Nationally syndicated columnist and Huffingtonpost.com co-founder/editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington may not have been a personal supporter of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic party nomination (HuffPost didn’t endorse a candidate), but she has kind words for the New York senator and former first lady all the same.
I met Arianna in New York on Tuesday to ask her what she, as the author of a book about women conquering their fears, thought about Clinton’s failure to secure the nomination and her political future.
Here’s what she said about…
Supporting Obama:
Since this is an election where we are clear that it’s in the best interests of the country that (Arizona Republican Senator) John McCain is not president , and we have seen that Obama has a much better chance of defeating John McCain, it’s a very clear choice. (With Obama) there’s no equivocation. It’s the future, getting out of Iraq. It’s a dramatically different take on the economy. It’s a clear break with the past, which the country’s really longing for.
Drawbacks to Clinton:
The two main drawbacks were that she did vote to authorize the war, so it’s much harder to oppose the war as categorically as Obama can oppose it, given that he has been against it from 2002… Given now that a vast majority of the American people know the war was wrong, if you knew that from the begining, you’d have a real clear advantage.
On the disappointment of a woman not getting a major party nomination:
Actually you know, I found her speech on Saturday so incredibly important for women because I have written as you know for my “Fearless” book a lot about how a lot of women have held (themselves) back because of the fear of failure. That has been the greatest fear in women. I mean, men have it too, but women, we have it in a much more intense way.
She failed in her immediate goal of winning the nomination, but this was in a way a historic triumph for women, because the question, “Can a woman be commander-in-chief?” will never be asked again. Can a woman run a great campaign, raise money and get millions of votes? All these questions have now been answered, thanks to her race. As a mother of two teenaged daughters, I’m constantly saying to them, always take the risk, go for your dreams. If you fail, it doesn’t matter. It’s like there is nobody who has succeeded in life who has not failed along the way. (Her speech) was a concession speech but at the same time it was a triumphant speech. I thought it was an incredibly moving, powerful moment for the country and especially for women.
And would she support Hillary in 2012 if she ran again, and the circumstances were right?
Sure. Absolutely.
I also asked why it should be that a woman in the United States still hasn’t had a clear shot at becoming a head of state when countries like India, Indonesia, Germany, Chile and Pakistan have pulled it off.
Her answer:
It has more to do with the women who have run… I don’t think there is more sexism here than there is in India, for example. If you look at the women who run, there isn’t anyone you’d say, “yes, if that person wasn’t a woman, they’d absolutely have to be president.”
(Photo: Reuters)
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Huffington must have a cob stuffed in her rear. Her articles are stupid. Can’t believe anyone would believe or like them.
- Posted by Clydein chicago wrote, “Vote independent. Vote Green or Liberal or Independent. Vote for someone new. Break the system. Change the world. America is crying for change.”
I too support the green party and believe America needs a third party (and a fourth and a fifth! why not?). BUT NOT THIS YEAR. An independent cannot win in the electoral system as it stands– and if we do not vote Bush/Cheney/McCain OUT, the consequences will be beyond measure. Vote independent in your local elections– build a party, but do not throw away your presidential vote.
Too much is at stake: the Supreme Court, our basic civil liberties and rights, the national debt, the economy, the environment, the infrastructure of our country, the education system. Not to mention the ongoing trillion dollar fiasco in Iraq.
You must vote Obama this year if you want change. Not voting for Obama is a vote for McCain.
- Posted by mYeah Ariana, after stabbing Hillary till she is dead, now you try to relieve your guilt by reviving her corpse. well done.
- Posted by JoslaiAriana is dishonest and disingenuous. Time and time again during the primaries she and this website were bashing Hillary at every spoken (or unspoken) word, a gesture, and what not! Now to make a turnaround and have kind words for Hillary is just nauseating.
For whatever flaws Hillary has (and who doesn’t), she cares deeply about this country and the people. She has the passion, the intelligence and the tenacity. How can one not stick with her?
It’s hard to support Obama after this long and bitter primary campaign. Alas, for the greater good I do hope Obama wins, just because I don’t want McCain to win. But it would have been much better if Hillary were the Democratic nominee.
If Hillary were the nominee, people would have voted her the president because they liked her. Obama may win because he is not as bad a choice as McCain. That’s the difference.
- Posted by KBKPJ,
- Posted by Robert MacMillanHuffington didn’t say there was no sexism in India. She said she didn’t think there was more sexism here than in India, for example. And I’m not sure where you get the idea that sexism and arranged marriages are one and the same. Nor is it restricted to class. Many parents across the social spectrum arrange marriages for both their sons and daughters.
