The Presidential Primary: Hillary, McCain, or Obama?

I'm at my local barber and we start talking about the propositions on the California Ballot, which naturally leads us to talk about the presidential candidate of our choice. I typically like to hear people out--get a feel for their views. But this was a discussion I'd lose some hair over.


"Two for one ... Get'em while they're hot!
He starts by telling me he's voting for Hillary Clinton because, "It's like getting two presidents for the price of one." I wasn't dumbfounded by his rhetorical banter even though it sounds very much like the rationale one would use to buy a t-shirt at a swap meet. But I'd heard the same argument earlier in the week, only it was from a colleague that makes six figures. The ground-breaking analysis across the board: "Bill. He was a great president. He's got a lot of knowledge and experience. You know he's gonna help Hillary out--they're married!"

People are talking about choosing a candidate based on family relationships. And we've been here before! Remember the big hoopla about little Bush and big Bush (and no, I'm not talking about Monica and Hillary). It's a tell tale sign of the current temperature of our democracy when Bill--or anyone for that matter--can be seen as a proxy for a presidential candidate. Either way shouldn't a candidate be capable of doing the job based on their own merit?

"Mc-Cane"
Now I figure the next candidate he's going to bring up is Obama (since he started with a Democrat). Nope. He continued, "And Mccain, well, he's served the country well and all. But he's ... I think he's a little too old. He's 71. And you know being a president is a stressful job!" WOW! Not only should one worry about family relations but also the age of a candidate. And the grim reaper seems to have a stiffy for older candidates.

Again, I had heard this argument before. People are definitely watching the same news sources for information. The argument is that there's a much higher chance of dying during a term if you're over the age of 65. Wasn't Kennedy 46 when he was assassinated? Lincoln, 56? I think a president has to worry about being too radical for the era they live in and making enemies more than their age. And who the hell is guaranteed tomorrow!? I didn't say this to him though. I wanted to hear more.

Durka Durka!
And then there was Obama. Up to this point, the tone was light, semi-analytical, and grounded in something that felt positive. But once the topic turned to Obama, he looked at my reflection sternly in the mirror, put the clippers down to his side, and said, "He's Muslim. His name is Barack ... Hussein ... Obama. You make the connection." I did, and it was a connection I'd been hearing all week. Being Muslim = being anti-American = Terrorist. He continued by saying how if anyone voted for Obama, our country would be in big trouble, especially with all of the radical political energy in Latin America--and of course we'd be just like them, a communist nation that suffers from civil unrest.

Barack is assumed to be different not because of his race, which people feared was as big an issue as gender for Hillary, but because--of all things--his name, which is linked to Islam and could mean he's a terrorist. And this time, one's daddy doesn't favor the candidate, since Barack's father was reportedly a practicing Muslim.



In the End, here's what I heard ...
It boils down to skewed ideology. Hillary really can't do the job because she's a woman, but she can do it better because of her personal experience and her husband's experience combined. Still the first woman presidential candidate, but at least we also get Bill.

Mccain can't do the job because he's too old, and quite frankly, too Republican for most Democrats--and I think his desire to continue the war in Iraq has gotten some people scared, regardless of party allegiance. Still a white POW, he's just too old to serve this country.

And Obama can't do the job because he's a closeted Muslim, which means he, being a person of color with a different name, could be a Terrorist in disguise. And since 9/11, we're supposed to be wary of Muslims. Still the first black presidential candidate, he's now potentially a Muslim and therefore practically a terrorist.

Interesting how the support of the war in Iraq boils down to lives lost, cost, and the notion of spreading or not spreading democracy (and the effective way of doing that). While back at home our war against terrorism is subtle, often beginning with religious beliefs--and terrorists are identifiable by the color of their skin and attire (rarely do we think of Timothy McVeigh or Ted Kacynski as your prototypical terrorists).

Yea, race is that subtle in our country. And sexism and ageism is right up there with racism.