Hillary, Hillary, Hillary

The primaries are basically the battle of competing narratives. We have the narrative-- the accepted wisdom-- that Hillary is the inevitable candidate and perhaps should be crowned anytime now. There are other narratives-- that she is the nut-cracking Wicked Witch of the West (or at least Whitewater), cackling from some coven populated with feminanzis.

Because Hillary is the ostensible Democratic front runner, she naturally is the target of the most intense questions both from the moderator and from other candidates.

I think most Americans are trying to size up Hillary and what they see is kind of a layer cake-- the historic-- the first women president potentially-- the Machivellian-- a disingenuous control freak-- the intellectual-- someone who is in command of the forest and the trees of policy-- the experiential-- someone who can hit the ground running with her years in the background from another White House administration, the human-- someone with the same mix of uncertainties, ambitions, and ideals that all politicans have and so on.

I think Clinton has been savvy in avoiding what I think would be a grave political mistake, portray a vote for her as some kind of feminist or feminine litmus test. I think it is rubbish to think that there is a "powder room vote"-- a collection of political sympathies that are unique to women only. Certainly, India, Israel, England, Germany, and many other countries have no problem with leaders who are women, and the United States I suspect is no exception, given the right candidate and cirumstances. Perhaps, the reticence of Americans to have women leaders has its roots in the male-centric religions that dominate America. Whatever the cause, gender no longer seems to have much weight in determining whether or not someone should lead the country. Our popular and pragmatic governor in Arizona for example is Janet Napolitano. What is important is character and competence-- the same standard that you would choose in determing who should be your family dentist or doctor.

My own sympathies are presently with the other candidates, but Hillary in my opinion is to be preferred over any Republican candidate.