OP/ED: A response to Hillary Clinton’s misogyny claims explaining her losing presidential bid

Guest Writer’s Spotlight:

Maureen Noble

In a recent MSN news article, “Hillary Clinton explains why she really lost to Trump“, Clinton cited a number of reasons explaining her loss to Donald Trump for the U.S. Presidency; largely citing these four factors for her defeat:

– Russia. “A foreign power meddled with our election,” she said, labeling it “an act of aggression.” She called for an independent, bipartisan investigation into the Kremlin’s involvement and said the probe should examine whether there was collusion with the Trump campaign.

– Misogyny. “Certainly, misogyny played a role. That has to be admitted,” she said. Clinton added that “some people — women included — had real problems” with the idea of a woman president.

– Comey. Clinton cited as damaging to her campaign his unusual decision to release a letter on October 28, 2016, less than two weeks before Election Day, that said he was looking at additional emails related to the FBI probe of the former secretary of state’s use of a private server.

– WikiLeaks. Weeks of disclosures of stolen emails from the personal account of then-Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were particularly harmful, Clinton said, adding that it “played a much bigger role than I think many people yet understand.”

She said the combination of Comey’s actions and the WikiLeaks’ revelations “had the determinative effect.”

Hillary also mentioned: “There were things I could have done better.”

The more I think about Hillary Clinton’s claim of misogyny as one of the four reasons for her loss to Trump, the more it angers me. Here is the dictionary’s definition of Misogyny: “Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.”

Hillary’s quote on the subject:
“Misogyny. Certainly, misogyny played a role. That has to be admitted,” she said. Clinton added that “some people — women included — had real problems” with the idea of a woman president.”

I resent her implication that we citizens are too stupid to look beyond a candidate’s sex in order to make a choice for a political office.

Certainly, misogynists exist – but in these modern times, they are few. The vast majority of U.S. citizens are more than capable of judging a candidate for who they are, what they have accomplished, their attitudes towards our country and it’s constitution, and their plans for the future betterment of it’s citizens.

These are the considerations we will give each candidate for office – not whether they are male or female.

I did not vote for Hillary Clinton because, in my opinion, she had none of those qualifications.

Below are seven women who accomplished much for our country. I would have voted for any one of them if they had chosen to run for President. In order of birth date, they are:

SUSAN B. ANTHONY, 1820-1906, Massachusetts. Co-founded many Women’s Rights Associations. In 1878 she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented Congress with an amendment giving women the right to vote. Known as the “Anthony Amendment”, it became the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

FRANCES PERKINS, 1880-1965, Massachusetts. Graduate of Columbia University. American workers-rights advocate. She was the first woman member of a Presidential Cabinet, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as his Secretary of Labor. She served from 1933-1945.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, 1884-1962, New York. Attended Allenswood Academy in England. Wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady from 1933-1945. She later became the first U.S. Delegate to the United Nations. She chaired the John F. Kennedy “Presidential Commission on the Status of Women”. She was regarded as “one of the most esteemed women in the world”.

BELLA ABZUG, 1920-1998, New York. Graduate of Columbia University. Attorney, Leader of the Women’s Movement, Member of the United States Congress (U.S. House of Representatives).

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, 1924-2005, New York. Graduate of Columbia University. First black woman elected to the United States Congress (U.S. House of Representatives).

JACQUELINE KENNEDY, 1929-1994, New York. Graduate of Georg e Washington University. Wife of John F. Kennedy and First Lady from 1961-1963. Magazine editor, book editor. Instigated and oversaw re-design and historical influences of the White House interior. She participated in cultural and architectural preservation, including leading the campaign to save the Grand Central Station in New York, and instigate its renovation.

ANN RICHARDS, 1933-2006, Texas. Graduate of Baylor University, and attended the University of Texas. When she was elected as the State Treasurer of Texas, she was the first woman elected to a state-wide office in Texas in more than fifty years. She was later elected as the 45th Governor of Texas.

There have been so many American women who have accomplished so much for our country. These are just a few of the women I most admire.

 

Maureen Noble is a native Californian and resident of Riverside County, California. She is a retired executive secretary.