Oedipus Prex
Just Tell Me You’ll Vote for Her—Put That Lamp Down! Why Do Hillary, Barack Cut to Emotional Core of Households? ‘She Might Be Seen as Phallic Woman,’ Says Dr. Jaffe
candidate: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sigmund Freud.
On a recent evening, Eric Tate and Allison Kramer, urban professionals in their 30’s, were entertaining another couple in their apartment in Astoria. They had little reason to think that the evening would be anything less than Rachael Ray-perfect: a nice lasagna, a bottle of wine …
And then, halfway through dinner, the topic of the Jan. 3 Democratic caucus arose. The guests mentioned that they were supporting Hillary Clinton; the hosts revealed that they were backing Barack Obama; and before they knew it, their chummy little party had taken on the tone of a World Wrestling Entertainment championship match. Tempers soared. Voices barked. An elbow jutted dramatically into the salad bowl. During one particularly heated moment, the other couple’s male half even wagged his finger in Mr. Tate’s face, accusing him of being “judgmental” and “unfair to Hillary.”
“We were like a tag team when we were fighting,” said Mr. Tate, 34, referring to his and his wife’s debating prowess, as they hovered in the relative calm of a Union Square Starbucks several days later. “It’s like you feel like you’re prepared for battle.”
Battle is the byword these days among New York’s chattering Democrats. On one side, there’s the Hillary supporter who feels that she is the most pragmatic choice for the job; on the other, there’s an Obama believer whose misty-eyed faith in the senator is exceeded only by his (or her) penchant for criticizing Mrs. Clinton. “I have been involved in literally almost every presidential primary in New York State since 1968,” when Robert F. Kennedy faced off against Eugene McCarthy, said Ethan Geto, a veteran political operative and gay rights activist who ran Howard Dean’s New York campaign for president in 2004 and is currently supporting Mrs. Clinton. “And since 1968, I have not seen this kind of emotional intensity.”
The dueling partisans may function remarkably well in their daily lives as lawyers, bankers, dog walkers. But mention their candidate’s name in passing—simply start to form the breathy openness of the letter H!—and strange, Pavlovian things begin to happen. They snarl at each other in restaurants, snipe at each other over e-mails, bloviate on sidewalks and generally behave as if this endless nomination process were in fact an extended group therapy session, a wild free-for-all for their ids.
“My friend started asserting that Hillary’s probably going to win and that she’s tremendously experienced and qualified, and I kind of just lost my shit,” said a political insider in his late 20’s, who wound up in an hourlong sparring session with two female friends shortly after the New Hampshire primary, and who asked not to be identified for fear of offending the Clinton campaign. “I just became irrational and insane, denigrating this woman. … I haven’t gotten into a political argument in, like, five years!”
‘A Phallic Woman’
It’s when Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama clamber into bed between couples that things get really ugly. One minute you’ll be lying next to each other, innocently discussing preschools or gym memberships and the next—stony silence! The disagreements might be substantive, delving into the minutia of Mr. Obama’s Social Security rhetoric, or the implications of Mrs. Clinton’s vote to label Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a “terrorist organization.” But then there are the endless rounds regarding “experience” and “charisma” and “tears” that make couples who only months earlier vowed to love each other “for better or worse, richer or poorer” suddenly start to wonder whether they shouldn’t have added a clause about “for Hillary or Obama, New Hampshire or Iowa.”
“Watching the results come in of the New Hampshire primary, I was despondent, and my wife was overjoyed,” recalled a 30-something, pro-Obama journalist named Andrew, who lives near Gramercy Park with his Hillary-lovin’ bride, and asked that his full name not be used because he sometimes covers politics. “It was one of those moments where we looked at each other, and it felt as though maybe we didn’t know each other quite as well as we thought.”
For Andrew and his wife, who have been married roughly a year, the essence of this conflict boils down to the fact that “she really thinks he’s a cheap huckster, and I think that Clinton is a cold-fish manipulator,” he said. Sometimes, he confessed, this has made him wonder whether he harbors a latent “discomfort about the idea of a woman president,” which, in turn, makes him “really uncomfortable.” On one occasion, all this agita spilled over into a drunken yelling match. But mostly, he said, it just hangs out on their couch with them, “a generalized kind of tension every time the TV’s turned to MSNBC.”
