinton as a token is pretty tarnished. There is more, but you get the idea. Is she preferable to the orange would-be Mussolini? Sure.
1
The election was Hillary's to lose. Why the 'smart people', through their hubris, allowed what happened is baffling. As mediocre as a candidate as she was, nobody had a clue as to how to fix it, a cautionary tale to those who subscribe to inevitability. Time to get creative folks, the same old same old is stale; no excitement, no connection to the new generation, no humor. Hillary couldn't find the humor in the caricature of her as portrayed by the media: a veritable Hannibal Lecter. Maybe if she had been wheeled onto the stage, a goalie mask on her face, it would have shattered the absurd and malevolent message being bleated continuously by the nattering nabobs of the propaganda machine that disguises itself as news. Something's got to give, I don't know what, but if women can lead the way I do know the country will be better for it.
2
Leadership is not, in itself, a social movement. The President of the United States needs to stand for all Americans as a people--coming from the varying sectors of society. It's the ultimate "consensus" job when done successfully. President Obama actually came very close to being that President because except for the inherent racists in society even people who didn't agree with his administration's policies liked him and admired him. He was FOR the people. Trump is FOR himself.
And that takes us to Hillary Clinton. Her exclusion from being a leader of this "national awakening" among women is shameful and counterproductive and cynical. Without her suffering all the indignities she did over an almost 30 years in the public spotlight there is no "me too", there is no "movement"--in effect the "movement" has victimized her in the same way the wacko Republicans have abused her for a generation. The movement's selfishness, shortsightedness, and ignorance of history is just what "Hillary Haters" have wanted all along.
26
Hillary is not on the sidelines! She's in millions of hearts and minds and continues to be a active agent of change.
18
Hillary is probably the most unfairly treated but smartest women in US and world politics. It is unfortunate that bums like Bernie Sanders who are filled with jealousy and hunger for power get the credit for many things that he doesn't deserve. Hope people of the United States will realize the value of Hillary Clinton as a person who can provide the mentorship to the new, young and upcoming leaders of the women's movement.
18
It is beyond time to stop talking about Hillary and start talking about which candidate(s) will run against Trump in 2020. I see no viable candidates in the pipeline at this time. Oprah is a nonstarter so please don't go there. The Democrats are in a very strong position now to recapture the House in 2018. I hope they don't blow it by shutting down the government over DACA. It is so typical of the Democrats to blow major opportunities instead of negotiating their way through.
4
The reason Hillary Clinton cannot join the MeToo movement is not because she's being blamed for the actions of the powerful men around her but because she's ENABLED those actions. Her shaming of the women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment and assault is unforgivable. She knew him and his history. She cared more for her own political ambition. And she welcomed Harvey Weinstein's financial support. Well, what goes around comes around. You're right where you deserve to be, Hillary Clinton.
11
The public was never willing to cut her an inch of slack.
29
Cllntons shenanigans cost her the election and the Democratic Parties obscene coddling of very damaged candidate has left a splintered democratic apparatus ,that being said the resistance is against Trump and not for Clinton !!
4
Can we please credit the real heroes, the courageous journalists Ronan Farrow, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; and the New Yorker and the New York Times who published their findings. These journalists and publishers endured threats, deceptions and abuse to finally give credibility to the many women who tried to find justice through the legal system. The Power of the Free Press should never be underestimated.
9
Hillary didn't just win Gallup's Most Admired Woman this past year. She's won it 22 of the last 25 years, coming in second twice to Mother Theresa and once to Laura Bush.
Hillary has been so reviled by the Old Boys Club for decades because they always considered her to be the biggest threat to their hold on power.
They were terrified she would become POTUS and make legal changes.
Instead, they got an anti-woman loser and the changes they feared are now cultural.
33
Donald Trump could be the greatest gift the Democrats ever received, if our country and our democratic institutions can survive until he is out of office.
2
She was a terrible candidate with too much baggage. And I voted for her too. End of story
4
If we had had President Clinton, we would have had more women working in high office, at the top of every executive agency than ever before. I'm quite sure we would have had another woman on the Supreme Court, and probably a female Secretary of Defense. With women empowered at the top levels of government, we would have made real improvements to women's lives, including health care for families, reproductive rights, addressing sexual assault, equal pay, and more. am I glad that her loss ignited grassroots anger that is driving more women to participate in politics than ever before? Sure, but that's a silver lining to a very, very dark cloud that didn't need to happen. It's like saying you're glad that Gaby Giffords has done so much to raise awareness of gun violence. I'd rather she didn't have to have been shot in the head to have it happen. What an ignorant article.
30
Thank you!
2
The man she is married to has more to do with the lack of trust and dislike of her than you think. She's taken on quite a bit of Bill Clinton's baggage and has paid the price.
5
There’s no grand reason at work. She failed because she was a woefully corrupt, robotic, and slimy candidate whom the American people disliked on her own merits, not her gender thank you very much.
Mythologize all you want but there was not deeper mission—the “most qualified candidate in history” lost to Donald Trump.
Think on that.
3
I judge people on how hard they work. Trump's signature flaw is his laziness--intellectual, moral, and physical. Hillary worked hard her entire life. I didn't always think she did the right thing, but I knew she earned whatever she got.
Discipline and hard work: she has it, he doesn't. Easy call.
6
The #MeToo movement is the direct result of one strong woman being the first to speak out - that woman was Rose McGowan not Hillary Clinton. This is clearly a lame attempt by the author to convince readers that Hillary didn't really lose; her loss was actually a win - nonsense.
3
Has the author forgotten in her misplaced idolatry how Mrs Clinton enabled the former President in his dalliances with women. She blamed the women to protect her future as she also claimed to not be a Tammy Wynette and "stand by her man".
How sad a selective memory. Further, Mrs Clinton's arrogance and perceived entitlement led to her defeat to the least qualified presidential candidate in US history.
5
Like the rest of us, HRC has her baggage and warts. (I would hate to think how I would look if placed under the same microscope.) It's a shame that the political arena subjects candidates to that awful scrutiny; it gives pause to decent, qualified people who might otherwise consider running for office.
She may not be perfect - who is - but she's smart, experienced and, I believe, sincere. Her heart is in the right place, IMO. We missed an opportunity to elect an excellent candidate, and now we have to live with the consequences of the Trump victory. Bummer!
32
She's also corrupt. There is a reason, based on human nature, that the Constitution limits presidential terms to four years.
2
The article describes Hillary Clinton as stoic but she was anything but stoic since losing the election. She wrote a book blaming others for her defeat except the one who was the cause and that was Mrs. Clinton herself . She was a poor candidate whom the voters did not trust or like. She did not have feminists best interests at heart only her own. A woman president would be very capable of running the country but let's choose the right one. To vote for a woman only because of her sex would be foolish. She must be qualified and up to the task. There are far better women candidates than Mrs. Clinton. I am sure the United States will see one governing our country in the near future.
10
Hmm. I'd like to see how you would handle losing to an imbecile like DJT. I'd like to see how you would handle 30 years of attacks on your looks, your voice, your character. I'd like to see how you would handle the humiliation brought on you by your husband. And these are just the things off the top of my head. That woman has endured more than anyone could expect her to, and still she fights the good fight. You don't have to like her, god knows, but to say she has not been stoic and worse, call her unqualified, is just false. And nasty.
7
More nonsense from a strident "disciple" who just cannot see the disservice she is doing to American women's just cause.Hillary Clinton would have ascended to the Presidency the way Christina Kirchner did in Argentina and Sonia Gandhi became Premier of India, namely through dynastic connections and riding the coat tails of her husband.American Feminists show no signs of having the insight necessary to get out of their own way.Absent Bill,HRC would not have the skills necessary to win an election to a state congress, let alone national office.It's time to throw one's weight behind a woman who gets full credit for her own success, is electable on her own merits, including being trustworthy, able to connect widely and likeable enough to have at least one drink with.The advances women are making now have nothing to do with HRC, indeed they are likely to set back by American women who conflate sexual assault with being made to feel "uncomfortable" and who object to being objectified without seeing any irony in continuing to objectify themselves, wit the recent Golden Globe awards.
6
So you plan to vote for Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, or Kamala Harris? In the primary AND in the general?
The issue is that neither Party has offered up anyone who fits the bill and is electable.
No, it was not Trump that spurred the women's movement. It was knowing a woman who has the intelligence, experience and skill to be president lose because if she were a man with these same qualities she would now be our president.
22
This is hardly a full-throated defense of Hillary Clinton, who deserves to be considered a martyr to feminism. The fact that she isn’t, is another denigration of women.
I didn’t consider myself a feminist until 2008, when we all watched Hillary being beaten up by everyone on the left and the right. I shuddered when she decided to run in 2016. Clearly it was inevitable that it would happen again and so it did….in spades.
I was relieved to read “What Happened” because it informed me that she remains strong and accepts no more blame than is rightfully hers. I wrote to her when I finished the book and heaped praise and gratitude, but I ended with a plea that she give herself the rest she deserves by protecting herself from the undeserved abuse she has endured through most of her life of service.
22
In her book Hillary expends a good deal of effort blaming everyone else but her.
She specifically "neglects" to mention that she chose to run a very weak ground game in at least 8 states she was only slightly favored to win. She lost 6 of those 8 states. While Obama won 7 of the 8 twice. Team Obama 2012 didn't go around taking close states like Florida or even Pennsylvania for granted the way team Hillary 2016 did.
1
A movement galvanized not just because Hillary didn't win. It galvanized because after a lifetime of burnishing her credentials, she lost to a dishonest, ignorant, bigoted, boorish, totally unqualified, accidental opponent whose deficiencies were, for him and his supporters, a source of pride.
Of course this inexplicable outcome left many men and women alike asking, "How much more than a man must a women do to achieve the same success?" Of course women scrutinized their pasts for times they might have been passed over in favor of less qualified men, and of course we decided to oppose and change the unacceptable. Election 2016 was a catalyst, but this is about so much more than Clinton and Trump. This was the instant we all realized, simultaneously, that we were not as far along as we believed.
16
I find it incredible that Linda Sarsour is quoted in this article - she has been revealed in the months after the women's march to be a source of anti-Semitism, apparently had little problem with the harassment of other women and her calls for jihad against Trump clearly call for violence.
And for the record, I doubt Ms. Clinton's loss means much long-term. The reaction to Trump is a reaction to the person - absent that most middle class women have little use for many of the ideas sprouting from this so-called feminist garden of socialist hate.
3
Hillary lost because women did not vote for her; neither did minorities who share much of their challenges with women. The march does nothing but make the I-love-Trump set chortle, and those of us who think men and women are equal - plain groan.
Women's identity movement is amorphous, disorganized, unfocused, competing for attention instead of collaborating. Every women's live is not shaped by what happens during Hollywood award shows.
Why did women not vote for Hillary? Current explanations are invalid and vacuous ("because she stood by a philandering husband, she is ambitious, untrustworthy, emails, Benghazi). If men wanted to oppress women, they could not have orchestrated a better answer for women to spout.
Women's movement? No kidding. I have three girls in my family in school and college; I know their biggest challenge is not men - because they are smarter and score better than most males and females in nearly every standardized test. We raise them to hold their ground and plain out-think and outperform everyone without complaining.
But I am clueless about educating them about dealing with other women. It is not just that American men don't like women, it is that American women don't like women. This makes me weep; I find it hard to differentiate the current movement from very hot air spewed by dangerously smug, entitled and preachy women that is fragile to the slightest wind, who can't be counted on to support their own. Hence bah humbug.
Kalidan
6
If an African American male can become President, a woman can. All she needs is guts, determination and a clear appreciation of the obstacles she faces.
Look at the history of monarchs in England. Queen Elizabeth I set England on the course to becoming a world power with her defeat of the Spanish Armada. Queen Victoria presided over the expansion of that power to encompass most of the world.
Charges of misogyny by a potential female Presidential candidate and her supporters are not helpful. This would be similar to President Obama complaining of racism, which he never did.
England has also produced the first two female Prime Ministers in its history, so feminine leadership of one of the great democracies is possible.
I vote for the best person to do the job. I would vote for a qualified female candidate without a moments pause. The trouble with Secretary Clinton was that she acted like she had won the Presidency when she gave her acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. She looked foolish. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!
4
May the herstory of this right itself at some point. Secretary Clinton was the first such Secretary of State to infuse women's and girls' rights into her work as she engaged in diplomacy around the world. She is incredibly bright and committed to equality on many fronts. She had the audacity to be confident in her abilities. And, yes, she made some mistakes, but nothing compared to the good ole' boys. Sanders has shown himself to be a misogynist over and over again. It is impossible to forget the "Bernie bros" who refused to get behind Clinton. And Sanders himself did nothing to help her. The male ego is a ridiculous thing.
