Opinion: What does Hillary Clinton’s Appointment to Secretary of State Mean for Women?
Posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 and is filed under Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
by Jill Doe
As women have favored Obama by nearly a 20-point margin during the election, it’s hard not to watch the recent cabinet appointments with a sense of expectation. So far, we have two female appointments: Governor Janet Napolitano, an Arizona Democrat, as Homeland Security Secretary, and the controversial appointment of Obama’s Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton to Secretary of State. While not all appointments have yet been made, it’s hard not to be disappointed - even in George W. Bush’s cabinet, four women were appointed, including Secretary of State, whereas only two female appointments have been made by Obama. Further, appointing Hillary Clinton to a post, which has been preceded by two women, Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice, is hardly breaking new ground.
What is more important to women voters than the number of females in the Cabinet is what these appointments mean? Historically, exit polls have showed that women overwhelmingly considered health care a top issue in this election, and as such, women will be looking to Hillary to provide assistance in getting crucial health care legislation passed. However, Hillary’s past failures to institute universal health care have made her a divisive figure. Conservative talk radio hosts were sure to tie Obama’s new health care initiatives to Hillary’s, regardless of whether Obama continued to work with her or not; her position in the Cabinet will only serve to strengthen this divide by providing a strong association between Obama and Hillary. While Obama has argued that he is surrounding himself with a “team of rivals,” it will be hard for commentators to ignore this connection in the interests of stirring controversy. Unfortunately, this makes it likely that badly needed health care reforms will, again, be mired in a partisan mess unless some Republicans are willing to cross party lines.
The biggest issue facing Obama and his cabinet is, of course, the economy. Ninety-two percent of women in the U.S. believe that the financial crisis is Washington’s highest priority. Hillary has one exceptional strength, and that is her experience and alliances in Washington. She will, no doubt, be a powerful figure in the political wheeling and dealing necessary to get economic policy passed in a short amount of time. Hillary will no doubt have a lot to do with behind-the-scenes politics that are needed to get things moving in the new administration. Hopefully, she will be a force for change, and will be willing to concede the spotlight to Obama for the time being.
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Sources:
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/16/nation/na-women16
http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_11138653 http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html http://www.kptv.com/yourvote/18045940/detail.html#-
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/96365/in_november,_women_will_vote_with_health_care_in_mind_/
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