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(Archive March 2016) Sexism vs. Reality: It’s Not Sexist to Vote Against Hilary Clinton

By Jason Greenough | Arts & Entertainment Editor

flickr.com/aaron_webb

It’s primary season, as you know, and the Presidential race is becoming more and more vibrant and intense as the days pass by. By the time you read this, Bernie Sanders has already won New Hampshire, and Hillary Clinton claimed the victory in Iowa by a margin of less than 1%. Also by the time you read this, you will have seen a mix of primaries and caucuses in 20 other states and provinces, thanks to Super Tuesday.

That’s not all you will see, however. Be prepared to see mud flinging like never before, as candidates will scratch and scramble to garner votes to retain viability in the race for the White House. One candidate I would like to point out as a strong force in this mud-slinging is the once well-respected Senator from New York and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Let me go on the record as saying this: I fully, 188% support Bernie Sanders. The man is wonderful, genuine, determined, and above all else, empathetic towards the ordeal, or many ordeals rather, facing the American people. Sanders is on point about the issues that have weighed on American citizens, and his experience, leadership, and ability to get things done in the Senate have brought forth some of the best legislation for working families. Does anyone remember the marathon filibuster Sanders soldiered through to make sure the Bush Tax Cuts were not extended? That should just go to show how invested Sanders is in the American people like you and I. Not saying that Hillary Clinton hasn’t done her share of grandstanding for causes she felt, at the time, were worthy of such treatment, but she has lost touch with reality since the Clinton Presidency, and has resorted to trying to make American women feel bad, and American men out to be sexist, if they don’t vote for her.

Full disclosure: I supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election cycle. I stumped for her, and did everything I possibly could to make sure that she was in line for the Democratic nominee. But sometimes people change, and not only do I mean myself and my own political outlook, but Hillary Clinton has also changed as well.

I support Sanders now, not because Hillary is a woman, but because Sanders gets it. Sanders gets me, and people like me. He’s not being supported by big corporations, he’s not pandering to those who love smear campaigns, by running a fact-and-issue-based campaign, and he’s not using some gimmick like “As a Jewish Man…” to get himself elected, as if we should elect someone on novelty. Hillary’s ego frustrates me. Sanders has been a holder of public office for 35 years, and she just jaunts in like “Hey, I called it for Obama last time, I was First Lady, and I have a vagina, so you owe this one to me!”
Since when did “being a woman”, and holding public office for even half as much time as Sanders has somehow make her more qualified? And please don’t say “She was also First Lady!”…So was Nancy Reagan, so was Laura Bush, so was Jackie Kennedy. Would you want someone like Laura or Jackie (Yes, I know she’s dead…) running for office because the better chunk of her “experience” was being First Lady, a role they only had to marry someone to get into? You don’t campaign to be First Lady. You don’t get votes for First Lady. You don’t debate the issues to be First Lady. Being First Lady means nothing when trying to posture your own political career after the fact.

I am not discounting her years as Senator or Secretary of State, by any means. That’s huge. Still, even with four years as Secretary of State, she still doesn’t have half the public office experience as Sanders does. Hillary Clinton is untrustworthy, and her experience has consistently been tarnished with scandal after scandal.

I don’t think she’s untrustworthy because she’s a woman. That would be the dumbest reason to feel anyone is untrustworthy. But she is untrustworthy because she is a shifty politician who knows how to, and is fully willing, to play the dirty side of politics. I know a lot of people say unnecessary and impertinent things about her, but it’s not everybody. Namely at the Bernie campaign offices, I’ve volunteered with only people who are concerned about her stances on the issues, not her reproductive anatomy.

Maybe the reason people aren’t voting for Hillary has nothing to do with her gender, but everything to do with the fact that she has put her self-interest and friends on Wall Street before the American People. Bernie has done the opposite. I want a President who has resisted arrest during civil rights rallies, not someone who supported Barry Goldwater. I want someone who is completely against voting for profitable wars, not someone who voted on their best judgement given the time. I want Bernie because he’s real. Not because Hillary is a woman. Give me a break, and stop using sexism to fuel your foundationless campaign.

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