And YET, here we are. If Hillary Rodham Clinton has the inner character I think she has, she will realize there is purpose to her loss. In that, she is still very relevant. Revolutions do not happen in a linear fashion. Women will not retreat now.
3
Psychologically, I am sure it is difficult for HRC and those who supported her, to accept her defeat. This has led to many attempts to explain it away and place the locus of blame somewhere besides HRC herself. There is no need to detail the years of suspicions, the lies, the smashing of cell phones, the pay for play schemes at the Clinton Foundation, the super-predator remarks, and the treatment of classified material. Those things did matter, but this article is about her feminism. HRC didn't support all women and all their options. She is an ideologue and she demeaned women who didn't live up to her vision of a liberated woman. That line about staying at home and baking cookies? It is offensive still. Women who stay home to bake cookies, rarely get to bake cookies. People didn't want to resign during the Clinton sex scandals, because that would punish HRC? HRC had no compunctions about publicly eviscerating her husbands victims, so much so that she was part of the conscious effort to discredit them. Women should have resigned in protest of Bill AND Hillary Clinton's abuse of women. This country will elect a woman president. Like Jackie Robinson, she will be someone who will earn the respect of all, even those who might begrudge it at first. HRC can't ever be that person.
7
i did vote for her. no way the gop fool would get my vote. Clinton was in the limelight till the bulb truly needed change. she will be remembered as a stalwart government official. no more no less. it is a good legacy to have. wanting a larger legacy is for the others.
it is imperative to remember that the MAJORITY of voters did choose Clinton. the electoral college did not. trump won nothing and his legacy is so tarnished that redemption seems impossible.
7
I was one of the few who thought that Clinton would do a good job in the White House and voted for her, not just against Trump. But I also cheered for Biden to run, because I knew Clinton was too easy for the right to attack. Too many people just simply hated her, and the GOP hate machine was ramped up and rarin' to go.
Clinton was the right woman in terms of competence and the wrong woman in terms of timing: the people she needed to trust her regarded her as just part of the machine, and an annoying, strident female part of the machine at that.
I too, will vote for a woman, but not any woman. I didn't consider Carly Fiorina or Sarah Palin fit for national politics.
Clinton lost because she is a woman, but not only because of that. And that is what we have to keep in mind. She might have won if she wasn't dragging the ghost of Bill the horndog around; or the fatigue from the Gingrich years; or the fatigue from people who couldn't understand why they hadn't recovered from the 2008 meltdown yet; or if she was the least bit telegenic.
Clinton was likely, for all her competence, the wrong candidate (and so was Bernie, folks) for the times. That the candidate who was even more wrong for the times won is just a travesty.
7
I would argue that Clinton lost simply because she was not telegenic. Which is a shame. I hope we will get to a point in this country where we elect officials who can do the job, as opposed to ones who entertain us.
Look, I supported Hillary in the primary. I agree now that she was the wrong candidate for the times. But why do you think Bernie is the wrong candidate for the times? Really, give a real reason. He's one of the most ethical politicians out there, he's fair, he's basically a New Dealer in the mold of FDR (though perhaps, not as well-directed). Do you think FDR was the wrong politician for the times? Because there hasn't been anyone remotely like him since.
1
I am a mother of three grown daughters and grandmother of two young granddaughters and we all went to the Women's March last year and it was a fantastic experience demonstrating the power of women. Hillary Clinton was so very qualified to become President and Trump was demonstrably unfit and a despicable human being of the lowest sort to boot. It was cathartic to be taking action to protest all that in a huge crowd last year. This year, I just want to see a Blue Wave of protest across the United States in the voting booth. Trump conned the people and appealed to racism and division to achieve a place he most certainly defiles. Removal of Trump can heal the country of this fever.
6
It might indeed be true that Ms. Clinton had to lose to ignite a feminist movement and set off a national awakening among women.
I was just wondering where this feminist movement was during the 8 years of the Obama administration and why there was no national awakening among women then. I would have thought that the enlightened times would have enabled this. Instead, the "me too" of those years might more fittingly describe Mr. Weinstein and friends.
3
And yet, she still just won't go away.
4
I’m not sure what to make of this feminist movement. It’s one of complaints and victim worship rather than empowerment. Michelle Williams volunteered to work for low wages during reshoots and somehow Mark Walberg is the villain because he negotiated more.
Women are no longer responsible for their decisions or able to navigate life without crying about how a man made a crude joke. Mary Tyler Moore would be embarrassed to have a modern feminism label applied to her.
3
I am 66, college educated and a lifelong Democrat. I continue to read serious works on politics as I was infused with a love of political theory in college at Rutgers. We are long overdue for a woman president. I am glad it wasn't Hillary Clinton.
Why? Simple: DNA is not enough. That made a world made worse when applied for centuries to religion, politics and the economy. Male domination has resulted is millions of deaths, untold economic harm and religions indistinguishable from fascist nations.
However, we should have leaders based on merit. Hillary and Bill saw a GOP that had a campaign cash advantage and sold our democracy out for cash whether by renting out the LIncoln bedroom or taking millions from Wall Street. We had foxes in the coop such as Rubin and Summers put in charge of economic policy giving Wall Street what they wanted and contributing as much as the GOP to the eventual crash. Bill signed off on Glass-Steagall. August 2016 a presumptive (and arrogant) Hillary gave up the campaign trail to rub elbows with the rich (like Paul McCartney) rather than be among the voters she ultimately needed to beat Trump. Her susceptibility to taunts of Crooked Hillary, along with her behind the scenes machinations at the DNC suppressing a progressive rival (Sanders) sent too many independents running towards Trump and false populism.
Even without long-time GOP hate for her she was a seriously damaged choice. I held my nose and gave her my vote. We can and must do better.
3
This movement has little relation to Clinton’s defeat. It was building long before the election and it has been the Gen X and Millenial women in the media who have made it possible. The media was finally willing to report on Cosby and Weinstein after so many years of failing to do so. Also leading to this were the Title IX lawsuits filed by younger women, first reported a few years ago. How much discussion occurred on these matters, at least by the media, prior to the reporting on Cosby and the Title IX lawsuits?
2
No one cares about Clinton and her hurt feelings--in 2016, we were interested in the positions and personal integrity of Sen Sanders--her neoliberal message and her dishonesty and that of her family was rejected, and the nomination stolen from Sanders who would have been elected sparing us the awfulness of Trump and his enablers in congress. Clinton's selfish lack of regard for the democratic party's voters--gave us Trump and all that that has entailed.
3
Trump's victory was likely caused by apathy and dissatisfaction -- after all, did not every poll show Clinton's chance of winning at 90% or above? I am guessing many people simply skipped the election who would have been out canvassing if they thought we would be where we are today.
But here we are. But Trump is not the wound. Trump is the salt in the wound; women already had issues they knew needed to fiercely defend, and that the time to defend them was now. Keep in mind the well-earned backlash for years before 2016, toward neanderthal men talking about "legitimate rape" and such. Hillary was, however, indeed that flawed candidate. My own thinking was, are we really going to turn the presidency into a dynastic system, handed back and forth between Bushes and Clintons? The prospect rubbed me the wrong way, and still does.
But I am guessing, many assumed (I sure did, and many, MANY of my friends!) that no way was the NYC tabloid backwash that is Donald Trump going to win.
Now we know.
Now tens of millions of women know. Now tens of millions of people of color know. Now voters in states that try to limit voter participation know.
Trump was not the wound; he was, and is, the salt in a wound. Maybe that initial wound was partially self-inflicted, out of whatever issues we had with yet more Clintons.
All I know is, the next couple years are going to be very interesting. As Dubya so eloquently said, fool me once... won't get fooled again.
2
Hillary could have been the next Angela Merkel, solid, smart and experienced. Despite her ties to big business, she had a relatively progressive agenda and was not completely deaf to the needs of the "average" citizen. Had she won, we could have cited 12 or 16 years of progress and perhaps had the time to cultivate an even better candidate to further a rational political philosophy for the 21st century.
We blew it!
465
And we;d have had a far more just and humane Supreme Court.
3
Let's not forget: she's a face, if not the most prominent remaining face, of decades of public policy during which tens of millions of people believe (usually correctly) their lives have gotten worse. That's years encompassing NAFTA, wage stagnation, permanent war, mass surveillance, mass incarceration, mass corporate fraud, mass tax evasion, economic crashes, the big bailout, and more. She supported many (but not all) of the policies that brought this about. For people who think the country is headed the wrong way or even failing, she's now a symbol of all of it. So there's sexism, and (possibly false) personality judgments, and entrenched partisanship, but then there's this other thing too, coming from both left and right. It's a cliche to say so, but she was very lucky she ran against Trump. She wouldn't have a snowball's chance against anyone else. Had she run against Kasich, Rubio, or even Romney she would have lost in an epic landslide and this article would never had been written.
3
The problem is that the white working class hate and fear black people more than they love their own children. They have been literally driven mad by fear. It's pathetic.
1
Alice LaPoint wrote in another comment, "As for the current "movements," I fear that they will devolve into splinters and fringes, and they will fail to achieve lasting change. I believe that we should be working toward a common good, but that we have no understanding of what that is..."
Ms. LaPoint, the only way the current movement for an end to sexual discrimination will "splinter" is if people think, "there's nothing we can do - we must cooperate". NO. Women must stand up for and with each other to stop this ridiculous "men are better" idea.
The current movement is much deeper than anyone realizes. My daughter, who holds a high level job in local government, sat in a meeting with one other woman and about twenty men the other day and when one idea was discussed the male manager said they would talk about it in the "Super Man meeting". My daughter was appalled but said nothing at the time. The manager called her later that day and, after they had discussed the reason for the call, she told him the "Super Man" comment bothered her and asked if that was really the concept he wanted to foster. He called her back later that day and said, after thinking about it, he agreed and called all the men in the meeting and said they would never refer to their meetings that way again.
Little steps make the difference. Women and socially conscious men must not miss an opportunity to point these small things out. It will take time and perseverance but NOW is the time.
6
I think unfortunately for Hillary, what hurt her ability to run as a beacon of hope for change more than anything was the legacy of her husband. She was not a candidate with no baggage.
The deplorables reference and connection to wealthy donors in an election season highlighted by the plight of the working class didn’t help either.
I wrote that as someone who was really excited about the Clinton presidency in 1992 and to this day still think back fondly to a lot of the idealism I felt when I voted for him in college.
6
Please stay on the sidelines. The clintons have done great damage to the Democratic party and liberalism. They are republican-lites.
25
There’s this very odd thing right now that the majority of white women voters went for Trump and for Moore.
The Times’ own Maureen Dowd was so obviously filled with hatred of Hillary that she all but endorsed Trump
Ultimately it appears to be a coalition of people of color who turn the tide. That’s who beat Moore, and hopefully turn out in the midterms and in 2020.
But let’s not white wash this: the woman’s vote has a boat anchor of white voters.
16
Sorry, Hillary, but just go away . . .
11
It’s the mother of all ironies – Hillary lost the presidential race to a self-confessed sexual predator because she failed to get the support of a majority of white women, who nonetheless are pretty ubiquitous in their support for the #MeToo movement!
As to the comparison of two seminal movements – between Barry Goldwater’s loss to LBJ in 1964 that eventually led to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016 that could definitively propel a woman into the Oval Office – let’s pray that we don’t have to wait that long!
11
By the way -- speaking of female candidates for POTUS -- any word yet on why Jill Stein is pictured at that 2015 RT banquet table with Mike Flynn and Vladimir Putin?
30
The feminist movement is about whining and crying for subsidies, accommodations, and special treatment. Let's hope women never gain enough power to matter. If they do they will turn their patented and trademark protected anger, resentments, and retribution towards all men as the did to Al Franken for just being a situational jerk.
6
In the late 1990's Hillary Clinton oversaw the public mocking and insulting of the women (AKA "Bimbos") who began coming forward publicly to admit that they had been sexually humiliated, harassed, or even actually assaulted by her husband. From her leadership position, she could have stopped the character assassinations of these women by her and her husband's political team in the blink of an eye and changed the tone of the whole nasty business, but she did not. These "ME TOO" victims were mere nuisances to Hillary, worthy only of having their reputations destroyed.
