Inconvenient truths: Five unpopular facts about the US election
Dear women, don’t kid yourself that dancing on Clinton’s political grave is “brave”, writes Sarrah Le Marquand. Selling out your gender to appease men is anything but.
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Donald Trump’s US election win has spawned rhetoric that’s not only grossly insulting to women but inaccurate. So, just to clarify things, here are the five unpopular truths about the presidential election.
1. Michelle Obama is not the answer
Within minutes of realisation dawning last week that the unthinkable had happened and Hillary Clinton had indeed lost the election to Donald Trump, thousands took to social media to nominate Michelle Obama as the next Democratic presidential candidate.
In a show of political naivety so embarrassing it makes Trump look like a Rhodes scholar by comparison, those rallying for #Michelle2020 cite the First Lady’s high approval rating as grounds for her to follow her husband into power, even though the self-described “Mom in Chief” has consistently shown more interest in The White House’s vegetable garden than its Oval Office.
“I rarely step foot in the West Wing,” she proudly told a reporter in 2012, in what was only one of countless instances during her husband’s administration in which the Ivy League-educated lawyer sought to downplay her smarts and channel a Stepford Wife.
Given history will show Obama’s reign as First Lady ultimately resembles that of her successor, fellow fashion plate and policy lightweight Melania Trump, more than it ever did her trailblazer predecessor Hillary Clinton, the insinuation that being married to the president is the only qualification required of the US’s first female leader is grossly insulting. It also belies a profound ignorance of Clinton’s lifelong advocacy and policy work.
Oh, and as for those sky-high approval ratings (eerily reminiscent of the very ones former Secretary of State Clinton enjoyed right up until the moment she announced her run for office), Obama would soon learn the hard way that public opinion is a lot less forgiving when you speak out on issues more controversial than what’s on the lunch menu.
One day, hopefully not too far off, America will elect a female president and indeed a black female president. But it will never be Michelle Obama — and nor should it — so let’s stop this offensive nonsense and focus on some genuinely promising would-be candidates instead.
2. Of course women voted for Trump
Contrary to ludicrous assumptions, no sensible commentator has ever suggested female voters should unanimously support Clinton just because she’s a woman. Political views are not biologically determined by gender so it’s hardly shocking many women opted not to vote for her, just as many men opted not to vote for Trump.
But whereas a male voter can happily support Clinton based on her substantial experience and well-articulated policies without inciting hysteria, female voters who do so are routinely dismissed as “whiny feminists” or are accused of playing the “victim”.
In the wake of Clinton’s loss, there have been many women eager to trumpet their apparent glee over her humiliation. So who are these women and why, individual political views notwithstanding, are they so desperate to celebrate a squandered milestone for their gender?
You remember those types in high school who stood on and cheered as the cool kids ganged up on a hapless student? The ones who didn’t want to speak up for fear of being seen as a killjoy or becoming a target themselves? Well some of those cowardly and shortsighted kids never really grew up.
Dear women: vote however you please, but don’t kid yourself that dancing on Clinton’s political grave is “brave”. Selling out your gender in an attempt to appease the cool kids is anything but.
3. A Trump presidency will look nothing like a Trump campaign
Those drawing farcical analogies with 9/11 and tiresome parallels with Hitler would do well to take a deep breath, put down their iPhones and step away from the hyperbole. True, there’s no condoning the appalling racist and sexist sentiment that Trump unleashed in some quarters with the populist “just telling it like it is” schtick he adopted to get elected, but the more measured persona he revealed during his victory speech is a telling glimpse into the future. Rusted-on followers who believe he actually intends to deliver half of the promises he made will be in for a bumpy four years.
4. The Kardashians helped get us into this mess
“Good news!” chirped US online news aggregator The Huffington Post back in September. “Kim Kardashian made up her mind and she’s voting for Hillary Clinton.”
Back in Australia, I was not feeling nearly so optimistic about how the support of the notoriously vacuous reality star would be perceived by disillusioned Americans already suspicious Clinton had far too much in common with Hollywood “elites”.
“This is not good news,” I responded from the other side of the world. “Would be more helpful for Hillary Clinton if Donald Trump won the Kardashian endorsement.”
Unfortunately for Clinton, the celebrity recommendations kept on coming, each one inadvertently helping the well-connected and stargazing Trump create a false narrative that he was the true outsider.
5. It should have been Hillary
The democratic process must be respected — the people have spoken and no amount of protest rallies and meaningless petitions will change the fact that come January, President Trump will be sworn in.
But neither will anything ever change the fact that the woman who nearly stopped him, the woman who convincingly won the popular vote, remains the single most qualified, tenacious and quietly courageous presidential candidate in history.
Over the past eight years she has seriously dented the glass ceiling not once, but twice. And thanks in large part to her efforts the ceiling will eventually be broken by another.
But it should have been Hillary.
Sarrah Le Marquand is the editor-in-chief of Stellar magazine and the founding editor of RendezView.
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