It was MSNBC that pitted renowned race scholar Michael Eric Dyson against his wife, the preacher and political commentator Marcia Dyson, on Hardball With Chris Matthews late last August.
Professor Dyson is an impassioned Barack booster who has spent the past few months penning odes and essays to the man he hopes to call president. Ms. Dyson is a Clinton backer of such ardor that she preached her way through the country last fall as part of a pro-Hillary “faith tour.” They began their confrontation civilly enough, but within minutes, he was talking over her, punctuating his points about Mr. Obama’s prescience about the Iraq invasion with a sharp up-down gesture. Meanwhile, she was calling him “Michael” with the unmistakable tone of annoyance particular to wives asking their husbands to do the dishes for the 1,000th time.
“I don’t want you two crazy kids coming back here and getting into divorce court next week,” said Mr. Matthews, whose more recent comments about the role Bill Clinton’s philandering played in catapulting Hillary to where she is today spurred such outrage from feminists that he was all but forced to offer a public apology. “Are the two of you going home together?” Next Page >
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 46.0
- 42.0
- Obama +4.0
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.7
- 33.0
- +22.7
- McCain
- 52.7
- 34.1
- +18.6
Monica Lewinski's ex boyfriend's wife will never get any where near the oval office.
Can you imagine her private thoughts about what went on there.
Obama will be the nominee. We want CHANGE and that means no more CLINTONS. Period!
Those of us in flyover country who truly love America (and therefore will vote Republican) recall the Bard:
"A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES!"
I am a woman who dislikes Hillary and Bill. And I am a democrat.
I do not like their lying, manipulations, game playing and polarizing effects. Neither makes me want to vote for them and neither has what this country needs now.
They are so 90s and that was not a fun period of time with politics. And it has been this way ever since. So while the country slides into recession and all the other problems, nothing will be done if Hillary is the president.
Actually, many democrats will not vote for her. The clintons have polarized the party so much that mostly her supporters are the only ones who will be voting for her if she's the nominee. Many democrats are beginning to look at McCain in a favorable light if she is our nominee.
Senator Obama is what this country needs now. He is brilliant, appealing to all sides, capable and cool headed with a savvy and tough side. He brings people together and brings a sense of community and responsibility with him.
Plus, unlike the Clintons, he is a decent and honorable man.
How anyone would want to go back to the 90s and watch the country to continue to slide into the abyss with Hillary is beyond me.
And a woman who needs hubby to do her work for her and 'save' her is not presidential material. for a woman to be a serious candidate she first needs to stand on her own two feet and that, clinton, definitely cannot do.
Bahh...Hilarious to see married liberals arguing, getting mad & potentially divorcing over stupid politics. My wife and I are young, socially/fiscally conservative, but we are not so nuanced that we argue about Rudy's skeletons or Mitt's wierd religion. There are much more important things to focus our energy on like raising our 2 year old son and unborn son due in June. Here's to hoping that stupid liberals divorce and never get a chance to raise offspring. Thank god conservative women aren't so darn plucky. Oh, and contrary to the media's obsession with democratic candidates, thanks to the internet & talk radio there will never be a democrat in the white house again. So you can stop arguing about something that will never happen!
Yeah Nan Talese! And her husband! I KNEW they were cool!
The author does not seem to consider that those of us with a distaste for Hillary acquired it due to her behavior, not because she represents an enemy gender. This is the woman who tried to nationalize a seventh of the US economy without consulting the American people and who proposed sending you to prison for up to five years if you hired a doctor outside Hillarycare. Add that to all the lying, cheating, conniving, weaseling, bullying that is part of the Clinton drama and it's pretty easy to come up with reasons not to like Hillary because she's Hillary. Trying to make her into a feminist martyr is rich. If Hillary were a feminist, she wouldn't have sent thugs out to threaten the women her hubby sexually harassed to keep them quiet, lest their "pretty little legs get broken."
Obama is secont rate. Hillary will be are next president.!!!!!
It's so hard to choose between them.
On the one hand, you've got a vauous gasbag with the political program of Clement Atlee. On the other, there's a woman that even Bill Clinton won't sleep with.
