The ever-popular politics/figure-skating allegory

[sigma7]

An excellent new take on the perpetual primary.

"Her securing the nomination is certainly possible - but it will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding option.'" the official said. "Is that really what we Democrats want?"

The Tonya Harding Option -- the first time I've heard it put that way.

It implies that Clinton is so set on ensuring that Obama doesn't get the nomination, not only is she willing to take extra-ruthless steps, but in the end neither she nor Obama win the gold.

(In this metaphor, presumably, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be Oksana Baiul. Does that make former President Bill Clinton Jeff Gillooly?)

Comments

[maggiebloome.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I agree with Feministe. Somebody's being thrown to the wolves here... or at least smeared in tasty tasty gravy in preparation.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

It's a frustrating article for me to read, not only because I don't see misogyny in the DNC's sticking to their guns re: Michigan and Florida (the former should've known better and the latter got waylayed by a Republican legislature) but I see an immediate lurch by the author towards divining misogyny ("a misogynistic press, which hates women" reeks too much of the "vast right-wing conspiracy," or for that matter, the "liberal media" the right itself blathers on about, and there's more than a few of moments like that in the piece).

Add to that that the article floats the possibility of the Clinton camp actually swaying superdelegates as a means to a nomination -- if that happened, it would be nothing less than the death of the Democratic party, the vapidity of the "well, what's the harm if he's inevitable?" argument (the harm is your party spends three more months and valuable fund-raising sums kneecapping its own nominee)....

Sorry, if anything, it reminds me too much of the Firefly/Serenity screed. Unlike that piece, I'm more confident that there's more truth to be discerned here (is there a misogynist in the DNC? Oh, I'm sure; is there a misogynist conspiracy in the DNC's machinations? I doubt it), but like that piece, this writer's tone is too off-kilter for me to invest in it.

But I'm probably just impervious to misogyny detection.

[maggiebloome.livejournal.com]

Oh I don't think they were suggesting an actual conspiracy. Anyway, I was referring to the bits where they pointed out that Obama is not, in fact, as inevitable as he's made out to be, and also that the comparison is faulty enough that it's entirely possible someone's sowing the seeds for a scapegoat in the event of a democratic loss - "it's because Clinton was too aggressive in the nomination run!"

Yeah, they might be trying a little too hard to find misogyny there - I think it's straightforward dirty politics. She said herself that if Obama was in Clinton's position they would have done something similar, and probably it would've been sort of racially charged. That is, misogyny is being USED, but that isn't the focus, it's just a political tool in an arsenal of unsavoury political tools.

[maggiebloome.livejournal.com]

(and we all know politics is full of tools :P)

[bishop282.livejournal.com]

Of course Bubba would be Gillooly. Bubba a big, dumb redneck. He's the epitome of white trash. Heck, his library and massage parlor looks like a double-wide trailer.

Rush has a nice little Photoshop of Hillary as Tanya.

[bishop282.livejournal.com]

I'd saved the picture to my scrapbook and tried to post it, but when I hit submit it didn't appear. Here's (http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_032608/home.guest.html) the link to Rush's site, but I don't know how long it will stay.