The New Agenda Takes Up Where Democrats and Old-Line Feminist Organizations Failed

We’re finally getting to the real issue fueling the resistance of Hillary Clinton’s supporters to get in line behind Barack Obama in the general election. As Froma Harrop points out at RCP, It’s No Longer Just About Hillary. Mature women who have lived through decades of ugly gender discrimination are still outraged by the sexism and misogyny Clinton endured during the Democratic primary.

Harrop explains:

“After hearing her name placed in nomination at the Democrats' convention next week, Hillary Clinton will no doubt urge her followers to support Barack Obama. What good that gesture will do for the Obama candidacy remains to be seen. Clinton has already made it several times, but a new Pew Research Center poll shows that 28 percent of her primary voters do not intend to vote for Obama, a number virtually unchanged from June.

“Of special concern are women, particularly older ones, whom in the past could be counted on to vote for whatever Democrat was running for president. Many remain scandalized by the sexist attacks on Clinton during the recent campaign. A stubborn 18 percent of Clinton's female voters vow to back McCain, according to a poll for Lifetime television networks. Another 6 percent plan to support neither major-party candidate.”

Harrop suggests:

‘“Perhaps Clinton does not possess the magic wand to move her troops. The storyline goes that many women disappointed by Clinton's loss or angry at the nasty campaign just needed time ‘to heal.’ Once Hillary gave them the nudge, they'd get with the program.

“Thing is, it's no longer about Hillary for many of them. I sat in on a group of high-powered Clinton supporters gathering in New York last week to create a nonpartisan group called The New Agenda. There was little discussion of the current campaign.

“The New Agenda's agenda is to look out for women's political interests where the Democratic Party and old-line feminist organizations had failed. The attendees reserved special fury for the Democratic National Committee and its passivity before the misogynistic carnival. One of their specifics is getting MSNBC jester Chris Matthews fired -- and if he intends to run for the Senate from Pennsylvania, to end that idea.

‘“Every member has her own plans for November, including for a few, voting for Obama. Co-founder Amy Siskind, a former Wall Street exec and Clinton fundraiser, told me, ‘I won't vote for Obama, but I'm not sure what I'll do.’ Cynthia Ruccia, a Democratic activist from Columbus, Ohio, who twice ran against Republican John Kasich, is supporting McCain -- and organizing other Democrats in her swing state to do likewise.

“The McCain camp has noticed. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and McCain's adviser, met with Siskind in New York. She flew to Columbus to confer with Ruccia, Nancy Hopkins, another New Agenda founder, and 75 other miffed Democratic women. (Hopkins is the MIT biologist who famously protested a suggestion by then-Harvard University President Lawrence Summers that boys might be innately better at science than girls.)

‘“DNC chairman Howard Dean has called Ruccia twice. ‘He was just waking up to the thought that women around the country were upset over the treatment of Hillary,’ she told me. Ruccia tends to doubt that putting Clinton's name to a roll-call vote will mollify many of the female holdouts. ‘The train left the station a long time ago,’ she said.

‘“The New Agenda wants to become a women's-voice alternative for the National Organization for Women and NARAL, which they see as moribund and appendages of the Democratic leadership. Members note that when rapper Ludacris sang a pro-Obama ballad calling Hillary ‘an irrelevant b-,’ the president of NOW didn't get out of bed to complain.

“For many of these women, whatever nice things Clinton says about Obama in Denver won't matter much. They have decided that they can live with McCain, and they're already inoculated against the crude anatomical references that left-wing bloggers will send their way. (There's not one they haven't heard.) Hillary can't do much to change their feelings -- even if she wanted to.”

Ohio Daily Blog: Clinton Supporters Deserve Respect

I just checked in on an entry at the Ohio Daily Blog by Jeff. He's written very sensitively about the growing demands by outraged Clinton supporters for attention and respect.

Jeff reports:

"As I commented yesterday in connection with the NARAL Pro-Choice America endorsement of Obama, "[s]witching from Clinton to Obama is going to be painful for women and feminists solidly in her camp ... and for good reason, having waited so long for representation in our highest elected office and having such a powerful champion get so close to that goal." That was confirmed immediately and dramatically by the announcement in Columbus yesterday by the new group called Clinton Supporters Count Too that they are prepared to campaign against Obama in November in protest of sexism inflicted on the Clinton campaign. And that is followed by a report today that a newly formed PAC called WomenCount has raised $170,000 in jsut 48 hours to run ads in major newspapers to call on Hillary Clinton to stay in the race until all women's votes have been cast. "

Jeff makes other connections:

"There are active discussion threads about Clinton Supporters Count Too around the Ohio blogosphere, including here and here. The tone of many of the comments is alarming. Sexism is real and prevalent in our society, as is racism, and both have been on display in the Democratic presidential nomination contest. [UPDATE: Thanks to Jill for alerting me to this column by Marie Cocco in the Washington Post, recounting examples of misogyny directed at Clinton from all sides.] Yet a number of commenters are responding to the anger and frustration of Clinton's disappointed supporters by minimizing or ridiculing their objections."

And Jeff ends his post on a plea for healing:

"This is a time for healing. The message of these women must be heard and respected, because their concerns and their frustrations are real. It is true that the Democratic Party is clearly superior to the Republican Party in elevating women to positions of power, and that electing John McCain would be a disaster for women's issues. That is not the point right now. The Democratic Party isn't free of sexism and must re-commit to eradicating it, and it must take part in confronting the sexist coverage of Clinton in the media, and it must otherwise rise to the occasion by listening to and respecting what these Clinton supporters are saying. That is what is required for healing and unity among Democrats."