“No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of the President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.” -Constitution of the United States of America, Article. II. Section. 1.
Those are the only three Constitutional requirements for an American citizen to pursue the Office of President. It is the People who subsequently impose additional expectations on the person pursuing the Office. Some of those expectations include more objective ones such as knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, and education. Other expectations are more subjective, such as gender…enter Hillary Clinton, who is on record asking, “Don’t you want to see a woman president of the United States of America?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5vZd-7IKxE)
My thought: What does being a woman have to do with the Office?
A quick cursory of the media coverage leading up to her announcement shows she has opted to abandon her 2008 campaign strategy of being the best-qualified candidate and instead focus on the idea of being the first woman president. Wait. What? Abandon, “Vote for me, here’s my platform,” and instead, embrace, “Vote for me, I’m a woman.”? One’s gender is now a consideration for Office? Ah, but this is on the heels of the 2008 presidential election when America embraced, “Vote for Obama, he’s black”.
It seems the landscape of our nation’s politics is less about upholding the Constitution and more about social engineering. So, when on Sunday, 4/12/2015, when she announced her run for the Office of the President via a video disseminated online (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/running/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=20150412running&hc_location=ufi), I was curious how she was going to introduce the, “Vote for me, I’m a woman,” strategy. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything along those lines; however, neither did she outline a platform. Instead, she introduced her slogan, “Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion.” It seems reminiscent to the knight in shining armor rescue, but feminists want that sexist notion dead and buried. Perhaps it makes a difference if the rescuer is a woman and not a man?
One more note about the video. It was classic target marketing, which is a legitimate business practice; however, when juxtaposed against the Democrat ideal of, “inclusiveness”, that practice and ideal clash. The very foundation of target marketing means dividing people into categories and then catering to the appeal of that category. The inherent nature is discriminatory, but that’s using the word in its pure definition. Discrimination simply means to distinguish. For example, in the food and wine world having a discriminating palate is desired. Now, discrimination has such a narrow and negative connotation that it seems we can’t see that each of us discriminates everyday. Everyday we make distinctions. It’s how we view and what we do with those distinctions that cause discrimination to be acceptable in one scenario and not in another.
The use of target marketing in politics is called identity politics. Overriding, I’m just highlighting how dividing people into categories and marketing to them carries the burden of leaving out categories. Clinton’s big online launch did well to check off a lot of categorical boxes, but if elected, she will be Commander in Chief (Article. II. Section. 2.). She neglected to include the very population she would command– the military.
As the Democrat’s first and perhaps only presidential candidate it will be interesting to see how Clinton navigates the cognitive dissonance that is rife in the world of identity politics and gender equality. “I am no different than a man, but purty please vote for me because I am a woman.”
My thought: I prefer to use Article. II. Section. 1. as my guide. I’m looking to vote for the Person, no matter man or woman.
Cynthia Shaffer
Political Editor & Commentator
ReelUrbanNews.com
Cynthia resides in Northern California.
The views and opinions expressed in the published commentary are independent of ReelUrbanNews.com and Michael Gracey Reel Media.