25
Ms. Chozick I well recall your articles about Ms. Clinton during the campaign. You held her to the same ridiculous standard your colleagues did - that of perfection - and every way she fell short. I've never seen the Times assess any candidate by that standard. I am wondering if you have done any reflecting on the role your own biases played in this misperception of Ms. Clinton. I spent months watching sexist journalists who at the time were "respected" - Chris Matthews, Matt Lauer and on and on - reinforce these tropes about Ms. Clinton - that you in your own way did as well. As to the absurd - I'd love to vote for a woman - just not this one - did you ever once ask - why? What policies of her offend you so much on their merits that you cannot stomach her? Be specific please? Oh - the Iraq vote? The one Joe Biden voted for - and yet I'm sure they'd all have been happier with a Biden candidacy? Men and women on the left, sadly even the younger than me ones, were just as virulently sexist and woman hating toward Ms. Clinton as anyone on the right. And for that - you bet I'm still angry. Open season on a woman of a certain age by young women and men who are sure they will never reach that age. Bernie the saint - Ms. Clinton the ambitious shrew, Ms. Clinton's marriage their business - but Bernie's own sordid past, including a disgusting rape fantasy essay - no problem. And on and on. It will take a lot more than a #metoo moment to fix our culture.
85
well said. thank you.
2
Attitudes have changed a lot since the Clinton presidency. At that time, most wives would not have spoken out against their cheating husbands, president or otherwise. Blaming women for their husbands' terrible behaviors is another form of sexual harassment, the same type of thinking that blames women for being raped. The #MeToo movement was starting before Hillary ran or Trump won. It only came to the fore when women said, "We matter, and what happens to us matters, and this country must start listening to us!"
10
"We wouldn’t be here — black gowns at the Golden Globes, sexual assault victims invited to the State of the Union address, a nationwide, woman-led voter registration drive timed to the anniversary of the Women’s March ..." You forgot one..."women who Bill Clinton assaulted invited to front row seats at a presidential debate." Don't they count?
5
In deference to this paean for the 2016 losing "Empress-in-waiting", Hillary, the "Times" perhaps regrets running Mark Landler's April 21, 2016, NYT Magazine cover-story, "How Hillary Clinton Became a Hawk" -- in which Landler's extensive access to Obama, Hillary, Defense Secretary Gates, Joint Chief Adm. Mullen, other senior policy chiefs, and Hillary's own staff who "marveled at her pugnacity", all of whom recounted facts that essentially indicated to any thinking reader that Hillary was a person whose characteristics were more likely to ignite a war than a women's movement.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/magazine/how-hillary-clinton-became-a...
But, in retrospect, perhaps Amy, as well as "Times" readers of this story have balanced out a fair, if softer, view of our past candidate from the 'smoother-lying' neoliberal-con 'D' Vichy Party of the Empire compared to our male racist megalomaniac sociopath, faux-Emperor/president Trump from the 'rougher-talking' neocon 'R' Vichy Party of the exact same disguised global capitalist Empire.
In either case, for 'we the American people' it certainly looks like, after 10 'least worst voting' cycles, we would have gotten a 'Winner' either way, eh?
3
She did not set off a feminist movement. She lost. Get over it.
13
Let's elect Gloria Steinem as our first Woman CIA President.
1
Feminism is all about white women. A black woman Tarana Burke started the #MeToo movement 10 years ago. Three black women are behind Black LIves Matter.
Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton was never a Shirley Chisolm nor Barbara Jordan nor Carol Moseley Braun nor Nancy Pelosi nor Kay Bailey Hutchinson nor Amy Klobuchar nor Heidi Heitkamp nor Susan Collins nor Krisen Gillibrand nor Claire Macaskill.. Who were and are they married to? How old were/are they?
Hillary needs to stop whining and making excuses while "earning" millions from "public service ".
13
Yes, Ms. Chozick, women finally woke up when they realized that the hate-anger-fear-scam investigations-LIES, LIES, LIES campaign had worked to prevent people from voting for the MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE to ever run to be President of the United States of America because SHE is a WOMAN.
Women at last understand how ridiculous and sinister it is that we have
The Con Don lurking around OUR white house instead. Even though he outed himself as a sexual predator well before the election. Even though he lies every time he opens his mouth.
The Silent Majority is speaking out at last. The Sleeping Giant has awakened and SHE is furious.
There are simply not enough THANKS for the Courage, Stamina, Commitment and Strength Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton shows but Heartfelt Thanks to her again and again!
68
Sure, keep telling yourself that. Yes, she had the "Courage" to express public opinions, while preparing to act on those private instead, and to claim to represent women, while displaying the "Strength" to kick women accusing her husband of harassment in the face, the "Stamina" to cater to Wall St., and the "Commitment" to globalist agreements (TTIP, TPP) until she realized that might cost her the election, and publicly turned coat (no doubt she would have gone back to her original stance, once Wall St. interests whistled at her, after being elected). There are many reasons she lost, and her being a woman is the least of them.
3
Next week I will be in a pink hat marching all over again (where is your pre coverage of these Marches NYTs? Why run this piece instead? ). I will be powered by the fact that Donald Trump suffers no consequences for any of his behavior while Hilary Clinton bears every lash in this ongoing public flaying. One gets to be terminally "deeply flawed" and one racist, thuggish, lazy moron gets to be the leader of the free world. Yes, I know she lost; but this loss seems to have no bottom. False equivalence bears strange fruit.
49
I'll be marching in Seattle, too, H.G., as I did last year. Our group will also include nine people who didn't march last year.
Women are over one-half the population of the world and our concerns transcend the #MeToo movement. My sign will say "NO WW3".
Whether your concern is sexual discrimination, the environment, voting rights, gun control, theft of OUR wealth by the Robber Barons who have control of OUR governments, health care, education or something else please, Good People, Hit The Streets next Saturday, January 20, to show the world WE THE PEOPLE, Socially Conscious Women and Men - do NOT agree with The Con Don and his brethren.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WomensMarch2018USA/events/
10
I am proud to say that the first vote I cast as an American citizen was for Hillary Clinton. She was far and away the best candidate and, in fact, in a true democracy she was the winner. The horror of the 2016 election was not simply that Trump became President by unleashing the hounds of hell among his "base" and was put in office by a failed system called the Electoral College but includes the debasement of Clinton's campaign by social media. She was accused of crimes she did not commit, she was pilloried and denounced - was Bernie Sanders? No. Hillary Clinton was a woman and the election of 2016 shows how misogynistic the US still is. Will the #MeToo movement help women going forward? Maybe but women should prepare themselves for a serious push back from many in America - we would all have been better off with President Hillary Clinton - the country and the world. I am fighting " buyers remorse" about finally relinquishing my 50 year old 'green card' for citizenship papers! It has become shameful to admit to being a US citizen under Trump.
36
It is engaged new citizens like you that have and continue to be one of the U.S.’s greatest assets. I’m proud to be your fellow citizen.
3
Clinton is on the sidelines because she chose to sell her books rather than speak out for change. She chose to blame rather than mover forward. As to tentatively embracing her geneder during here campaign, I have to ask where was the author of this piece. I was right here and heard the claims that young women who supported Bernie were only looking for men or that women who failed to support Clinton belonged in hell. She took the position that her gender, not her policies, gave her the right to the votes of women.
As to the current movement, it has nothing to do with Hillary or her loss. Stop discounting the power of other women. She is a corporatist. She may not have always been but she certainly is now.
22
Do you realize that Bernie wrote a book? So has Biden! Hillary has spoken out for change and has written a book but once again she and other females are held to different standards.
3
**the #MeToo movement cannot feature Mrs. Clinton**
—neither can the economic justice movement, the BLM movement, the environmental movement, and ... coming soon to your community, the antiwar movement.
Hillary Clinton lost because after a career of shilling for Wall St and the MIC she was unable to be a Sanders/Warren leftist, and centrist voters were not interested in more Clintonism, esp. after, as Donna Brazile later confirmed, they saw her steal and slime the DNC.
24
Hell hath no fury like a very large group of angry women scorned.
And, as far as the 2018 and 2020 elections are concerned, we can only hope that continues to be the case.
17
Who is Ms. Solis Doyle to say that Hillary Clinton cannot be in the #MeToo movement? What kind of exclusive club has it become that women can’t recognize that despite her husband, her wealth, and her intellect, that Hillary has been abused by both men and women in power including Bill, Weiner, but especially Trump who had women present at the debate who were Bill accusers. Putin abused her and this country greatly in hacking emails, disinformation campaigns and putting all his FSB power for Trump. Comey for whatever his reasons pulled her under with his October 27th surprise.
If she had won, the the GOP hounds of hell would be salivating around her ankles.
Like her mother before her, Hillary learned to be a survivor, yet she also looked out for children, the elderly, the others in our society. To denigrate her today is to betray the strength of resilience in defeat that she represents.
Ultimately, Hillary has had to stand alone after her betrayal by her husband, by Boyer’s, and today by women who continue to reject her. I for one continue to admire her courage.
56
I was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton. Where others saw guile, I saw thoughtfulness. Where others saw corruption, I saw superior performance at playing the established game of fund raising. I dropped out of a social circle of otherwise friendly guys who had an irrational hatred for Clinton. They were closed to all evidence that Trump was a master of guile and corruption, in a different category from Clinton.
As Ms. Chozick writes, the election of a self-admitted sex offender might have sparked the #metoo movement. True sexual assault and threats to impair careers to get sex are evil. No question. But a few of the leaders of the #metoo movement are pursuing a radical agenda that will lead to political failure. When men see a sign "The Future is Female," what kind of response should be expected? Kirsten Gillibrand refuses to see gradations of error so that a rape is punished the same as a momentary pat on the butt. Some in the #metoo movement see women simply as victims. But throughout my lifetime, women have been the gatekeepers of sexuality. There is this illusion that women have not abused men in the realm of romance and sexuality. Men know better, and so do most women.
Ms. Chozick cites the 1981 Reagan revolution as a positive outcome of the 1964 Goldwater debacle. Who wants to wait 17 years? And how long will the McGovernites wait? Please consider: I, a Clinton advocate, will not vote for a Gillibrand until she acknowledges her profound error.
19
"Kirsten Gillibrand refuses to see gradations of error so that a rape is punished the same as a momentary pat on the butt." Of course Senator Gillibrand understands that repercussions and punishment must match the offense. Please listen to her interview on the NYT New Washington podcast. Her boldest comment suggested that Bill Clinton should have resigned. Nothing criminal, just a resignation in recognition of his error and to avoid the toxic political climate that followed.
Perhaps his main reason for not resigning and for Mrs. Clinton standing by him was a desire to not let the Republicans win. Ironically, if he had resigned, it is likely that Gore would have won in 2000,there would have been no Iraq war or financial crash in 2008, and possibly no WTC attack.
I was not a Clinton supporter in 2008. I was not a supporter in 2016. I did vote for her in the general election instead of casting a protest vote because I was convinced, from traveling around the country and speaking to people, that she was going to lose and did not want to have the election of Donald Trump on my conscience.
My problem with Secretary Clinton is not her gender but her judgment. The list of things she has supported that turned out to become politically toxic or in some cases went horribly wrong is long. Her husband's trade deals, criminal justice and financial reforms--not her fault but she never seemed to move away from supporting these positions. The Iraq war--she not only voted for it she spoke strongly in favor of it and the policy of regime change in Libya--both disasters of epic proportions. Then there are those well compensated secret speeches at Goldman Sachs, her decision to not campaign in the Midwest swing states, her unwillingness to unite the Democratic Party by choosing a running mate who could appeal to angry Sanders supporters and then of course there are those "damn e-mails."
All of this leads up to what Colin Powell aptly described as hubris. I do think that despite her many flaws, despite the Russians, despite all the controversy, despite the misogyny, the fact that she came so close, shows that a woman can and some day will become president of the United States and that, folks, is something to cheer.
Hillary showed that
22
Brooklyngirl: Have you questioned the judgement of the 28 other Democratic senators who also voted to authorize military force in Iraq, including many now revered as party leaders and elder statesmen? If her husband's positions were not her fault, why indict her for them; and are her positions on those subjects actually what they "seemed"? Much has been made of the Goldman Sachs speeches in progressive circles. But how secret were they? (I believe Ms. Chozick herself reported excerpts.) Have you reviewed the email exchange between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton regarding email privacy as Secretary of State? And have you considered, too, that Colin Powell may not be in the best position to criticize hubris? I'm asking these questions because I hear such charges made repeatedly by progressives, but not always considered in detail and in context. And because I think Hillary Clinton was held to a standard of perfection that no one has applied to male candidates, however flawed. I was a Sanders supporter myself, and I hope the Democratic Party continues to move leftward -- it's the only viable solution to where the USA finds itself today. I'm old, though, and I'm weary of hearing the same casual condemnation of Clinton retailed and amplified whenever her name is mentioned. If you value women and look forward to a women as president, do what you can to make sure the next woman candidate is given a fair hearing by the public and the press.
1
Thanks for a largely objective, intelligent post. My only qualm is with the last paragraph:
I'd much rather, in any case, have the best-suited (or in the present case, the least terrible) president, than have the "right gender", or the "right color".
