In 2008, she believed Clinton was uniquely well equipped for the job, but she also saw “a tremendous amount of fear and hatred” directed at both Clinton and her female supporters—in part coming from other Democrats who supported Barack Obama. 

…Here’s a special kind of defeat experienced by women who supported Hillary Clinton through multiple election cycles and supported Elizabeth Warren through this one. Most of these women say they’ll vote in November for any Democratic candidate against Donald Trump. But many of them haven’t forgotten how Bernie Sanders delayed his endorsement of Clinton in 2016. They’re exhausted by the aggressiveness of some of his supporters. 

…She described Warren, by contrast, as a “fast learner” on issues like black maternal health with a strong record of legislative achievement.

“When you look at someone like Sanders, the way he behaves onstage, his mannerisms and his way of speaking, his single-mindedness, his very limited track record of getting anything done—a woman would have been torn apart,” Bhojwani said. As for Biden: “Imagine a woman who had lost every state in every presidential primary, running for the third time.”

The anguish of Hillary Clinton-Elizabeth Warren supporters.

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American politics, especially at the presidential level, remains shaped by sexist double standards. These are amplified by the prism through which much of journalism covers politics.

…She had twice won big in statewide races for attorney general. In 1993, she started her race for governor as an early and commanding favorite. She had a solid record, a conscientious work ethic, an impressive fundraising network and the backing of all manner of respectable establishment figures.

Her biggest obstacle, it seemed to me and many others, was her public persona—painfully cautious, almost purposefully dull. This was not how I experienced her in private settings, in which she was interesting and engaging.

I once asked her what explained the gulf—why was she so restrained and opaque and downright uncomfortable in public? She looked at me incredulously and asked me to put down my notebook. A quarter-century later I will paraphrase but not quote: ‘Do you honestly have no idea how difficult it is for a woman in public life?’

…Here’s a test. Imagine that “The Portable Bloomberg“ had contained equivalent lines resting on racial stereotypes or religion. Then ask yourself whether a candidate could successfully brush aside controversy by saying, as Bloomberg did last week, “maybe they didn’t like a joke I told.”

…One reason gender prejudice in politics is hard to grapple with is that the insidious nature of double standards can never be isolated as the sole factor, or even the primary factor, behind a candidate’s success or failure.

…Warren’s decline in the polls in late summer and fall of last year coincided with media coverage designating her a frontrunner. Much of the coverage of her debate performances (including some of my own, in a fashion not too different from my old stories on Terry) puzzled on the variance between moments when she seemed “commanding” or seemed to recede and saw her percentage of speaking time diminish.

…Jennifer Palmieri, an adviser to Hillary Clinton in 2016, wrote in her post-campaign book “Dear Madam President” about how the Clinton team grappled with the way some voters are turned off by ambitious women.

Confessions of a Slow Learner: American Politics Really Is Sexist – POLITICO

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Because in our American patriarchy, when accomplished, outspoken women pursue positions of power, they are routinely painted as unreliable and unlikable — snakes in human form.

And so we are, once again, being asked to question whether a woman is “electable,” by which we really mean whether all of her qualifications for the job can outweigh the fact that she is a woman. 

…We talked about Brett Kavanaugh, and the gut-punch of his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. About watching Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaking of humiliations and violations that rang incredibly true to all of us, her words landing on indifferent ears. Watching her throw herself in front of the train, knowing that it would make no difference, that she would be disbelieved and dismissed, that he would be confirmed anyway. Knowing that he now sits on the highest court of the land, for life, making precedent-setting decisions on how and whether women are allowed the rights to our own bodies.

…About how much it hurts to hear about the specter of “ruined” male lives, while so many men accused of misconduct have in fact remained in the public eye, and even begun resuming elements of their former careers, while the women who spoke out are forever defined by having done so.

And yes, we talked about “electability.” About how a man like Bernie Sanders can be as prickly and rumpled as he likes in public, relying on the substance of his politics and the strength of his convictions to impress. How a woman like Elizabeth Warren must always follow a moving target, presenting the perfect (impossible) combination of feminine softness and political edge. How we never hear men being called “likable,” because for men, being liked is not a prerequisite for being successful.

It’s 2020 and women are exhausted

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Loving Elizabeth Warren means having a plan for when America breaks your heart – StarTribune.com

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Elizabeth Warren and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire – Tablet Magazine

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