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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (17194)	10/24/2007 6:06:36 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Respond to of 224755

Father knows best when mom is Hillary >Voters' choice in 2008: Mom versus Dad By: David Paul Kuhn, politico.com Oct 23, 2007 On its current trajectory, the race for president in 2008 may turn voters into children of divorce — forced to choose between Mom and Dad. The contest comes as something of a surprise. Many strategists expected that Hillary Rodham Clinton, as the first woman to wage a leading presidential campaign, would decide to play down policies, rhetoric and campaign imagery that would remind voters — especially skeptical male voters — of traditionally feminine roles or issue priorities. Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, was supposed to have the opposite gender challenge. His image as the crime-busting mayor who rallied his stricken city after Sept. 11 gave him plenty of credibility on strength. What he needed, the thinking went, was to show voters — especially wary female voters — a softer and more empathetic side. As it happens, the expectation that Clinton and Giuliani would spend much of their time playing against type when it comes to gender politics has turned out to be mostly wrong. Clinton is indeed concerned about projecting strength. But she is doing it by unabashedly invoking her woman’s perspective and presenting her diverse biography with a maternal emphasis. Her campaign tour last week focused on “women changing America.” She told stories of raising her daughter, Chelsea, while unveiling a new $1 billion family-leave proposal. Giuliani, for his part, has decided for now that his best side is his hard side. He speaks of taming crime as if New York City before his administration was an unruly adolescent — lots of potential in need of a firm hand. At every turn, he emphasizes the threats facing the country in an age of terrorism — dangers he says Democrats do not understand. Of his own biography, he says it shows an occasionally flawed person who is nonetheless precisely the kind of aggressive leader the times demand. If the two front-runners maintain their position, the precedent-shattering 2008 may in the end have a very traditional feel — a contest between two classic American archetypes, each designed in different ways to convey conviction and reassurance. “If it does come down to Hillary versus Rudy, it is at one level a showdown between the iconography of matriarchal womanhood and the cowboy riding to the rescue,” said Susan Faludi, an author who has spent two decades studying gender and American society. In this vein, Giuliani invokes a mantra on the trail that “weakness invites attack; strength keeps you safe.” He stated he would “guarantee” Iran would not use nuclear weapons if he were president. He has defended his conservative credentials, stating, “I gave my blood for the Republican Party,” as if politics were combat. He accuses Democrats of supporting “nanny government.” Clinton’s latest rhetoric, in contrast, represents a subtle but distinct shift over time in her national profile. In a revealing contrast to how parental roles are invoked on the campaign trail, Clinton talks more about child-rearing than Republican Mitt Romney — even though he has five sons. One challenge for Clinton is to promote herself as a believer in traditional values without seeming to abandon her roots as an outspoken feminist. “She has to build a very big coalition, and I appreciate the difficulty of doing that. A lot of feminists tend to put people off,” said Frances Rosenbluth, a Yale political science and gender studies professor. “Hillary already has a reputation as not being quite normal, not quite a regular American woman. Entire article at politico.com