Left In Lowell

I was going to post about how, despite my still-heartfelt opposition to Clinton as a candidate, that we now have a real horserace, which is good for democracy and for the rest of the states who have felt left out until now. Susan says it so much better, though, stating that “I can’t help but get a feeling that the whole election/primary process is like a slate being cleaned and we are starting anew.” That’s exactly what it feels like.

I also wonder: did the totally stupid, negative weekend coverage of the Clinton “verklempt” moment really turn women to rallying for her yesterday? After all, women, as a whole, are the first to judge another woman, but they are also the first to rally around one when they are attacked unfairly. Much as I wish we were beyond this whole societal imposition of “what women should be like,” and that I think it’s a lousy way to choose a candidate (instead of looking more at whether or not she can deliver what people in this country need), the women who rallied around Clinton in NH yesterday displayed a very mature, media-savvy rejection of what has been a shameful, knuckle-dragging, caricature-driven pundit class which has made a complete ass out of itself.

In that sense, go Clinton! The more she can defy the media’s constrictions about what a female presidential candidate is or isn’t, or what she can or cannot do, the better for furthering equality for gender in general. However, it’s too bad that this phenomenon had to come to the rescue of the least progressive candidate who is the least likely to push for the reform we need in this country.

Now, the race really has gotten interesting, something us super-dooper-expealidocious Tuesday primary voters can probably really have an impact in. I might even be forced to actually endorse someone before February 5th!

Update: Kos himself had something to say on this, really quite a cogent read.

Update II: Holy crap! The delegate count shows that there is no way in Poughkeepsie you can yet make any statements about who’s going to win this thing, not even the statement “no way Edwards comes back from this.” And look at the Republican side, with Romney in the lead of pledged delegates without ever coming in first in either early state.