As painful as this campaign has been to watch and endure (and endure and endure), it's provided some interesting views into the roles of gender and race in our society. As a feminist who supported Obama, I had a hard time understanding the intense identification of some feminist Clinton supporters with their candidate. So this article provided a really useful view into the intersection between Clinton's campaign and the hopes and perceptions of some of her second-wave feminist supporters. In short, among other things, there's a generational component, in which some women old enough to have a concept of Hillary Clinton that pre-dated 1992 (did you know, for example, that she was profiled in 1968 in Life magazine as an "icon" of her generation following her Wellesley commencement speech?) viewed her as a promising political talent who would one day make a historic and great president. I have a lot of sympathy for those smashed hopes.
And this really good article analyzes how Obama pulled it off. In short, he found really talented people who believed in what they were doing and were team players, he came up with a thoughtful plan that he patiently carried out, and he used his resources wisely. This all, I think, shows excellent management skills and strategic vision, which is exactly the sort of thing I want in a president.
Now, just to defeat GetOffaMyLawn Mavericky McStraightTalk. Have you heard that he's older than nachos?
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