January 11, 2008
Health Days
I had to take a day off from blogging yesterday because I was too upset about Hillary Clinton's win in New Hampshire to be of much use around here. I think her win says something about this country that is deeply unsettling. The most common theory that has been put forward to explain the difference between the pre-election polls and the voting results is that Hillary Clinton did better with women voters, particularly older women voters, and that this was directly attributable to her emotional moment last Tuesday. But what does this say about these women voters in New Hampshire? That they saw themselves in a woman who seemed cornered and on the verge of defeat and whose ambitions were, in her view, thwarted by a posse of men who 'ganged' up on her?
The other theory is that Hillary Clinton didn't win, it was Barack Obama who lost, because of the famed Bradley effect. (In 1982, Tom Bradley had a double-digit lead in the polls and looked poised to become California's first black governor when he lost to George Deukmejian.) Again, what does this say about white people in New Hampshire? That, in the privacy of the voting booths, they didn't dare pick someone who didn't look like them? Either theory seemed too depressing, hence the day off. More soon.
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