This past weekend, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright warned women voters about the dire consequences of failing to support Hillary Clinton. Specifically, Albright told them that there is a “special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Her use of that specific phrase is not particularly surprising as she has been using it for years, but in this particular setting, it has a much more nefarious meaning. Her comments come in the wake of polls showing that younger women are abandoning Clinton and increasingly giving their support to Sanders.
Bernie’s response:
“I think that’s an unfortunate statement. I think women should help women, women should help men, men should help women, men should help men…that’s what life is about.”
That’s something upon which virtually all progressives agree. Speaking to NBC News reporter Kate Snow, Bernie pointed out – quite accurately – that,
“We are not talking about electing the President of the United States…people should make their decision based on who they think can do the job best. Look, people are really hurting, now…and people are really angry about ‘Establishment’ politics, ecnomics…about income and wealth inequality. And I’ll tell you something else…people, whether they’re conservative or progressive, are really disturbed about a corrupt campaign finance system. Nobody I know – no matter what your politics – thinks that billionaires should be able to buy elections.”
In short, it’s not about gender. It’s about basic, bread and butter issues. The fact that Hillary is a woman and the U.S. is overdue for a female Head of State is simply not a good enough reason to make her the President. Sorry, Mrs. Albright but we will have many, many more opportunities in the future to elect a woman president. However, 2016 could very well be our last opportunity to elect a candidate who is not bought and paid for by Big Money interests. That is why young women – as well as young men – are flocking to support Bernie Sanders.