Thanks for commenting on the blog post, meanwhile! Happy to have you here.
Robert MacMillan
I don’t think anyone can give her comments any serious credibility. Her website was one of the biggest points of Obama spam and anti-Clinton hate during the campaign, with not a word about sexism until now.
- Posted by DWNow she’s just going along with the ‘Suck up to Clinton supporters’ agenda. No-one buys it.
No sexism in India? The upper class still chooses husbands for their eligible daughters for God sake!
- Posted by PJObama’s numbers are up today among women. This most likely means Hillary will not be VP. Women should vote for him because of a Woman’s Right To Choose. And because Michelle Obama has long said she plans to champion women’s causes such as equal pay and flexibility in the workplace for women with children. After the wounds heel, Clinton supporters will see that Obama is Hillary without the skirt. He believes in the same issues and positions that she did. There were differences, but very minor ones. Ultimately, we can vote for the status quo in John McCain or we can vote for real change in Barack Obama. This election presents a clear choice and I hope people choose to get off the sinking Titanic instead of being determined, as John McCain is, to go down with the ship.
- Posted by kat1parkWhat does being a divorcee have to do with anything? There are plenty of those out there.
- Posted by kat1parkAll of this coercion to make H. Clinton vice-president must stop. It is not done in the presidential campaign process of this country and those doing it should be ashamed. They are fascists in nature by acting out the “Give me want I want or you’ll be sorry” threat. The decision of who is to become the vice-president is with the presidential nominee.
- Posted by Carole H.Hillary in 2012? Argh! How about never again for the Clintons!
However, I would like to see a woman as President, how about someone we can respect, with ethics, like Nancy Pelosi. She would be a wonderful President. But she should wait out Obama’s two terms, and run in 2016.
- Posted by LailaThe likleyhood thatHillary Clinton will be running for president of the united states of america in 2012 is about the same as the likleyhood that I’ll be surfing the iceberg run-off on Mars in that same year.
- Posted by fred66I don’t think Obama was in the Senate at the time of the bipartisan vote when legislators came together after 911 to give the president authority to go to war. The night before we went to war and George Bush came on the TV, I didn’t want us to go to war, but I trusted that he knew something I didn’t and that was why he went to Congress asking for that ultimate authority.
- Posted by Mamatha AgrawalIt’s easier to “vote against it” if Obama wasn’t there.
who cares what Arianna thinks? She has hated Clinton from the beginning and did everything in her power to promote Obama. She’s trying to sell a book, of course she needs to say something possitive.
- Posted by tracyArianna saying nice words about Hillary? I find that hard to believe. She’s so full of it just like Maureen Dowd.
- Posted by AgnesArianna,
I don’t get it.
You say: “’Can a woman be commander-in-chief?’ will never be asked again.” Why not? Senator Clinton did not in fact become-commander-in chief. She wasn’t even nominated for it. So the question (if there really is one) has not been answered.
You say: “Can a woman run a great campaign, raise money and get millions of votes? All these questions have now been answered. . . ” How so? I seem to recall that not too many months ago Senator Clinton’s nomination was widely viewed as inevitable. But it turns out that she spent tons of money while being badly outmaneuvered by Senator Obama. So what is your basis for calling her campaign great?
Maybe I’m just stupid, but I don’t get it.
- Posted by AnaloggI will vote for Hillary too in 2012 after she has a character transplant.
- Posted by Ron MPlease. HuffPo has been the biggest source of sexism and hate during the primaries. I gave up months ago trying to get anything useful from her crap site or from all her crap writers/bloggers. They suck, she sucks.
- Posted by Amy HeplerIf Clinton is already planning on running in 2012, she must expect Obama to lose. If she is expecting Obama to lose, she must not be giving him her full support. Clinton can achieve just about anything she believes in.
I believe that a vote for Obama or McCain, is a vote for the system. A vote for the powers in control. A vote for the establishment. I want a real change. Not another Democrat. Not another Republican.
Vote independent. Vote Green or Liberal or Independent. Vote for someone new. Break the system. Change the world. America is crying for change.
- Posted by In Chicagohow and why does this bitter old divorcee keep finding herself in the media ? she is like the evil twin of a stepford wife ? just sensationalism ? her opinion is worthless. i don’t get it.
- Posted by laughing at the dems