And for the women?

[Anonymous]

I am moved by Obama's election. I understand the cultural significance. But I just want to note that every time I hear people say "now when I tell my kids the can be anything, I am telling the truth" I think to myself, hope you have sons! Feeling the profound significance of Obama's election also reminds me how the soft bigotry of low expectations plays out in the lives of our daughters, and ourselves as mothers.

I am one of the many people who wish we had seen Michelle Obama running with her Harvard law degree instead of Barack. I wish BO had picked a woman instead of Biden. I wish Sarah Palin hadn't become a laughingstock, punching bag, and scapegoat. I wish Rachel Maddow weren't the only woman out of 6 hosts on MSNBC, and a late edition at that. I wish Larry Summers as Treasury Secretary were not a viable political option, after his disgusting peddling of low expectations for women. I wish every time a pundit or teacher pulls out the American Presidents poster and points to the profound difference between BO and every other president, they admit that we are clearly not there yet.

I think we still have a long way to go before we can claim all our children have equal opportunities. But I applaud the success so far. Please, let's not stop now!

[Anonymous]

We won't stop now. I think everyone knows that it was a quirk of fate that Obama beat Hillary, and that if it had gone the other way, Hill would almost surely be President-Elect. Besides, after Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Indira Nehru, and Golda Meir, the idea of a woman heading a Government is not a leap.

Still, knowing it's possible and seeing it are two different things. I wish the VP nominees had been Clinton and Rice, but life is not subject to my wishes.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this. I agree.

And don't even get me started on all of the anti-gay and anti-lesbian initiatives that were passed in this election.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. I am happy for Obama to have won, I voted for him, and I can't even begin to understand what it means for African-Americans to see themselves reflected in him. But I am a woman and I have two girls and part of me is heartbroken. I wanted Hillary, both because I think she would be great and because I wanted my girls to see that there are no limits. They will grow up in a world where they won't be able to question that a black man can be President. But what about a woman?

[Anonymous]

I for one will be looking closely at his Cabinet and other high level appointments, as well as the Senators appointed to fill Biden and Obama's seats. Just like with Clinton, it was America's women who elected this ticket. And I want payback.

[Anonymous]

Amen, amen, amen. Yesterday I looked at Tom Toles' editorial cartoon in WaPo, the one with the ratification of "all men are created equal" and Obama standing outside the White House. And I thought, yes, but you still don't get it. All MEN are created equal, but women apparently are not. And it is terribly frustrating that so many men just don't seem to understand the barriers that remain for women. As a Hillary supporter I wondered, what the hell does it take to get a woman on the Democratic ticket, anyway? Are 18 million votes not enough? Joe Biden got about 9,000! But I knew, deep down, that the color barrier (for men, at least) would have to fall first, just as black men got the vote before their black (and white and other) sisters. The color barrier is down now, and thank God. But could the guys who keep saying "Look! Anyone can be president!" please realize that Obama's election does NOT mean "anyone" can be president? It means any MAN can be president. Sorry, but that's just not the same to the more than half of the American population that is female.

[Anonymous]

To 12:09: While I agree that if Hillary had been heading the ticket, she would be president-elect today, I do not think it was a "quirk" that Obama won the nomination and thus the presidency.

By many accounts (I hesitate to say "all" because I will get flamed), Obama ran a very effective campaign. I think Salon (?) or Atlantic (?) posted an article recently (past 3 months or so) about the infighting and disorganization that ran amok in the Hillary campaign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 12:09: While I agree that if Hillary had been heading the ticket, she would be president-elect today, I do not think it was a "quirk" that Obama won the nomination and thus the presidency.

By many accounts (I hesitate to say "all" because I will get flamed), Obama ran a very effective campaign. I think Salon (?) or Atlantic (?) posted an article recently (past 3 months or so) about the infighting and disorganization that ran amok in the Hillary campaign.

14:32 here. Certainly Obama ran a more disciplined and effective campaign than HRC. Hillary herself was usually very disciplined, but some of her staff were not. Her husband also was not. Had she reined in Bill and had she not relied on Mark Penn, whom Bill urged on her, the outcome might have been different. (Penn not only made crucial strategic errors, he failed to understand the proportional allocation of delegates in the current Democratic nominating process.) However, it's a fact, and one for the history books, that Hillary and Obama were nearly tied in the popular vote. It's also a fact that Obama ran up huge margins in majority-black districts that shut out Hillary in terms of delegates (i.e., she couldn't break 25% in those districts). That, perhaps, is the real "quirk" in the system.

[Anonymous]

I saw the cabinet likely list this morning and won a free dinner from my boss. He was an Obama supporter and I a McCain supporter. I told him three (3) months ago that if Obama was elected the cabinet would contain: NO JEWS, NO BLACKS and NO WOMEN. Further I postulated that we would see a recycling of the Clinton White House, and lo and behold - look who's back - Ron Emanuel - misogynist viper man.

[Anonymous]

I am a woman and I would rather my daughter see Obama as her first elected President than Hillary Clinton. Obama did not win because of a twist of fate. He won the nomination because he ran a far superior campaign and had a more compelling vision for this country. I feel much more saddened by the passage of the anti-gay legislation than I do that a woman is not President. I want a woman to be President when she is the best person for the job and not simply because of her gender. Clinton was not the best person this time around. It's no slight on my sex that Obama will be our new President; it's just a great joy.

[Anonymous]

I saw the cabinet likely list this morning and won a free dinner from my boss. He was an Obama supporter and I a McCain supporter. I told him three (3) months ago that if Obama was elected the cabinet would contain: NO JEWS, NO BLACKS and NO WOMEN. Further I postulated that we would see a recycling of the Clinton White House, and lo and behold - look who's back - Ron Emanuel - misogynist viper man.

But Rahm Emanuel IS Jewish. He's Orthodox.

[Anonymous]

PP I agree. But let's not rehash the painful primary. Let's focus on breaking that glass ceiling somehow for our daughters.

The best way to do that is prepare for 2012 and 2016. Obama can help with the 2016 field by creating a farm team of women who will be qualified to be prez or VP right now through his cabinet appointments and filling his IL Senate seat with qualified females.

The problem is that there is no demand, or recognition from the media, that this is a problem that still needs to be addressed. Do people out there want to go another 24 years without a woman on the ticket? I have tasted freedom and really can't go back.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I saw the cabinet likely list this morning and won a free dinner from my boss. He was an Obama supporter and I a McCain supporter. I told him three (3) months ago that if Obama was elected the cabinet would contain: NO JEWS, NO BLACKS and NO WOMEN. Further I postulated that we would see a recycling of the Clinton White House, and lo and behold - look who's back - Ron Emanuel - misogynist viper man.

Ron Emanuel, or more formally, Rahm Emanuel, is Jewish. Obama's cabinet will contain plenty of women, blacks, and Jews.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw the cabinet likely list this morning and won a free dinner from my boss. He was an Obama supporter and I a McCain supporter. I told him three (3) months ago that if Obama was elected the cabinet would contain: NO JEWS, NO BLACKS and NO WOMEN. Further I postulated that we would see a recycling of the Clinton White House, and lo and behold - look who's back - Ron Emanuel - misogynist viper man.

Ron Emanuel, or more formally, Rahm Emanuel, is Jewish. Obama's cabinet will contain plenty of women, blacks, and Jews.

Really? Did you see the news today?

[Anonymous]

Rahm Emanuel is not Orthodox.