Hear hear. I wasn't impressed by Hillary: I never saw her bring any policy push to fruition (her fiasco with health care stands tall on that landscape) and she was suspect on a bunch of things. But It was her war-mongering that I found morally intolerable. Even with a country in ruins and its population abandoned to warlords (Libya) and millions of people displaced or killed, their towns and cities pulverized and ancient cultures destroyed (Syria), she pounded the drums of aggression and regime change. Her scare-mongering about Russia was particularly alarming. She has been a war hawk for decades. Add some serious embarrassments like lying about her courage under fire on the Bosnia tarmac (where she dawdled with luminaries and little children presented her with flowers) and you have a untrustworthy, posturing, dangerous presidential candidate. I'd be glad to vote for a qualified candidate who's a woman (I'm a woman, by the way), just as I was thrilled to vote for a qualified candidate who was black. But I'm not going to vote for anybody who urges the continued unnecessary death and suffering of millions of people and I certainly won't put all that aside just because that candidate is a woman. Get a glue, Democratic Party, or you'll keep losing the field to clueless supporters of outright flaming idiots like Trump because too many people can't bring themselves to vote for a morally repellent candidate.
2
Can a person lose the ability and strength to lead and empower be diminished by being on the sidelines?
That is like saying that the Capstone, the Cornerstone and the Keystone in building a strong movement, organization or foundation are singularities.
She did have an impact and, in my opinion not considered a lost cause.
7
I don’t know why you would use words like diminishing and vanishing to describe her career. She has already made her mark; those millions of cracks in the glass ceiling will not soon be diminished or vanished. I would say they’re indelible marks.
51
For those marks in the glass ceiling to remain indelible, the ceiling would have to remain in place. Not sure that was what you were getting at. Or was it your unintentional way of saying she'd in fact achieved nothing?
3
The metaphor got lost, I see. When that ceiling is finally shattered, the pieces will stay be preserved to mark what we have overcome.
3
The first job of a politician is to get elected, leading a movement, being a good person etc etc are incidentals on that road. HRC was not a good politician; she lost to to men she should have beaten based on her experience and time around power.
3
Oh, come on, Colona. HRC won the popular vote by almost 3 million and it seems clearer and clearer that the election was hopelessly tainted. Did you see the debates? She was clear, incisive, charming, and persuasive. Get real!
3
I was in the audience in Beijing, in 1995, when Hillary gave her "women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights" speech at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. Hillary spoke out against Chinese human rights abuses right in their front yard (for which she received NO coverage in the Chinese media).
Even back then, as 'merely' First Lady, Hillary was more qualified to hold high office, and more serious about fighting on behalf of women and children, than most politicians today.
She hasn't deserved the vitriol that men in her position aren't accorded -- and the world is poorer for that.
75
Men in her position and with her record aren't elected, period. If anything, what she had going for her was her being a woman, and therefore earning the sexist feminist vote. Thankfully, "it's her turn" wasn't enough of a reason to cast a vote for her, for most reasonable people.
2
I am a proud feminist, but having reluctantly voted for Hillary, and later marching in the Women's March in Washington,DC, I believe that there is a very significant issue that gets repeatedly overlooked. Trump and Bernie both promised focus on social issues and ending of "corruption". They were both focused on the problems of large doners and super pacs. Hillary, instead was attending dinners with large doners instead of being with "the people". She, like all politicians, promised lots of popular things, though then changed her focus when it seemed to not work.
Women who run in the future should really listen to what the foundation issue is currently. That unbridled capatilism is the real problem, and will require lazer focus to fix. This should start with what Bernie Sanders did, which was demonstrate that he was able to be in the running until the end by not taking money from big doners and super pacs, and therefore not beholden to them. Trust in our leaders will be based on their behavior, not in their words!
34
Take Bill out of the picture, and Hillary isn't perfect. Put Bill back into the picture, and Hillary isn't perfect. But her candidacy wasn't tragic, and her life isn't tragic. For heaven's sake, let's look at what we're doing.
I have history of mistakes and a record of imperfectly responding to the betrayals, compulsions, and repugnant behavior of people I love. I'm not alone. The vast majority of us have imperfect relational lives and make imperfect decisions both within our commitments and as a result of those commitments. I voted for Hillary with empathy for her situation and hope for the future of our country. Our country! She stepped into history and -- in success and failure -- made an impact on the people and future of a nation. A big, powerful nation that influences every other nation in the world.
To tell Hillary's story as a sexist fantasy (a woman's power is imperfect and thus self-detonating) or a feminist fantasy (a woman's power will inevitably be undermined by her ongoing commitment to a troubling, no good man) trivializes her life and our lives. Hillary's personal and professional life has tremendous meaning for women in the United States, but we can't wrap her life and its meaning into a neat narrative because it's no more tidy than the narratives we live.
38
Barack Obama was not a pioneer in the trenches of Civil Rights. Rather he was the spectacular product of the struggle of his predecessors. It is the same for women. Hillary, as much as she wanted it for herself, was not meant to manifest women’s empowerment. That women will come from the grateful generation that she has helped to empower.
16
The Women’s Match is next Saturday, January 20th, across this country. The goal this year is to get people to the polls. People, I say, women, men, of all races, colors, and cultures who can legally vote - our job is to make sure they get to the polls. If Hillary Clinton can be responsible for getting people to serve their country by voting, because she lost the presidential election in 2016, let her rise to the occasion in 2018 at the polls with voter turnout. And let us be the ones to make that happen.
I marched in DC last year. This year I will march in a much smaller town in my home state of Wisconsin, Wausau. It doesn’t matter the numbers of marchers - but it does matter the cause, and what better cause for Americans at this time, than voting?
It took until 1965 to get the Voting Rights Act signed, but people of color have been discriminated and jacked around by legislators in redistricting, even today, to disallow minority votes. We celebrate Martin Luther King’s efforts tomorrow. I believe his efforts could have been believed by Hillary Clinton, too.
Women were not allowed to vote until 1920. And those efforts would not have occurred if not for the power of the suffragettes. Can we imagine Hillary Clinton back then? She’d be leading the way!
We’ve seen this country go down rapidly over this year. We need hope, and to restore that we need to integrate our belief in democracy - by voting! Hillary, lead our way.
Marchers, see you Saturday. Unite!
18
"We’ve seen this country go down rapidly over this year"
That depends on what metric you choose to consider. The fact is, it's obvious the "Resistance" movement not only doesn't want Trump's policies to succeed; it NEEDS them to fail. If such a bad president with such distasteful positions on everything Liberals hold dear were to prove successful, THAT would be a terrible omen for the Left, and a regular slap in the face. Thus, we have almost half of the country (the Hillary hard-liners) determined to make this presidency a disaster, with any means of sabotage necessary; which wouldn't bode well for any country in any era, under any president. Unfortunately, the markets are responding favorably to Trump, hiring is up, and most economic and financial markers are stubbornly positive. Therefore, Leftists and Feminists, having no room to lament on economics, pine on about debunked myths such as the wage gap, and systemic racism, like a broken record. If that's the sole, desolate place your "hope" lies, I don't blame you for being depressed...
It hadn’t occurred to me quite this clearly until I read this article, but the outcome in 2016 was almost a naturally perfect unfolding for women in this time. She won the popular vote but lost the election. Doesn’t this feel a little like an extension of “lean in” femininsm, which invites (white) women into the picture but denies them the prize? Gives them a seat at the table created by men? One could argue that even in Clinton winning, it would be the same thing, except with more of a seemingly victorious, less concessional outcome - but the underpinning system would still be the same. I feel the authors point may carry strength, with greater long term outcomes.
5
In 2008 the Democratic Party had a chance to nominate Hillary Clinton. Many rank and file Democrats, including many Obama supporters, called her racist, old, a war-monger. MSNBC and other liberal outlets were misogynistic in their presentations (Chris Matthews was awful in this regard, pinching Hillary's cheek after one interview and one reporter, David Shuster, said Bill and Hillary "pimped out" Chelsea for votes): Democrats commenting on on-line sites were viciously mocking of her body and voice.
Democrats went for the young, inexperienced cool guy and ditched the veteran; many women said he was "likeable" but she wasn't "likeable enough", to coin a phrase.
This year many Democrats ditched Hillary for Bernie or Stein or TRUMP.
If Democrats and women in general mourn the blown chances for a female president, they really have to look within. They had the numbers but didn't show up or if they did, pull the lever.
I voted for her both years (though with misgivings this time) and still don't understand why, with a binary choice, so many Democratic women walked away from her, if, indeed, electing a female president is a priority.
12
Never forget that 53% of white women voted for Trump despite everything we knew about him then and subsequently 65% of white women voted for Ray Moore in the recent Alabama election. It was black women's outsized vote for democratic candidates in both elections that resulted in in the democratic victory in Alabama and the close loss in 2016. It would seem that the voting preferences of white women and women of color are very different and to talk about a women's resistance is both completely misleading and mistaken.
9
Did she lose for being a woman? I think not. Not any more than Obama won for being black. She lost because Democrats did not deliver on Hope & Change . She lost in the rust belt where people are living shorter, poorer lives than their parents did. While she gave 250K speeches (and felt she was worth it) to bankers (who were perceived to be the architects of the 2008 meltdown), people in the rust belt don’t make that in 10 years. College educated school teachers don’t make that in ten years. Thats why she lost, and it is important for democrats to understand that.
23
Hillary had every right, as a private citizen, to be paid for speeches. Is it ok for W, or Sean Spicer? The eliminating of regulations and lying from 45 is not going to help any of the populations of which you speak. Hillary would have encouraged forward thinking science based (solar, etc.), careers and retraining.
2
Everybody tries to place a brick in the ongoing construction of the road to equality. Hillary paved a street. There is more work to be done. The next generation of feminists/humanists need to gear up and ask themselves "what is not fair" and go for it. Time for them to pick up a brick or two. It's not sad she's moving from the political stage -- it's admirable. Luckily, like many of us out there fighting the fight even without the name or fame, this is one facet to our beings -- one big worthy facet -- but one. She will go down in history but it's also nice that she can focus on doing good elsewhere and enjoy being a grandmother too. The longest revolution in history continues.
12
Hillary has nothing to do with the feminist movement. You can cite all of her supposed push for women's rights but just watch video's of her trashing Bill's accusers and other women who have crossed her path. Read her court records from her lawyer years in the 70's. Very telling how she changed her persona toward accusers of harassment when could use it as a political weapon against Trump. The big catalyst that brought out some of this current feminist movement was listening to Trump's words in his interview with Billy Bush on that bus. That brought out the discussion of what is and isn't harassment or sexist behavior. It had nothing to do with Hillary. She just took advantage the situation for political gain, as she always has done. Sexism isn't confined to one party or another. It's institutional and global. You can't push a global agenda without confronting how the global world views women and in many counties, women have no say.
9
The day after Trump’s inauguration resulted in women’s marches across this nation, the likes of which we hadn’t seen. And while the #metoo movement is something to cheer, it struck me that there was more to the rallying, that is the intention to engage collectively and locally on a wider range of social issues. Has it really played out that way? As someone who opposed the efforts to repeal the ACA, I hoped that the post-inauguration troops would rise-up. Sadly, sincerely, I didn’t see it
2
Mrs. Clinton was the catalyst. The best leaders are also good listeners and good followers. Her voice is muted now to permit others to find their voice which is as it should be.
2
Being "better qualified," as Clinton certainly was in 2016, need not be the sole criterion. In 1972, Nixon was far more qualified than McGovern, won easily, and turned out to be such a disaster that he may give Trump a run for that distinction.
2
Jimmy Carter was more qualified than Reagan -- GHW Bush 41 was vastly more qualified than Bill Clinton.
Politics is not "fair". It never was. It never can be. FDR was not the best qualified -- not more qualified than Herbert Hoover (look it up) but most liberals consider him the god and savior of their party.
3
I supported Hillary over Obama in primaries in 2008, and over Bernie of course in 2016. I still believe she was the most qualified candidate in a generation, and it is tragic that she lost to Trump.
For reasons I have not fully understood (or come to terms with) I have never understood the visceral dislike many independents, and even progressives, feel about her that can be completely explained by misogyny. Her decision to give paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, and of course the whole email server thing, while not big things by themselves, forced many, who may have been willing to forget the Clinton years and give her a fresh look, to see these lapses of judgment as a larger pattern of disingenuousness of the Clintons in general. Unlike Obama and other "good" politicians who could wiggle out of controversies (remember Obama's speech on race to address the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy?), Hillary lacked the skills to put the email server and Goldman Sachs speeches issues behind her, which made her vulnerable to the October surprise from Comey that finally cost her the election. In summary, because she did not have the political skills of Bill Clinton, she should not have taken the risks that he could with respect to what one can get away with.
For all these reasons, maybe it is time to say goodbye to Hillary, considering her loss to Trump has been such a huge tragedy for the nation, and she remains a divisive figure.