Can Bush-lite boohoo her way to Crybaby and Chief?
Nope.
A Hillary nomination will gaurentee 4 more years for the GOP. Time to get a CLUE Democrats.
The Obama kool-aid is still enforce.
Hillary is smart and she understands that its not all supply side. Ecoomic truth lies beween a Keynesian and Friedman view of the world.
Production and no consumption is the way to grow the economy.
Well said, I could not agree more with you more. She embodies the 90's!! What is she going to do when Iran knocks on the door, send Bill or Chelsea because she is getting emotional and afraid? She would not be a strong leader or choice for our nation.
Democrats have a lethal grip on choosing losing candidates to battle the evil empire known as the Republican party.When will they abandon their corporate paymasters and give their former constituites back our country?
By holding Hillary Clinton up as a feminist icon, the sisterhood merely shows the vacuous level to which their movement has sunk (not that it was particularly lofty to begin with). They lost most of their credibility when they so staunchly supported the sexual harrasser-in-chief, telling us women that we all owed Bill a metaphoric Lewinsky. How ironic, and fitting, that Hillary's candidacy might just finish them off. BTW, the gushing Ms. Fisher is a dope. I hope she and her fiance are modern young liberals and don't plan to have children. Now, if we could only keep them out of the voting booth.
A foreigner's view.
The whole world is watching this election, and the vast majority are hoping that the republicans will not get another 4 years with which to dismantle climate change agreements and shred international law.
Look I dont like the way Bill and Hillary are attacking Obama. But the stakes are high here and do you think the Republicans will be nice in the presidential campaign? These guys lied the US into a war that has killed possibly a MILLION people. They will be ruthless as hell against whoever the democratic nominee is, so perhaps the democrats need a nominee who can give as good as she can get.
Remember this is not about personalities. It is about which TEAM gets into power -the republicans of the democrats. The main question for us should be who will make a stronger candidate. Progressives and liberals may like Obama more (I know I do), but candidates are a means to an end -and that end is taking the White House for the democrats -making sure that those in charge for the next four years are that half of American political power that is closer to the principles of tolerance, equality, peace and progress, rather than the other half that represents radical right-wing ideas and reactionism.
This upcmoming presidential election is as close you can get to a war without one side actually shooting each other. I think Hillary, with her proven ability to fight tough, will make a better weapon in that war, whereas I think Obama unfortunately -however much I may respect the guy- will get torn to shreds by tens of millions of dollars of negative ads. With their attacks in the past they managed to make John Kerry and Max Cleland, two decorated war heroes look like cowards and traitors! Just think of the field day they will have with Obama, someone with zero foreign policy experience and very little experience in general.
With the republicans still not wanting to do anything about global warming, it is no exaggeration to say that the fate of our planet will be affected by which party wins. That's not to say the democratic party will be absolutely fantastic -but as someone once said it is better to be speeding towards the cliff at 30 Km per hour rather than 90.
Liberals, progressives and other common sense people who care about climate change, nuclear disarmament, equality, compassion for immigrants, who have a balanced view of the role of government in relation to the market rather than a fanatical and irrational hostility to one and unwavering faith in the other.... these people should support Hillary because she will have the best chance of stopping the republicans implimenting their radical agenda for another 4 years.
As an Irishman I don't have a vote in your elections but I will be spending several weeks later on in the year helping out the democrats when i am visiting New York -it is THAT important that the democrats win. And frankly the issue of who is more civil during the primaries is of little importance in the grand scheme of things.
Dave,
Dublin,
Ireland.
You are so wrong about Hillary. She is not some woman who will do anything to win. She truly cares about people and what they're going through. It's ashamed you've been suckered by Obama. There is no way this country will change. All of the Republicans and independents he's bringing in now will split. Most will listen to a McCain and move right back over to the republican side. many of the kids that are voting now won't vote in Novemeber. And in a poll, McCain beats Obama. Hillary does a lot better. You have no idea what you're talking about. You need to wise up, fast!!
