By now you've heard the news of Hillary Clinton's surprise win in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. But I think the real winner in this contest was the will of the American people. Yesterday afternoon, all the pundits and pollsters were predicting a major loss for Clinton. What we saw, ladies and gentlemen, was a catastrophic media failure. The voters of New Hampshire, notoriously -- fiercely -- independent, were not swayed by the corporate mainstream media. Of course, there will be more polls, more analysis of the raw data about who voted for whom. So far, it looks like Clinton "won back" the women's vote that Obama gained in Iowa, and also that the legions of college students who were showing up at Obama rallies never actually made it to the polls to vote. (You know it's risky to depend on 19 year-olds, who -- bless their hearts -- are not known as the most reliable of demographics. Am I right, parents?) It probably didn't help that some schools are on semester break this week.
My favorite theory so far in the discrepancy between the polls and the results is that the voters of New Hampshire messed with the pollsters. I think that's the ultimate power grab by the people. No one should know who the winner will be until each and every voter has had the opportunity to got into the voting booth and make their choice. It sounds like a lot of New Hampshire voters waited until just that moment to decide.
And lastly, I still wonder about the Implicit Association Test , which I wrote about a week or so ago. A lot of people have said that they "like" Obama, but when it came time to make the final vote, was there a subconscious divergence? I don't know. I suppose the media will be scrambling to save face, so look for more theories and predictions to come.
New Hampshire: Live Free or Die!
9 comments:
I don't know. I feel as if the women voters came to Hillary's side because of all the negative media. The problem with that is, you don't see men coming to OJ's side. Larry Craig didn't really get a pass because of all the negative publicity. But for heaven's sake, this woman played the freakin' Republican "fear card" and they let her get away with it. I'll give the Granite State props for pulling a fast one on the rest of the country, but we're talking about the future of this country - who cares if Hillary got a little verklempt during a coffee clutch?
Sorry about the rant, but I really have a distaste from the thought of this Republican Lite getting into the White House.
Robert, Newsflash: Women don't vote with our vaginas.
How insulting is it for you to equate women who voted for Clinton with men defending OJ or Larry Craig?
I'm truly surprised to hear you go that route. It harks back to the days when women were not allowed to vote because we couldn't possibly know anything about important issues.
Like it or not, yes, women are a large demographic in this country. Believe it or not, we do actually care about the issues of the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, education, and the environment, among other things. I do not agree with all of everything Clinton's policies, nor do I agree with all of Obama's. But I base my choices on their respective policies, and nothing else.
I know there is a lot of shock among Obama supporters, who surely feel blindsided by the results. But let's not get sucked into sexist assumptions about anyone's choice in this election. There's enough of that on the Republican side, thank you very much.
Who mentioned voting with vaginas? Many of the women polled said they wanted to see a woman in the White House. Am I sexist for calling it like I see it?
Am I sexist for calling it like I see it?
Well, frankly, yes if that's how you see it.
It's 2 drastically different things to say (1) you want a woman in the White House or (2) you only voted for someone because they're a woman.
In your comment you said that women "came to Hillary's side" and voted for her because she's a woman. That is what I call voting with your vagina. And that is what I call sexist. That's how I see it.
okay, i have tried twice to post a comment on this issue and neither time did it work. it was somewhat long. is thee a word limit or something?
Are women really voting with their vaginas? If so, it could really have an impact on the touch screen voting machine issue in Maryland.
Scepter66, I don't think there's a word limit. I don't know why that would happen.
'Mudgeon, It's really uncomfortable to vote that way, so in general, we don't like to do it. Paper cuts are another issue.
Papercuts are only an issue when there is a paper trail...
Although I am an Obama supporter, I would still rather see Hillary in the White House than any Republican. Robert, I know many people call her Republican Lite but if so she is VERY "lite" - in most major issues she is certainly nowhere near a Huckabee or even a McCain.
Yes, I think she's beholden to lobbyists and corporations but she does champion liberal causes such as health care, she is pro-choice, etc. Yes, she voted for the war with Iraq. But remember, so did most of the other members of Congress - because this heinous administration LIED about what Iraq was doing. Even my husband and I said "Gee, they must know something we don't - something very scary - for them to be pushing for this war with Iraq." We were taken in. Why not Hillary too? (I do think she could have disavowed her stance right away when the no WMD thing came out, though).
I for one am glad that for once the entire race hasn't already been decided after two tiny states have voted. For once my vote in New Jersey may actually mean something now that we've been moved up from June.
Sue, as you said, this time the voters won.
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