1
To not give any credit to Hillary for this upsurge in equality activism is like not giving credit to Rachel Carson for environmentalism. They were courageous voices balking the entrenched system, trying to shine a light on the flaws of the prevailing paradigm. We can argue about the character and "purity" of either, but reasonable people should not disagree that both were levers of change. We are still fighting both wars--valuing and protecting the environment on which we all depend for life and the equality on which we all depend for human dignity--but we have won many battles due to these women. And as disgusted as I am to use military terms, they feel appropriate. I'm battle weary from years of hearing the same tired misogyny and environmental disdain (as if the human species could survive without either women or the environment). And I'm tired of "friendly fire" from my white female--and sometimes progressive--counterparts. But I'll keep on slogging in the trenches, appreciative of the new energy and leadership among us...who I hope, when we have time to stop and reflect, can admit that we wouldn't be "alive and thriving" to fight these battles today without brave predecessors who include Hillary Clinton.
16
Where is the evidence that the current force of feminism has much if anything to do with Hillary Clinton? Not in this piece, that's for sure. Indeed, it seems to gesture rather precisely to the counter-arguments. Because feminism in 2017-18 leads with sexual violence, HRC would seem to be kryptonite to such a movement. No one seems to citing her words or example anywhere, precisely because there was so little reference to feminism in her campaign, beyond a rather generic support for abortion rights that seem pretty much a Democratic litmus test. Trump and the misogynist forces unleashed in support of him are referenced everywhere, in contrast. Indeed, there's more evidence--because Sarsour and the Women's March event--that Bernie Sanders was an inspiration for the current activism around feminism. Indeed, I'd add one more piece: the feminist solidarity of TimesUp, very visible at the Golden Globes, where every woman winner's speech referenced it, and reached way beyond Hollywood to talk about sexual harassment experienced by farmworkers, domestic workers, and restaurant workers, was born in the Sanders campaign, where Susan Sarandon come to know left, feminist of color activists like Rosa Clemente, which provided routes to link activists and actresses when Monica Ramírez of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas wrote the farmworkers in alliance with Hollywood letter that ignited TimesUp. Now that's an interesting story, but apparently more obscure than the HRC one.
According to the article Hilary Clinton has recently topped Gallup's poll of most admired women. But this good will toward her is nothing knew. Clinton always had fabulous approval numbers when she was not seeking a position of authority and leadership. As soon as she was, far too many of us either consciously or unconsciously concluded that she was transgressing in our deeply mysogynyist public sphere and political culture. We focused on her "shouting" her "shrillness" her "unbridled desire for power" and her approval numbers plummeted. We became obsessed with her "shadiness" refusing to accept how far she was from being an outlier when compared to virtually any man of comparative influence and achievement. Could Hillary Clinton have been a better candidate, of course, that's true of any candidate. What ever mistakes she made in this her last effort to provide us public service were nothing compared to the one we the citizens made by failing to elect her--the most critical civil duty most of us will ever have.
10
Ms. Clinton is like an American tale of a mythological heroine who was cursed by the Gods to never achieve the summit of her quest. Instead becoming a figure of sacrifice doomed by the fates.
Studied she will be as students chose to write about her effect on American politics and how she was not only a strong female leader but also a female who society chose to punish again and again for the actions of her husband as well as the woman the old patriarchal order used as a lesson to other women who would have the audacity to take on the status quo.
Ms. Clinton's final forced sacrifice will be the 2016 election itself. The most qualified person to run for President was defeated not by the popular vote but by the antiquated and undemocratic electoral college which was put into place to prevent someone like Ms. Clinton from achieving the highest office of the land.
Without this forced sacrifice we would be watching an administration plagued by the history of Bill Clinton along with 30 years of lies about Ms. Clinton and perhaps the country would still be blinded by the supposed high morals of the GOP. We know that history will focus on the inadequate nature of Mr. Trump but will it also look at how Trump is truly a creation of the modern GOP? Ms. Clinton will do well in historical study. It remains to be seen how the American people will stand up to historical study. In the meantime I hope that Ms. Clinton enjoys some rest and knows she's done her job well.
5
She is not diminishing or vanishing. She is doing the opposite. She made some mistakes, but it must be incredibly difficult to be the first woman nominee for President of a major political party in the U.S. And, running against an unconventional candidate who knew how to dominate the media and utilize gender stereotypes to his advantage. As we approach 2020, sure hope we will break that glass ceiling soon and many others because there are many very qualified women who have served well who should be given unbiased fair consideration to lead.
4
Had the Democratic Party and Clinton played fair and honest with Sanders we would not now be in this unbelievable situation which has us perilously near the end of civilzation. I am not at all optomistic, but if there is to be any chance it will require leadership by truthful plain speaking non politically motivated citizens, and this rules out all Clintons.
10
Get over it. Sanders is not a democrat, and if is so "principled" should have run as an independent.
4
And please take your own advise - my comment was directed and Clinton(s) - not Sanders.
1
Hillary Clinton, in my view, should think about developing a women's leadership training foundation, perhaps calling it "Making the Impossible Possible." Serving as New York's Senator and later the US Secretary of State,and performing admirably in both roles, is no small feat. These accomplishments, as well as her career-long call for women's rights, is an incredible foundation to develop future leaders. The Democrats have generally been miserable at leadership succession planning. Secretary Clinton has the power, the chops and the expertise to right that ship and steer her into fair winds and following seas. We would all be the richer for it. What we haven't really seen from her is her vision and inspiration. I would love to see her chart these treacherous waters and guide us safely into port.
6
If this is the impact Hillary has had, even if through humiliation and "defeat," there is nothing to be sad about. By no means single-handedly, she has transformed and galvanized the better half of our nation. As this article suggests, she may have a far larger historical impact by "losing" rather than "winning."
5
For many Hillary Clinton should have been president and the clear leader of the women's movement, were it not for two men in her life..Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Defending her husbands indiscretions and underestimating Trump's appeal was to much to overcome.
3
As a lifelong ardent liberal, I blame the election of Trump totally on the women who supported Hillary. In their emotional identity politics, they were in total denial about the degree of antipathy to her, whether deserved or not, that made her likely unelectable, and condescendingly told Bernie supporters that he didn't have a chance, and then rigged the DNC so he didn't have a chance. Republicans and Russia did what they always do, but wouldn't have been successful without the women supporting Hillary, and now those women focus their energy on loudly bemoaning how bad Trump is, as if they hadn't been been the ones who brought him to us, and set our country on a course of self-destruction. Ironically, Bernie would have done more for women than Hillary, but they couldn't look beyond his gender. This ranks as the most dangerous mistake in the history of our country, and I haven't met a woman who acknowledges this, and only one man. The election swung not on people voting for Trump, but rather against Hillary.
11
And yet, Clinton did win the popular vote. But for the Electoral College that "unelectable" woman would president today. If I were you, I'd worry less about what the women are doing, and more about the fact that twice in 16 years we've had a president installed by a relic from a less democratic era.
3
Totally agree with you with one exception - it wasn't just female Clinton sycophants who were blind to it all. There was no shortage of males involved as well.
1
Perhaps we need to stop looking for the “perfect vessel for feminism.” Feminism has long fought against the idea that women are just vessels. Being fully human and equal requires not being a “vessel” for a fetus or for an ideology. HRC is a woman and a feminist, but neither of these are all of who she is.
She has been discouraged throughout her career from speaking on behalf of women’s rights because she lacked the qualities of the “perfect vessel.” But those who care about women don’t need the message to come from someone who has never made a wrong decision. Those who don’t will attack them regardless.
6
Silver linings - how could we bear our disappointments in life without them? And it's true, in the long run the rise of Trump may well do more than Hillary ever could have done to convince women they must become involved in public life in greater numbers and thus hasten the day when gender no longer factors into one's expectations for equality of treatment and opportunity. But the cost of Hillary's loss in the electoral college in everything from international relations, to the environment, to public discourse, and, above all, to our most vulnerable and neediest, is incalculable. Not to mention the bit about having to endure this total buffoon in highest office for the next however many months or even years!
3
Almost all of the previous comments have the gravity one would expect to see in the NYT. They are certainly evidence of the effect Hillary has had on the body politic for more than thirty years.
She would have been a good president as opposed to the failure we now have.
But her self-induced flaws were many and, obviously, too many people voted for Trump as the lesser of two evils because they had seen enough of Hillary over the years.
I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary and I am convinced that he would have beaten Trump. I voted for Hillary in the general election and am still amazed that enough people voted for Trump to get him elected.
But Hillary was carrying a great deal of baggage with her. Unfortunately, she continues to carry it and will for the rest of her life. My hope, for her and for all of us, is that she stays out of politics for the rest of her life and denies herself the comeback she probably thinks she deserves.
8
Did Clinton REALLY lose the Presidential election? Given the advanced state of Russian cyber-warfare capabilities, this question must be asked. Note that the United States makes broad use of computers as voting machines, and that any computer can be hacked or mis-programmed to say pretty much whatever you want it to say. Alleged election returns from computer voting machines mean nothing. Given the well known advanced Cyber capabilities of Russian Intelligence, why would ANYONE choose to use computers as voting machines? The most charitable explanation is that the County Election Commissions that bought computers as voting machines are not very smart. A less charitable explanation is that this is Russian cyber-warfare at work. ALL the major polls showed Clinton winning Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and yet the alleged election returns show Trump winning all three of these states. Note that to swing the election, it was not necessary to swing all 50 states, it was only necessary to swing Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin which, surprise, surprise, went unexpectedly for Trump. The alleged election returns also show that Trump carried a majority of White Women after the Access Hollywood tapes, and that Trump carried a higher percentage of Black and Latino voters than did Mitt Romney four years earlier. I don't believe it. It strains credulity.
9
Yes, she was the most qualified candidate, absolutely, even after the Clinton campaign spent 1.2b dollars, had the entire vast entertainment complex fully vested in Mrs. Clinton's victory, the absolute authority of the polls that had her victory a fait accompli against a candidate who spent less and had to campaign not only against Mrs. Clinton but his own party as well. Not campaigning in Wisconsin which is now experiencing a jobs renaissance but spending a inordinate amount of time in in the Hamptons Martha's Vineyard and Malibu because" that's where the money is." and ignoring the industrial Midwest where the "basket of deplorable" reside was regrettable. The campaign was horribly managed by a candidate who ran out of steam early.
3
I voted for Hilary because she was the best candidate. That does not imply that she was a trustworthy candidate. When asked in a debate to disclose her Goldman Sachs speech fees she declined, hiding behind Trump’s IRS non disclosure. Nothing to hide no reason to dodge! Like most politicians she showed us she had stuff to hide. She chose to hide the truth, thus demonstrating a character similarity to Trump. Our problem is not the gender of our politicians. The problem is their honesty.
5
I truly hope that 2020 will find a woman at the head of the Democratic ticket, a truly qualified woman just as Hillary Clinton was so very qualified when she ran in 2016 against the monster now occupying the Oval Office (I now call it the Out House Office!). Most of us think Senator Elizabeth Warren, of course. She is so obviously qualified. But is there not another possibility other than Oprah who is so not qualified, who doesn't have the credentials that will be needed to attempt to bring this country back from the disaster of Trump. Women are, on the whole, more humane than men. Women are, on the whole, more able to listen to other points of view than men. Woman are, on the whole, more able to sort through issues using both facts but also analysis of those facts. I think there is a strong possibility that we could "make America great again" (it was that until January 20, 2017) if we could elect a highly qualified woman.
3
Such an irony that should not
be lost on "feminists"...HRC was
on all the most admired lists before
she ran for the presidency. Then
when she sought the ultimate power
(for which she was the best candidate,
in my opinion) people (including women!) felt
uncomfortable about her desire for power.
As I recall, correct me if I am wrong,
the women's vote was a
contributing factor in the election of Trump.
6
Life involves a balancing act of when to compromise versus when to stand firm or reach for dreams.
We all do this, and make mistakes at various times. But unlike most of us, Hillary did so on a public stage.
9
I recently was watching CNN and a person made the interesting point that men Democrats had a tendency not to run in districts where the Republicans had a Gerrymandered sure seat whereas Democratic women wanted to take on that challenge. Hillary Clinton ran a lousy campaign and brought forth this dreadful Russia stole the election for Trump accusation which is going to do the Democrats harm at the end when the public finally gets sick of that nonsense. She defended her husband against the bimbo eruptions. She was a fire breathing neo con who scared many people who would have supported her. Her disregard for the transparency in gov't law while she was in the State Department should have got her fired.