Thank you, Dave from Ireland. I hope your view prevails. I'm an African-American woman and I've been trying to express what you're saying to many of my "liberal" Clinton-hating friend of all races and genders since Gore lost in 2000. HRC's lies and bully tactics are nothing in comparison to the Bush machine. The economy during the Clinton years was extremely good. HRC stupidly voted for the war along w/a majority of her coleagues because at the time that was the will of most Americans. I rarely hear white liberals express the same level of hate for George W. Bush for leading us into this horrible war as they do for HRC for trying to enforce healthcare reform. Obama panders and avoids answering tough questions just as much as any other politician. That's what politicans do. It's their job. Obama's just a better at it than most. I honestly think most people prefer him to HRC because he's a smooth-talking, cute guy than because of his ideology of hope. HRC or Obama (or Edwards) would be better for the country than any of the republican candidates.
Captain America, You GO girl. YES! What you said in your last two posts is EXACTLY what I hope everyone realizes after she and Bill claw and scratch their way into the next primary and out of this election so we can move on to new era. Clintons: the circus is not welcome back in town!
Captain America, You GO girl. YES! What you said in your last two posts is EXACTLY what I hope everyone realizes after she and Bill claw and scratch their way into the next primary and out of this election so we can move on to new era. Clintons: the circus is not welcome back in town!
Hillary is indeed a phallic woman-She is as near a prick as any douche bag could be.
She is Satan's spawn and truly vicious and evil.
We'd be better off with Bush again than this witch.
Liberals don't need to have children. We just wait for conservatives to do produce children who resent them. A never ending supply.
If you aren't intimidated by Hillary's HUGE balls, prove it by defending her against the relentless application misogynist code words - not just "bitch," but the pseudo-feminine phrasing of every comment.
Hillary is the essence of hubris.
She has much more in common with George Bush than with any dem at the moment. She is incapable of saying "I was wrong." She is absolutely certain she is right. She is so certain and so hubristic, that when she faced rejection in Iowa, the would be commander of the armed forces choked up at the mer thought that America would fall back by rejecting her and her certainty as to how to lead us out of the darkness.
The only job she was given during her husband's very mixed and fairly republican presidency (Rubin and he created the banking mess we currently have, besides permanently killing American jobs) was to bring forth a health care proposal that could pass muster. Hillary went to the mountain with Magaziner, returning with the golden tablets with a "my way or no way" plan. She failed to do what you do in a democracy: talk with the varied interests! Duh!
And she wants to lead us. A bad joke.
As a democrat I will hold my nose and vote for her in a general election. All the guys on the other side of the aisle will gut our democracy and in one way or another, reinforce the theocracy Bush has installed. But she has not gotten my California primary vote which went to Obama.
This author is brilliant, in a single sentence he describes the climate brilliantly: On one side, there’s the Hillary supporter who feels that she is the most pragmatic choice for the job; on the other, there’s an Obama believer whose misty-eyed faith in the senator is exceeded only by his (or her) penchant for criticizing Mrs. Clinton.
I would go further to say it is clearly becoming a psychological disorder for those supporting Obama. Obama is not more important than the fate of these United States people.
Billary lies "with such ease,it is troubling". Do you remember David Geffen making that statement last spring? Bill Clinton is the only president in history to be disbarred for perjury, WHILE STILL LIVING IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Why would anyone believe anything either one of them says,especially after their disgraceful behavior this past week? Everyone knows that Sen.Obama is a decent guy and Bill Clinton tried to destroy him. I have heard some talking tv heads say this week that Bill Clinton got into Sen.Obama's head.I submit to you that the only head that was invaded this past week was Bill Clinton's.From him wagging his finger(the same finger he wagged at us in 1998)in reporters' faces to the many redfaced, boldfaced lies he told over and over again he seemed like he was coming unglued.One last thing, I cannot understand why so many women are supporting Hillary Clinton. This is the same the woman who couldn't or wouldn't take the time to read the report on WMDs before casting her vote for war. Every single soldier who is fighting and/or dying in Iraq was brought into this world by a woman. Doesn't this issue bother them at all? And everytime Hillary is asked about the report she says that she was fully briefed, but she doesn't say who briefed her. Unless i am wrong, her staff did not have security clearence at the time she cast her vote. Assuming i am correct, i ask you one more time,WHO BRIEFED HER??? Are there any mothers out there who want the answer to this question before they vote?
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