Race And Gender as "advantage"

[bain_sidhe]

My opinion. (As if y'all didn't know that.)

There is no question in my mind that a white male with Barack Obama's background/experience would not be a serious contender for the Democratic nomination at this point in his career.

There is no question in my mind that a white male with Hillary Clinton's background/experience would not be a serious contender for the Democratic nomination at this point in her career.

So does that mean that they wouldn't be where they are without their race/gender?

No, not precisely. IMHO, race, for Barack Obama, and gender, for Hillary Clinton, functions like yeast in bread dough. Yeast, in and of itself doesn't make bread. Without the other ingredients, it's useless. But its presence makes those other ingredients rise.

Obama's "other ingredients," to me, are charisma and vision. Without those, there would be no rise to prominence (at least, not such a short time on the national stage), no matter how black he was.

Clinton's "other ingredients" are a bit more complicated... but one is her "wonkiness" (love her or hate her, you have to admit she knows her stuff), and another is her years (and struggles) in the public eye as "First Lady." This gives the public a sense familiarity (and gets her over the 'trust" threshold) that few, if any, other female candidates could duplicate. Without those, there would be no rise to prominence, no matter how female she was.

So yes, race and gender play a part in getting them where they are, but it's just adding an additional spark to who they are. It doesn't change who they are, it just makes "who they are" more exciting.

Again, my opinion. Fire at will...

::donning asbestos suit::

**editedit for typotypo**

[Bucky]

1. You know what I'm going to have to call this now, don't you?

It's Advantage-Gate.

[bain_sidhe]

2. :snort:

Oh, dear, I've started a scandal of my very own.

:hangsheadinshame:

[woolldog]

3. Dumb

If race or gender (other than white or male) were an "advantage" we wouldn't have had 43 white male presidents in a row.

[NashVegas]

4. Obama's Campaign Has Done a Masterful Job

Of using race to their advantage, while denying the Clinton campaign the ability to use gender to her advantage.

[gravity]

5. They both would be very successful if they were white men

Their strengths don't from their gender or race, but from their mastery of the political process. I could see them both being strong contenders for the presidency.

If Hillary was a man, she would have been president in 1992.

If a white man has the insight, gravitas, and oratory eloquence of Obama, then he would make a strong contender for the presidency too.

[bain_sidhe]

6. Tangent alert!

Your response got me thinking about something off to the side of the topic... you said:

Their strengths don't from their gender or race...

And I started wondering... how much of their strength/grit/drive does come from overcoming the barriers of their race/gender?

It used to be said that a woman has to be twice as good as a man to be considered half as good. I'm sure African Americans have some similar sentiment, because, you know, it's mostly true. So, in an odd, totally tangential way, maybe some of their "strength" does come from their race/gender. (I.e. in the old "that which does not kill you makes you stronger" kind of way.)

[sueragingroz]

7. saving some time by cross linking

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5038994&mesg_id=5046918