10
Within Hillary Clinton we see an underlying tension that many upwardly mobile women experience: accomplishing our goals - whether they be maintaining a stable family, pursuing a career or establishing a public persona - often requires cooperating with patriarchal norms and expectations. Individually our choices make sense - we avoid the suffering of divorce, a movie gets made, an image is polished. Collectively our efforts actually betray other women. An abuser gets to stay home; more women must succumb to the sexual wiles of men in power and those who refuse to cooperate are labeled as trouble makers and worse. Throughout these past months as we’ve watched so many men toppled from their pedestals, rarely do we discuss the many women whose refusal to enter or remain in certain environments have cost them dearly, in part because they are anonymous. I wonder if HRC’s life story makes us uncomfortable because in it we can’t escape the truth regarding women. Success in the past almost always required putting men, their interests and their desires first. Women’s overall needs came second and and those of poor women, especially of color, often didn’t matter at all. It’s a time of reckoning for everyone now - even women.
299
Let's not over analyze the powerful force that is Hillary Clinton. All one has to do is recognize a superior intellect combined with a superior education combined with superior public office experience and you will understand exactly who Hillary Clinton is.
8
I so agree! Just wrote a blog post wondering about the elephant in the room with HRC, which Amy Chozick doesn't mention: why did she stand by Bill all those years, and still today?
https://bethechange2012.com/2018/01/14/will-the-real-hillary-rodham-clin...
I don't like the idea of giving her credit for much... though I'm sure she'd be happy to claim this new wave is what she was after all along. Desperately hoping to have her well and truly banished so we can move forward with a candidate who will be able to dispose the donald
28
We don't have to wait for 2020. Trump is easy to manipulate. Should they take over the Congress, the Democrats could easily get him to do their bidding. Trump is an empty vessel, just waiting to be filled with praise and winning. He doesn't care who feeds his ego or what's on the plate, only that it's fed.
3
How can you not give her credit? Here is a woman who could have had a lucrative law career but chose to go into public service. Here is a woman who lived what she preached 'practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible." Here is a woman who changed the role of First Lady to one of active involvement. Here is a woman whose every flaw was magnified and was expected to be perfect when Trump was given a pass for gross misconduct. She deserves to be honored.
201
"Mrs. Clinton’s victory would probably have led to a brief period of euphoria and a return to complacency — or worse, a backlash against ambitious women."
Is that what happened with Obama?
44
Actually, yes. The so-called "post racial" America that was hailed after his election was actually followed by a sharp increase in racism, and actually led to Trump.
5
Pretty much.
2
Actually, yes, starting with the Supreme Court declaring a post-racial era that allowed them to begin rolling back the Civil Rights Act. And trump was certainly the backlash after euphoria over the election of Obama supposedly marking racial progress.
4
It was Trump who ignited the movement. If Hilary had lost to John Kasich, none of this would have happened. What Hilary did was to banish forever the neoliberal center from the Democratic Party. The notion that the coastal elites can lock down the nomination to protect its interests through a flood of campaign contributions is well and truly dead. The first woman president will get there by collecting retail donations from voters in Wisconsin. Who she'll visit in person.
49
"What Hilary did was to banish forever the neoliberal center from the Democratic Party. The notion that the coastal elites can lock down the nomination to protect its interests"
That ought to be true. However, this issue is still in doubt. There is a strong rear-guard action being fought. So far, they are hanging on to many of the levers of power.
If they don't go, Democrats are going to lose again.
36
Not to mention the DNC fueled all efforts at the DNC convention to curb fair and equal treatment of Bernie Sanders' supporters. Was it correct that at one point signs that support Sanders were banned?
10
I agree with Mark Thompson, I don't think the Democrats have realized that unless they move to the center, they are doomed as a political party. The majority of Americans do not agree with the extremes of the left; such positions are not part of the national character. The notion of equality and equal access to opportunity are central to American individualism and success, but once the outcome of those ideals are legislated to benefit the pursuit of identity politics, those left behind will rebel. Thank you.
3
The finest quality Hillary Clinton has exhibited over her entire life is that she never gives up. She has inspired me to press on when all seemed lost, to persevere when the cause was hopeless, to find new life in the midst of unbearable loss.
Of course, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, that is precisely the message of the gospels. One doesn't learn that lesson from preachers, especially those whose message is all about personal wealth as a sign of God's blessing. No, one learns it from the lives of others. It is a spiritual fact caught, not taught.
I anticipate a new chapter in Hillary's life even more intriguing than all her past chapters.
120
And this, directly below Thomason, is an example of the kind of thinking that I referenced just above. Hopefully one day this writer and her team will see the world as it is, not as one wishes.
2
Hillary defended her misogynist husband who was also a perjerure. But she got a run at the White House out of the deal as the line of Me Too woman paraded by.
Interesting chapter? Yep.
Smashing any sort of Glass Ceiling? You're joking.
5
People often speak of Presidents in terms of their legacies. The lifetime leadership of Hillary Clinton as a feminist and protector of the social democratic contract in America and internationally has been set. No amount of controversy or the mere losing of the election will diminish her star into the future.
She may not have been elected President, but forevermore, she will be an American Icon. And there are many of us who would still take a walk in the woods with her, anywhere or anytime. Why? because into the future, we will all be following in her footsteps.
189
"American Icon", surely you jest. Hillary has been at the wrong end of criminal investigation after investigation. She lost an election she threw in her favor to get the nomination. She lost an election in which she spent a billion dollars, had the entire media apparatus shilling for her, and both major parties supporting her to beat President Trump. Her legacy is but a laugh in the wind, RIP HRC legacy.
3
This piece is a tortured piece of logic and facts. There is little evidence that Clinton lead a feminist movement. More likely she rode the wave.
The facts suggest that Trump and Weinstein were the triggers to set off the recent progress, and their victims are the heroes here.
57
For many years I have been a feminist, and I see Hillary Clinton more of a politician than a feminist. I am not challenging Ms. Chozick, who has written an interesting article, but in every post-election interview, article and post-mortem, I've seen mostly on-going anger and disappointment in Hillary, indicative more of her missed personal goal than her grief for her country.
Feminists must come to grips with the possibility that maybe Hillary Clinton was not The One, and that stronger, more flexible, more inclusive and more selfless candidates are out there.
66
Or maybe there are many waves of feminism and you don't to get to define it narrowly
3
"Her career brings to light the truth that there is no perfect vessel, that sooner or later, the harder we strive, the higher we climb, we all become that woman."
That is not true. Many fine women climbed very high, and did not become that woman.
Angela Merkel in Germany, Margaret Thatcher in Britain, Golda Meir in Israel, Eleanor Roosevelt right here at home, none of them became that woman. Nor is that a prospect for any current candidates, from Elizabeth Warren to Tulsi Gabbard.
Hillary became that woman because she is that woman.
50
Eleanor Roosevelt was certainly maligned as 'that woman'.
7
It is revolting that you would put Thatcher and Meir with Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a decent and fair-minded individual, unlike those two vampires.
3
"She was poised to lead and is now on the sidelines."
History is replete with examples of people who served as change agents, but due to the slow pace of effecting change, did not get to lead all the way through to its successful, full implementation.
Nevertheless, she persisted; being a trailblazer/lightning rod takes a special type of individual.
200
Usually the advocates of significant change don't live long enough to see what they advocate implemented, or correct errors of misinterpretation in the implementation.
5
You also don't hear Democrats saying "Yeah, why doesn't the disgraced, loser, sidelines-dwelling Mitt Romney stay out of political life like he's supposed to??"
You don't hear that because he's not a Democratic woman candidate for high office. If/when a Dem Congresswoman runs in the 2020 presidential election, you'll hear Republican slurs and smears galore. They already have started on Ms. Gillibrand, Ms. Warren, etc. It's ugly, and it will get really ugly...
My mom was Irish, and she'd advise me to watch out for manipulative people who want to play "let's you and him fight".
Republican leaders and their megaphone FOX are playing this game, pitting Americans against each other. United. States.
2
"But the roiling, messy, often painful progress made since Mr. Trump took office has recast Mrs. Clinton, who recently topped Gallup’s poll of most admired women. Her career brings to light the truth that there is no perfect vessel, that sooner or later, the harder we strive, the higher we climb, we all become that woman."
I disagree. I'm not sure if this would have meant moving left or right, but the answer for Clinton lay in being less of a feminist and more of a socialist. Had she addressed the economic concerns raised by both Sanders and Trump she would have won easily. It is true that overt feminist rhetoric (like overt black power rhetoric) would have harmed her campaign, but what she, and so many other women, perhaps ALL women according to this writer, fail to see is that economic neoliberalism is the enemy of feminism. You cannot articulate the economic positions Clinton did and win.
56
The problem is that Hillary won the majority of votes. This article is looking at only one part of the elephant. This is not a comprehensive look at what happened in the election. Hillary did talk about the economic issues but the media and press glossed over it and focused on other aspects of her campaign. Also, economic issues are feminist issues.
155
Please, let's get over Hillary Clinton. She is a good person, but she tends toward a self-centered view when she speaks in public. That cannot be good for women who I believe deserve and are looking for equal treatment, not superiority. There are plenty of other women leaders for the movement whether it's "metoo" or "times up." I am personally rooting for all those women who speak truth to power, who speak with grace and dignity, and who thereby can show the men who need such a lesson how things should be.
44
I"m sorry, but this condescending mansplaining comment about "grace and dignity" being required of women who speak truth to power is the definition of sexism, DAVE. It's like telling black people that if they are just nice enough about it, they can abolish racism. it puts the burden of ideal behavior on the people who are disadvantaged by the power structure: "if you could just be good enough, you would earn equality." I don't see the same perfection of behavior and character required of white men for achieving political power.
If self-centeredness should keep a person from the presidency, You Know Who would be on the other side of the world from the White House.
72
While I essentially applaud and and agree that HRC's defeat has spurned a re-awakening of women. Mrs. Clinton was a failed candidate--her comments on "predators ...[who} must heel" was not only unfortunate, but it showed a lack of understanding of the circumstances of some young African Americans. But even leaving her statement aside, The Democratic Nation Committee which should have been impartial decided that Hillary is the one by bashing Sanders. Also looking at the primaries, Sanders win in Michigan should have told the Clinton campaign to go there. They did not. But sadly Clinton's primary win in all the Southern states, and Bernie's win in Michigan might have predicted her defeat. No one thought that deep Southern states would go for Clinton.That miscalculation along with other members of the party denouncing sanders non support (these were false) of civil rights doomed Sanders only to promote the DNC's choice.
4
I'd start with equal treatment, Dave. Then move on to superiority.
4
I voted for Hillary Clinton, reluctantly. My concern was that the Republicans would simply continue their obstructionist behavior, as exemplified by their non-treatment of Merrick Garland and their posturing attempts to override the Affordable Care Act. I did not expect that Secretary Clinton would be able to achieve comity.
As for the current "movements," I fear that they will devolve into splinters and fringes, and they will fail to achieve lasting change. I believe that we should be working toward a common good, but that we have no understanding of what that is. We have lost the ability to look beyond a single perspective (feminist, environmentalist, conservative, evangelical) to recognize that we are complex and that our solutions must reflect this.
53
"I fear that they will devolve into splinters and fringes"
That is why they need an effective leader. The next candidate could do all of that, if the right woman is chosen.
6
So much today (maybe always) needs to be distilled down to a single idea. Are we really so unable to understand complex relationships? I feel that this is so. And rightly or wrongly I feel it traces back to the lack of critical exploration of ideas and perspectives in our educational system as it has evolved.
2
Ms. LaPoint, the current movement to end to gender discrimination will only "splinter" if people think, "there's nothing we can do - we must cooperate". NO. Women must stand up for and with each other to stop this ridiculous "men are better" idea.
The current movement is much deeper than anyone realizes. My daughter, who holds a high level job in local government, sat in a meeting with one other woman and about twenty men the other day and when one idea was discussed the male manager said they would talk about it in the "Super Man meeting". My daughter was appalled but said nothing at the time. The manager called her later that day and, after they had discussed the reason for the call, she told him the "Super Man" comment bothered her and asked if that was really the concept he wanted to foster. He called her back later that day and said, after thinking about it, he agreed and called all the men in the meeting and said they would never refer to their meetings that way again.
Little steps make the difference. Women and socially conscious men must not miss an opportunity to point these small things out. It will take time and perseverance but NOW is the time.
2
Perhaps it is coming now because Hillary is retreating from public life. Sometimes we inadvertently get in the way of the very thing we want to happen. I don't think she represented at all what is happening now, in her quest for power she tried to steer a politically safe course, but in doing so kept silent about and avoided fighting for a lot of the issues that are driving the movement now.
39
Where is there a human who would be the leader of a nation not on a quest for power? And, on that quest, doesn't aim to steer a politically safe course?
Where is the winner who fought for issues that split the nation apart?
