By Laurie Dobson
Too bad Kamala Harris couldn’t make a go of her Presidential campaign, or the NYT would have gone triple threat, and made it a three-women gang-up against Bernie in their endorsement.
Maybe it’s not too late? In fact, as it is thanks to the NYT, it is now a three-legged race.
As the gun goes off, with a few weeks left, we have Warren and Klobuchar making a hobbled run for the finish line with one of each of their legs wrapped around the other’s. Being effectively joined at the hip makes for awkward walking and can be tricky to pull off onstage, but it’s great for posturing in place. In a race, though, with Bernie actively running hard, I’m sorry but it’s not much of a contest.
It is not hard to see that at this point in media land it’s anyone but Bernie. These are desperation tactics. They will stop at nothing. It’s getting ruthless. Two on one?
Let’s see how this is going to work, though. One says one thing, the other nods vigorously? Or do they issue joint statements? Do they start attacking anyone who doesn’t agree with their framing? Is there a new special place in hell for those who don’t go along? Is this the new female bullying? Who is going to be the front-woman?
Let’s simplify this. The question to ask here, is this: “Is that the best we have to put up against Trump?”
Fortunately, as seen from the internet, this tacky ploy is being mocked particularly, and spectacularly, by Women for Bernie, among a great majority of others. I speak as one of them. I do not accept any use of our gender to be made into a cause to unfairly skewer opponents. If this was fair, if this was accurate, if this truly was about women and women’s issues, then Biden would be getting the hit for his repeated and inappropriate touching of women and girls. In what universe does Biden get a pass on women’s issues while Bernie gets targeted? Nobody should be seriously considered for President who has that “touching” tendency.
This is the man, we can never forget, who was a major lynchpin in winning Senate approval for President Bill Clinton’s welfare “reform” law putting a lifetime limit of five years on the time a parent with children could receive welfare benefits, an atrocity that primarily targeted and still targets single mothers and their kids.
Yet not a glove is laid on Biden; he is walking through the Democratic Primary unscathed, except for Harris’ hit. That, I believe, is because it’s Hillary Clinton’s hand in the glove. Biden suits the Centrists in the Party, because he has declared himself a one-term candidate. That single-term idea works for many opportunists in the party hoping to succeed him.
Don’t get me wrong: I am an unapologetic “me too” feminist. My issues are real. My experience with domestic violence, sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination are real. I stand with those who have been abused, targeted, exploited and diminished in their lives due to terrible policies of unfairness.
I choose Bernie because I believe he is educated and sensitive to these issues. He is not typical. Look at Jane! Talk about the potential for a great First Lady!
The primary problem we have with centrist-style ‘identity politics’ is that they are so easily used against us. We are manipulated more effectively on the issues we are most sensitive about.
Every conscientious person wants all the issues of powerlessness addressed, every last one of them, including: homophobia, sexism, racism, ageism, and mental issues that deal with the trauma of contending with them. War is not the only thing that causes PTSD.
What we need is an effectively organized progressive political movement to stand for us all. All of the powerless amongst us.
Ben Franklin famously said: “If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.”
My problem with Warren, who attacked Sanders courtesy of a cooperative CNN a day before last Tuesday’s candidate debate and then at the debate run by CNN, is that she has tried to empower the centrists to hang us progressives separately, away from our other core issues where we could consolidate our strength.
She is right that women’s issues are important, but we have to distinguish campaign tactics from the honest discussion. Our natural instincts of protection cannot be allowed to be exploited for political gain. We have to be smarter than that. It’s abusive to use anybody’s sympathies to make patently false claims.
I am relieved to see so many smart people out there, at this time, rejecting identity politics in favor of a progressive movement.
For example: black people and people in general rejected Kamala Harris and Cory Booker based on their policies not their skin color. This is an example of going high, and it is honorable.
I’m sorry, but what Warren did in the CNN article and the debate is despicable. Meanwhile, the NY Times has exposed its treachery by promoting the woman card, endorsing both women running for the Democratic nomination. When you can’t win on upfront issues you stab from behind, using false accusations to confuse and distract voters. The politics of manipulation, that’s all this is.
I am proud of the people that see through this, no matter which single issue is currently being exploited for short-term political gain. Dividing us up helps Trump do his dirty work; it makes us easier to defeat. We need to unite against the powerful interests, which the NYT represents so infamously. Be clear: this is all about beating Sanders, even if it means electing Trump. Bernie will cut into profits and into the income and wealth of the rich. Warren’s two-faced ploy undercuts Bernie in order to protect the status quo. Adding another female into the mix doesn’t change that fact.
This three-legged race joining up two failing candidates, Warren and Klobuchar, is ridiculous and ludicrous, no matter what damage control measures Warren does from here on out, such as holding Bernie’s arm at the MLK March. She decided how her last weeks are going to be run, and saddling herself to the decidedly not progressive Klobuchar was not her best move.
The voting public, and women, deserve a higher standard. Out of respect for ourselves as women, let us just not give this any more credence. Speaking as a woman, but not speaking for women, I hope that we will reject this NY Times endorsement on the grounds that we can stand on our own two feet with our own policies.
We can play fair and win. That’s the winner’s game.
Laurie Dobson, who contributed this article to TCBH!, says: I am a peace-and-justice activist who ran in Connecticut for Democratic State Rep in ’02, as an Indie for US Senate in Maine in ’08, and as a Bernie candidate for State Rep in Maine in 2016. I worked hard for the 2016 Bernie primary campaign but, unhappy with his decision after Hillary’s nomination to quit his campaign and endorse her, I attended his pro-Hillary rally Nov. 1st, 2016. There I was arrested for waving a green scarf for Jill Stein. I am supporting Bernie again now anyway because, though I am a mother and well educated #metoo feminist, I refuse to fall for liberal, divisive, single-issue identity politics. Stereotypes don’t apply.