What's a Feminist to Do

Back in college, we had this T-shirt with caricatures of Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush (who both went to Smith College) with the mantra: there must be a better way to get a Smithie to the White House.

Hillary Clinton proved there is: you run on your husband's presidential coattails. Let me tell you about some other ways men have gotten to the White House: with names like Bush, like Kennedy, like Roosevelt. This is what they mean when they say the old boys' network. Hillary Clinton knows that game. Does it lessen her impact, her historical gain, to come this close to winning the nomination? Actually, I don't think it does. It may not be the cleanest first step for a pioneer, but it is a first step, nonetheless. If you disagree, you don't vote for her.

You vote for Barack Obama. He's new, and fresh. He speaks like a god. He gets the kids excited, and he gets them out to vote (although, according to the Linda Hirshman NYT story in the magazine on Sunday, women are more likely to get involved in an election when a woman is running.)

What a nice problem to have: two amazing candidates. Two candidates who are not middle-aged white men. Forget the oratory: who are we kidding -- a vote for Obama or Clinton is a vote for a big change.

I watched the Hollywood CNN debate and listened to them both. It didn't help. I like them both. I'm excited by them both. And yet.

I'm put off by the idea that Hillary is a shrill, manipulative, overly ambitious woman to Obama's well-suited, smooth demeanor. He's the cool guy in the room. She's the smart woman. He loves to be carried away by words. She loves policy. It sounds like a bad episode of the Odd Couple. Tomorrow, one of them will take us to a much better place. But today, I have to choose between the two.

Remember back in '92 when we wore buttons that said Hillary's husband for president? Remember? I'm voting for her and for uncool, smart women everywhere. I am going to give her this one chance and see where it takes us. I'm voting for Hillary.