4
"now credit the indignities and cynicism Mrs. Clinton faced in the 2016 election and her unexpected loss"
Among the indignities Clinton faced were Amy Chozick's reporting, which daily ignored Clinton's detailed policy proposals. Chozick described the sales (rather than content) of the book outlining policy proposals ("Stronger Together"). Chozick complained that Clinton wouldn't "answer questions" (i.e. questions from reporters about emails) when she daily was giving substantive answers to voters' questions along rope lines and in small groups (answers that were rarely reported), not to mention constant gossip about an aide's husband instead of describing substantive policy speeches and statements that were taking place at the same time......
As an issue-oriented woman of Clinton's generation who took seriously my responsibility as a voter (via C-span and white papers on the campaign websites because I could not get the policy information I sought from the NY Times), now each day of the Trump presidency I cannot say enough that Amy Chozick (like other political reporters), placed in a role that empowered her to play a constructive role in history, to "inform the consent" of the voters, failed.
Chozick ignored, as if they were not relevant to the choice voters were about to make, the detailed plans this hard-working woman of serious purpose, intelligence and experience took the time to outline for us.
Chozick's book should contain a big mea culpa.
426
Thank you for this very thoughtful comment. Right on!
4
Fully, totally, cpmpletely agree.
4
Hillary Rodham was cited as being “over” prepared by several journalists (not just Fox) for a Presidential debate. Over prepared to seek the most powerful and imfluential position in the country (and for now the world). Over prepared to ask the citizens of the United States to allow her to lead them and protect their rights for four years. The thick lens through which Rodham and Trump were “evaluated” by the press is epitomized not just by that statement, but also by the lack of any commentary as to why, in 2016, he is patted on the back for branding his wife with his last name and she has to be branded by her husband with his last name to be “acceptable” to the voting public. (before knee-jerking, research her name chamge, when and why, and also the history of Coverture in this country which brands (like cattle) a woman as their husband’s property - it is not biblical, it’s economic so the husband could take ownership of all of his wife’s assets. She cannot legally own anything if she is his property. Property can’t own property- and this view is part of the lens we evaluate women though. Journalists should research this before they evaluate candidates - as it goes a long way in explaining the rationalizations they and we use to “explain” why women are evaluated on a much harsher scale than men.
3
Most successful business leaders say they have learned more from their failures and move forward with information, feeling, etc to be better at other endeavors and success. We will not know the complete affect of Mrs Clinton's loss on history for some years. Our country should continue on this path so that Trump will know his place in our history as well. I am looking forward to the fact he can't write his own history. It will be our countries truth of his Presidency.
35
I think that the #MeToo movement can be traced *indirectly* to Hillary Clinton’s loss. Clearly, there would have been no Women’s March had Clinton occupied the White House in January 2017, and the Women’s March lit the match that fueled #MeToo.
At the same time, let’s not crucify Hillary Clinton for her inability to lead #MeToo. That Clinton is on the sidelines here moves other women to the fore. Broadening the cadre of women leaders is all to the good.
201
Yes, the march at least put the inspiring leader of the women's movement, Linda Sarsour, on the map. Most probably didn't see it but associating 2 totalitarian and repressive dogmas, charia and women's lib, made perfect sense.
1
It's probably too soon to make a clear assessment of Hillary Clinton's effect on politics, women's rights, or the movement that has only gathered steam since Trump's shaky victory. She was a factor, no doubt, however her own life is hardly an example of Feminist ideology. As a candidate, she was not easy to believe; as an old Betty Friedan Feminist myself, I never got the feeling that she meant much of anything she said and I had no idea what she would actually do as president. But I voted for her with the assurance that she would win, and I know very well that Russia had a great deal to do with the fact she didn't. It is thrilling to see so many women galvanized to action after the unfathomable (Trump's election) actually happened. In a weird way, perhaps she deserves some credit for that galvanized condition--but it is not because of her leadership ability or her appeal to women. The converse is probably true. It's ironic--we are inspired because she did not win.
73
I like what you say, except for one piece. I am uneasy when women continually say something like : "Of course I really don't like her but" ---. I found myself doing a version of it as well ( along the lines of "I understand why some women don't like her" ) What is it we are rejecting? I think it is deep set feeling that women are supposed to be "perfect," and undeserving of success and public support unless they always meet some impossible ideal.
IHRC does NOT have charisma. Bill had it; FDR did, as did JFK. Reagan had it, But most of those guys in Congress are plodders who campaign offering different promises to different constituencies; they try to learn to make deals in office to get some of what they want. Except for the Tea Party , Ryan, etc, who disrupted governing with rigid ultimatums.
HRC had to raise major campaign funds, and appeal to voters while always being pure. Virginal. Only taking contributions from spotlessly clean donors, e.g., or not even speaking to the "enemy" ( wall streeters?). In our system, how is that possible? Ironically, she came under fire for doing things most women have done to succeed: trying to speak in more controlled ways, dressing appropriately, preparing,and answering thoughtfully. This isn;t considered "authentic."
38
Unlike Trump, Hillary responds to reason.
6
So many of your objections to Clinton are media driven. If you "had no idea" what she would do as president it's because the media was obsessed with emails. Clinton though had ideas on almost every major issue. And as for your belief that she didn't believe anything she said I wonder why. Could that be at least partially media driven? After the reports about chris Matthews this week it's clear that Clinton was viewed through a highly negative, gendered lens
4
Ironic but also quite obvious. All the pent up energy. All the urgency. With Trump et al to turbocharge* the movement.
*those who are not mechanically inclined should know turbocharging is to recycle exhaust gas to boost the engine's performance.
17
The exhaust gas is not recycled through a turbocharger, it's residual pressure spins a turbine that compresses the intake air to increase the mass flow through the engine, and thus its power output.
16
In short: it's all hot air.
3
No social or political movement this broad and global in its reach can find its origin in a cult of one. Individuals, Gandhi, Meier, King, provide leadership, help shape direction, but leaders are rarely the source of the strike, the rise of the cause. That lies within the broader social conditions. #BlackLivesMatter is an example; it rose from names martyred by injustice.
Facts matter, too. On Trump's second day, women put on the world's largest demonstration, a celebration of what women felt in their shared silence. That day women discovered in community joy and inspiration within their inner pain.
Movements go through stages, a science too often forgotten in the world of sound bites. Movements take on real conditions. For women, the invisible yokes of publicity and pain. But to name names above the cause is an appropriation best avoided. A part of its collective character, its evolving whole Hillary certainly is, but for now, the leadership lies in every voice.
172
Mr Rhett:
I agree with a good bit of what you say. People should remember that no matter the icon, they all had flaws, all came to be vilified and deified in various ways. This is true whether discussing Thomas Jefferson or Mother Theresa--and those others you mention. I will not be around to see what historians say about Hillary Clinton 50-100 years hence; it can take a while to get a balanced picture.
Not to get too clinical, but there are people who study these things, as you know. And those "stages" you mention have been described: https://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-1248.pdf ("Four Stages of Social Movements"). There are probably better essays.
1
Disagree strongly with your minimization of Hillary’s impact. Can I chalk it up to your patriarchy or just your unwillingness to change? Every man needs to stretch into this new normal where women are equal beings.
3
It seems to me that while Hillary Clinton's defeat had some form of impact, change actually stemmed from frustration, frustration that so many people had chosen to overlook Donald Trump's long record of misogyny.
As a public figure, Clinton's identity as a democrat and a politician seems to be more dominant than her identity as a feminist - and I think she sees herself that way as well - which makes her unsuitable to be a feminist icon in any way.
72
“As a public figure, Clinton's identity as a democrat and a politician seems to be more dominant than her identity as a feminist - and I think she sees herself that way as well - which makes her unsuitable to be a feminist icon in any way.”
First of all, why would being a politician make one unsuitable to be a feminist? Would being a feminist make one unsuitable to be a politican? Can’t you be both?
What about Secretary Clinton’s tireless work for women and children since her early days? And traveling the world as our Secretary of State actively promoting education and empowerment for women and girls? “Women and Girls” has been her mantra and battlecry.
What about Hillary’s own phrase - that she has used for decades, “Women’s Rights are Human Rights?” The Women’s March uses this phrase as their standard - it is even in their Mission Statement on their webpage - and yet Hillary not only was excluded from the Women’s March, she is not even given credit for her phrase.
We women have still not learned that together we stand, divided we fall. It dismays me no end that people seems to cling to the image Hillary’s enemies have propagated against her for years. Even in these comments, can we not give Hillary credit where credit is due?
Women’s March Mission Statement
https://www.womensmarch.com/mission
Judicial Watch - dedicated to damaging the Clintons
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/judicial-watch-hillary-cl...
8
"As a public figure, Clinton's identity as a democrat and a politician seems to be more dominant than her identity as a feminist."
But isn't that what we want? To be judged by our qualities, talents, intelligence and not by our gender?
4
During her husband's administration, she dared to take pride in the fact that she was not one to be content baking cooking at home. She was UNABASHED at all moments of her public life to acknowledge that she, too, was smart, capable, competent. Her husband scrambled publicly for YEARS to pull her back into their marriage, admitting she was brains of the operation. During her campaign, she iconically wore suffragette white. She talked repeatedly about deep and motivating goal of shattering the glass ceiling. But you say she didn't have an "identity as a feminist"? I have NO IDEA how you could make such a statement. She was THE American feminist of her time. As a highly educated woman who has also been frustrated by a world that applauded my perfect grades, then told me to shut up and defer to the men around me, she is my IDOL.
3
Well, that’s one interpretation of history; but here’s another. American women, yugely frustrated at the inability of progressive will to bring Donald Trump to account for his retrograde attitudes toward women, finally exploded in their outrage and frustration at generational male entitlement and started taking it out on men who weren’t as bulletproof. They found that their outrage and frustration, at this moment in history, developed legs. Thus was born one movement (#MeToo) then derivative others (the hilarious French #BalanceTonPorc – “Call Out Your Pig”, Hollywood’s Time’s Up, etc.)
That would give the credit, entertainingly, to Trump as the igniter of a feminist tsunami, not Hillary. The truth is that people had gotten around to not thinking of Hillary as a woman, despite her attempts to exploit her identity for political advantage. Now, that’s not intended as a dig at her, for I have immense respect for HRC as a political and historical figure. But it’s not very often that a political presence is so dominant that vast numbers can get beyond gender to the person.
And, as Amy admits, HRC is an unlikely avatar for feminism as a general matter. This is a woman with immense sense of self, not of self-as-woman. She’s always kinda-sorta bridled at the notion of dining out on a gender that might obscure who SHE was.
It’s perhaps unfortunate and sad that some with such little claim to historical worth end up being so lucky, and some with immense claims … wind up so UNlucky.
111
Lucky and unlucky might not be the best words since chance would be the determinant. Fortunate and Unfortunate would work better since the winds of privilege, prejudice and manipulated public opinon played such a large role in DJT's rise and HRTs fall.
2
During Ms Clinton's electoral via crucis, lots of women in Spanish-America (where I live/work) kept asking why she kept using her husband's last name.
Their thought was that being "la señora de Clinton" was OK while he was governor and then president but that she should just leave him out of the picture by not using his name as she was becoming a candidate, a senator, a cabinet minister and a presidential candidate in her own right. Their reaction to explanations of US laws and customs was usually "So what? This is politics!"
In the US, many women already have been and, clearly, more and more will soon be elected to public offices of all sorts. I'd like to see an article in the NYT about political-women's last names in the US.
Maybe my country-women, colleagues and family members are right.
2
It's definitely Trump. You know me, the woman engineer who worked in an office where 90% of my all-male co-workers were of the Al Franken type.
Picture this: some time during the campaign, I stood up, walked over to my husband, and said the following: "I know I'm not supposed to say this, I know I'm supposed to applaud and jump for joy, and I know she has every qualification in the book and will make a fine president.....but, I just can't stand her. There, I've said it."
I liked Clinton better in 2008 when she just ran as a person. She miscalculated in playing the sex card in this last campaign. Every time I heard "glass ceiling," I felt another molar crack. You picked up on the subtlety--that it was too much about her. On the night of her nomination, she thanked all the feminists who came before, their photos flashing on a screen behind her. We, the living legions of professional women who made her candidacy possible, were ignored. I kept screaming, no, you idiot: don't thank them, thank me. I was in the trenches, Mary Barra, CEO of GM was in the trenches, Sally Ride was in a space shuttle--we made YOU possible. We're the reason men can see you and not care that you're a woman.
On January 21, I dressed in black and went to my first march, ever. I actually thought I might be alone--after who we just elected, how much did we really care? But, every station and every train car was packed. I smiled for the first time since the election.
4
This old man voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and national election because I thought she was the best qualified to be President. And if Hillary Clinton were to run for President in 2020, I would vote for her over any other candidate. Whether it's Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, or Jay Inslee, or Gina Raimondo, etc.
