Clinton's struggle vexes feminists
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WASHINGTON: As Hillary Clinton struggles to regain her momentum in the presidential race, frustrated feminists are looking at what they see as the ultimate glass ceiling: A female candidate with a hyper-substantive career is now threatened with losing the nomination to a man whose charismatic style and powerful rhetoric are trumping her decades of experience.
The style-vs.-substance clash is common to presidential contests, and has hurt wonky male candidates as well, women's leaders say. But they argue that Clinton has a peculiar burden in this year's contest because she never would have been able to reach the final stages of the nomination process unless she had spent her life emphasizing her professional record over stylistic abilities.
"I do think at some level there is a Catch-22 for women" running for president, said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women and a Clinton supporter. "Showing your heart has never been a plus for high-achieving women."
Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said the senator from New York is being hurt because she is not the "glamour" candidate.
"She characterizes herself as being a workhorse and not a show horse," said Burk, who has endorsed Clinton. "She is being punished in a certain way for being competent and not jazzy. If he were female, with his credentials, age, and track record, I don't think he'd be anywhere near the presidency of the United States," Burk said.
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Many feminist leaders were careful to say that they do not think Clinton lacks the ability to connect with voters or that Senator Barack Obama is without substance. And despite Obama's recent spate of victories, they insist Clinton will prevail as the nominee. But having backed the best-prepared female candidate in recent history for president, women's activists are maddened and baffled that Clinton's policy-heavy message - "solutions for America" - has not eclipsed a candidate whose central themes are hope and change.
"All of the substance, all of the work, all of the policies, all of the accomplishments probably don't come off as flashy," said Ramona Oliver, communications director for EMILY's List, which raises funds for female Democratic candidates. Comparing Obama with Clinton, Oliver said: "There's inspiration, and there's effectiveness."
Female candidates for all elective offices face the conundrum of having to appear strong and confident without looking unfeminine, according to specialists on women and politics. But the dilemma is more pronounced at the presidential election level, they say, because voters are more likely to be guided by their gut reactions to candidates rather than comparisons of the contenders' records.
Choosing a president is the most personal vote most Americans will cast, said Democratic consultant Peter Fenn, and voters often will be attracted to a candidate's general vision and leadership style more than to his or her specific policy agenda. Democratic presidential contenders Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John F. Kerry, for example, suffered from the perception that they were less personable than their GOP opponents, several political analysts observed.
The 2000 election had voters asking "who would you want to have a beer with?" said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "Al Gore was the guy who knew everything about every issue and was the policy wonk, but they liked George Bush. They felt like he was one of them," she said.
But female candidates have an added burden, say women's leaders and political specialists not associated with the Clinton campaign.
"This whole thing, that women have to be smarter than men, more articulate than men, better on foreign policy, less emotional, all those crazy things. Finally you have a candidate who's basically done that," Fenn said, and yet Obama's sizzle is competing mightily with her steak. "It has to be depressing" for her, said Fenn, who is not associated with either Democratic candidate.
On the campaign trail, Democratic voters across the country have said in interviews that they respected Clinton's experience and ability, while Obama voters have countered that they believed he could unite the country.
"That is what we've seen for women candidates, that they have to know everything about every issue" to be politically viable, Walsh said. "But that's not what seems to be, at this moment, what's capturing a large part of the electorate. It's certainly not what's capturing the imaginations of young people right now."
Carol Hardy-Fanta, director of the Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, said that "charisma does play a big part in a campaign," forcing Clinton to prove not only that she is serious and tough but also likable.
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