Obama’s Plan for the Presidency, and More on the Gender Wars

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I’ve been tied up working on a presentation I’m scheduled to give tomorrow, so I’ve not had time to post today. But I did want to link to a couple of thought-provoking articles this evening at Wes Clark’s Blog and the Wall Street Journal.

Thanks to Kathleen, a regular Katalusis reader, for suggesting “Obama’s Theoretical Impasse” by Gabriele Droz, posted at Wes Clark’s blog. Gabriele begins:

“My argument is that Mr. Barack Obama is following a plan to become president that is both clear and consistent, which makes it possible to understand why he’s done what he’s done, as well as to predict what he’ll do next. If his plan to win the nomination succeeds, however, his plan to ‘transform’ America must fail, unless he makes a mid-course correction and runs on his theory and gives up trying to paint Hillary as a “monster,” and bully her out of the race.”

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At today’s Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Kaufman and Carol Hymowitz in an article titled At the Barricade in the Gender Wars, address “the sometimes bitter resistance to her {Hillary Clinton’s} campaign and the looming possibility of her defeat: a seeming backlash against the opportunities women have gained.”

The article begins:

Valerie Benjamin, a human-resources manager for a consulting firm here, was driving to work recently in her red minivan with a Hillary bumper sticker when a man pulled up alongside and rolled down his window. "You can be for Hillary all you want," he shouted, "but there is no way that thing is going to become president."

"I couldn't believe this guy was shouting at me in my car," says Ms. Benjamin. "I am continuously surprised by the level of venom."

Kaufman and Hymowitz continue:

“When Sen. Clinton started her presidential campaign more than a year ago, she said she wanted to shatter the ultimate glass ceiling. But many of her supporters see something troubling in the sometimes bitter resistance to her campaign and the looming possibility of her defeat: a seeming backlash against the opportunities women have gained.

“Just as Barack Obama's campaign has been empowering for African-Americans, Sen. Clinton's run has inspired women across the country, drawing millions to the polls and putting her in a neck-and-neck battle for the nomination. She has already gone farther than any woman before her -- a source of great pride for her women supporters.”

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