President Obama said it best, Hillary is the best qualified to be President ever, including himself. No one today can hold a candle to her.
Our Country was foolhardy to have passed by such a unique opportunity in our history and elect Mrs. Clinton.
1028
Appreciate your sentiment and agree that she was the most qualified to MANAGE the country. It's not clear however, that she was the most qualified to LEAD the country. Hillary never articulated where she wanted the country to go and thus those who were concerned about her duplicity ignored her qualifications. No candidate is perfect, but being capable never inspires the electorate to vote for you.
While I agree with you about HRC's qualifications (and like you voted for her) success is often based on more than a curriculum vitae. Life isn't always fair and objective. Unfortunately for HRC she was saddled with Bill and his transgressions because of choices SHE made. She endured years of mudslinging based being cast as the bad cop to Bill's good cop. And unfortunately, many people thought rightly or wrongly - that what was once touted as a "two for one" deal - wasn't such a great deal after all.
3
Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate of my lifetime. But even with that it was hard to not have mixed feelings about her candidacy. One part of being president is qualifications which Hillary has in spades. The other part is the human touch which she struggled with. And she was so reliant on polls that it was hard to tell if had a heartfelt stance on anything.
1
in recent weeks, i've seen a sudden surge in articles calling kirsten gillibrand opportunistic and unreliable, and lambasting kamala harris as inexperienced, but complete crickets on people like joe biden who is great in many ways, but has flaws of his own. hillary clinton is an extraordinary woman who was eminently qualified to be president, and since losing, has been lambasted for not evaporating into thin air, although i haven't heard one peep castigating mitt romney for daring to seek elected office again. i very much hope clinton inspired a feminist movement, but seeing that even a year before midterms and three years before the next presidential election, qualified, talented women being roundly criticized for having aspirations while mediocre men slide on by, i'm not confident we won't see a repeat of 2016 once again. until society decides it's okay for women to want power and have ambitions, we'll continue to see doors closed to women for daring to dream of running the world.
619
You have hit on something here. Critics, men and women alike, find it very easy to pick apart women for their perceived flaws while letting just as flawed (or even more so) men skate by. Male critics do it out of ingrained fear, a push to maintain the patriarchy they feel entitled to. Female critics do it out of jealousy or an almost-hidden desire to curry favor with the patriarchy. We women all become "that woman" when we step out of our perceived proper lane.
I admire Clinton and so many other pioneering women for choosing their own paths and navigating a cultural minefield filled with naysayers and critics determined to maintain their own power and shut down rising voices that would smash the patriarchy. We are all the perfect vessels for smashing it, day in day out.
6
I feel that gillibrand threw franken under the bus for her own personal reasons. For that, I will never vote for her for anything, so I hope she does not become a nominee for president.
8
Kamala Harris is certainly not inexperienced...just because she is not in her 70s does not mean she is inexperienced...she is extremely accomplished in her career and has no ugly baggage like Bill Clinton to drag along.....I hope she will be our first female president...she can do it, talk about being highly qualified look at her career record...and, this is important, she did not ride in on her husband's tailcoats. HC is simply no longer relevant....if she had never married Bill Clinton no one would know of her.
3
She was not a great candidate but she would have made a much better president. Of, course, Attila would be an improvement over this thing. There are number of strong, qualified Democratic women and we need to make sure that one of them gets a chance to lead!
204
I fully agree that we need a woman to lead this nation; alas, I don't think the U.S. voter is ready for one. It is still easier for any unqualified male to win than for the most qualified woman. Blame the electoral college that is more interested in a status quo that gives it power than in a change that would revitalize and project forward all of us. To beat the electoral college a woman would have to win by a landslide. And I just don't see that happening.
4
Ironically the republicans seem to think that perpetually running against Clinton is a winning ticket. No, it wasn't Trump who collided with the Russians. It was Clinton. (Remember the uranium deal). No one will once this election cycle is over. Running against the last challenger worked for the democrats for years as both FDR and Truman repeatedly mentioned Hoover in successive elections after Hoover lost in 32. I believe history will be kind to Clinton who told things about Trump that we ignored to our detriment
128
It is disingenuous to continue to flaunt the uranium deal as being tied to Mrs. Clinton. This has been debunked multiple times over. Please stop spreading misinformation, you hurt us all.
3
You are misinformed. Here is Shepard Smith on Fox News on November 14, 2017 on the topic of the Uranium One "scandal" , "The accusation is predicated on the charge that Secretary Clinton approved the sale. She did not," Smith said. "A committee of nine evaluated the sale, the president approved the sale, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others had to offer permits, and none of the uranium was exported for use by the US to Russia."
Perhaps Trump did not collide with the Russians. He didn't have any visible abrasions or bruises. Most probably the Mueller investigation will turn up huge money laundering colluding on the part of the Trump organization.
3
The article is painful to read for older women. We will likely not live to see a woman president. I feel grateful to have lived during the Presidency of Barack Obama. But I knew that progress would be followed by backlash. I still believe the majority of Americans knew she was ready to lead and voted for her. Considering that our country's historical pattern has been to seesaw between political parties, it was a "Republican" year. Considering that she still won the popular vote is amazing. I did not know her name was not listed as among 28 revolutionary women at the Women's March. That is frankly shameful. Obviously some one did not do their homework on her career. She has been a tireless worker for children and women. To punish her for "succeeding" in a white man's world, is punishing her for her courage, the limitations of her era and who she chose to love. That is just cruel and immature. 98% of black women voted for Hilary. They knew she wasn't perfect but knew perfectly well what racism and misogyny, and just plain evil looked like. They lived it every day of their lives. The women (white) who pulled the lever for anyone or but Hilary elected Trump. There were only two viable choices, now we have the wrong one. If the nascent Women's March Organizers continue to insist on absolute purity of vision, and de facto martyrdom by women leaders in order to be "revolutionary." Good luck with that.
802
I too am just learning what the women’s march organizers did. I marched last Jan 21 and was planning to go to DC Saturday for the Impeachment March so I am very disappointed at the organizers’ affront to the premier female leader in my country in my lifetime. Shame on you organizers.
8
The most important female in American history.
7
Thank you, KimDeVane, for your truthful and important comment. How those organizers of the march could exclude HRC is shocking and yes, absolutely shameful. It's also shameful so many white women voted for Trump. HRC won the popular vote but thanks to the Electoral College, our WH and Congress is a bastion of 1950's era white men (some of them real creeps, including the vulgar Trump ), wrecking the country, the environment and stealing everything in sight. When we could have had a most qualified leader! I'm still sick over it.
7
We wouldn’t be here if Hillary had not run In the first place. She advanced the idea that a qualified democratic woman could be president. Before she ran It didn’t seem remotely possible a woman could be president. Had she not run we would be further behind on all the issues.
I have respect for Hillary Clinton but no respect for democrats who say they would vote for a woman just not that woman. And what they voted for Trump or didn’t vote? This is not that hard
525
I'll be glad when the list of people who started a movement by losing includes Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and, yes, Bernie Sanders. The peace movement.
146
The legacy of all three was to enable the election of two of the worst and most anti-peace presidents of the modern era. At least for McCarthy and McGovern it was inadvertent and unintentional. Sanders is still serving his 2016 role as Putin's "left" Trump. Still waiting for indictment of Tad Devine(Sanders' manager, Paul Manafort's business partner).
6
"A refrain I’d often hear from voters on the 2016 campaign trail was that they were happy to vote for a woman, just not “that woman.” ....But the roiling, messy, often painful progress made since Mr. Trump took office has recast Mrs. Clinton, who recently topped Gallup’s poll of most admired women."
As a Clinton supporter, I view the arc of her career of always being off in her timing. I don't think she knew, as younger women today instinctively do, how to reconcile her personal ambitions with those of her husband.
The "movement" hadn't borne fruit for those that launched it--some trailblazers only get to see victory once their time to enjoy it has come, and gone. While I'm sure it's a bitter pill for her to swallow, I can't stop thinking how much antagonism hurled at her most of her adult life turned people against her so much so that it took a man like Donald Trump to make Hillary look fantastic.
Look, nobody feels sorry for either Clinton, given how much they often did themselves in. And yet, I still feel she was an extremely hard worker and one of the more qualified candidates in years.
But I find it sad--no, wrong word, I find it insulting--that personal failings destroyed them, while those of the man currently occupying the Oval just roll off his back no matter how injurious or dangerous they are.
663
What personal failings? That’s the mantra that cost her the election. I’ve been watching her since she became First Lady. I’ve read about her life over and over, and I just can’t understand why her hard work is so often tarnished with descriptions as yours. Descriptions that really have no root in real facts. Just like the media love to cast her as the worse candidate. Why? What made her the worse candidate? Was she supposed to be flawless, while we elect a fowl mouth, knows-nothing, pussy-grabbing, bully-man for president.
9
This is not the first time Ms. Clinton was the most admired women in America. When she was in the Senate and Sec. of State she was at the top of the list. It was only after the Republicans tore her to shred and MNM got on the bandwagon with negative story after negative story did she fall. It was nothing she personally did to make this happen.
3
If anyone should, and will, be credited with starting the coming "movement", it will certainly be Bernie Sanders, who stoically endured Clinton's outrageous machinations to deny him a fair shot at the nomination.
3
It would have been very difficult for the #metoo movement to happen with Bill Clinton as presidential spouse. Hilary Clinton has always been a feminist, but she has also been ambivalent about whether the path to success should be through her own considerable accomplishments or through being the spouse of a powerful man who has also sexually harassed women. Moreover, she has also been ambivalent about whether a feminist politician should stay true to what were her original progressive positions or, to succeed, needed to be as tough as "the boys" and thus vote for war in Iraq. Paradoxically the presidential candidate who knew the most about international affairs, although not as dangerous as Trump's ignorance, would have been very likely to have bombed someone by now, just to prove that she could do it. I voted for her, and I am sorry she lost, but I have not viewed her as a feminist icon in a very long time. If she had voted against the Iraq war and been a candidate who was more sure of herself in 2008, rather than twisting in the wind after each consultant's report, she would have won the presidency then.
94
I find the calummny that Hillary Clinton would "have been very likely to have bombed someone by now, just to prove that she could do it." is a particularly unfair one. It implies that a President Hillary would have learned nothing from the mistake of her support for the Iraq war. Hillary Clinton made mistakes but she also learned from them. It also ignores the sharp increase in civiian causualties from American drone bombs under "President" Trump. This ungrounded and speculative assertion suggests that is was made by someone unable to see past a great prejudice against the obviously superior candidate in November 2016.
330
I don't think there is much evidence that Clinton "would have learned nothing from the mistake of her support for the Iraq war." As Secretary of State she the chief sponsor of the ill-concieved 2011 US campaign to topple Qaddafi that has left Lybia in even more chaos than Iraq. Even Obama has admitted that was a mistake, but not Clinton. One of the hallmarks of Clinton's career has been her consistent refusal to learn from her mistakes or even admit them.
12
very good points...I don't think the writer of this article sees it this way
4
I voted for Hillary Clinton not because she is a woman, but because she was incomparably more qualified than Trump, and unlike Trump she is sane. I have worked with women who were wonderful, brilliant, effective, and women who were deceitful, unimaginative, and destructive. So the gender angle guaranteed nothing to me - I simply voted for the best candidate.
The first vote I ever cast forty-plus years ago was for Shirley Chisholm, but not because she was a woman and black, but because she impressed me as the most erudite on the issues, and by all available evidence, more intelligent as well as more decent. I simply want the best person in the job.
I think that Hillary made a mistake by framing her campaign so heavily as a feminist crusade - that was a big turn-off to the majority of white women, 52% of whom voted for Trump. Although by any measure of fairness a woman should have been president long ago, that argument alone could not win the election.
The U.K already has its second female prime minister in Theresa May, and Angela Merkel repeatedly wins the approval of German voters and is arguably
the most powerful woman in the world, not to mention the female leaders in Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia, and Switzerland. But all of that is beside the point to Europeans who have obviously moved on well past the gender and sexual hysteria of Americans.
458
Yes, all those women leaders in other countries---Thatcher, May, Merkle, Meier---and google shows many more---and they weren't the wives of a president.
Also the US ranks behind dozens of nations with a higher % of women in their legislatures. Why is this?
And btw, why does the NY Times have only 3 women as regular op ed page columnists--in 2018?
This should all be the topic for the next op ed---especially from the NY Times, an international paper.
3
"More qualified than Trump" is a pretty low bar. If you want the support of actual liberals and progressives, you need to do better than that.
2
Hilary Clinton was her own worst enemy. Her trying to shuck responsibility for having a private email server is only one example. Her remark about Trump voters calling them "deplorables" is another. What was she thinking? I could go on and on. I supported Senator Sanders and have no regrets about my choice.
1