Essay Question
This question is probably going to elicit lengthy responses from my few readers. But I want to keep the question itself short and simple: had she divorced her husband after one of his numerous affairs, would Hillary Clinton’s political future be better, or worse, today? Explain your answer.
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I’m going to prove you wrong (I think) and keep the answer short.
Worse, but probably not by much. In the end, our politicians pay a heavy price either way for being in a “failed marriage”, whether divorce or conveniently ignoring trysts is the route chosen. At that point we (the American people, collectively) seem to deem that their proper route is getting out of power and fixing themselves and their relationship.
I personally think a person’s career shouldn’t matter nearly as much when they’re going through such a major personal event. Someone who values their job over everything in their life - well, perhaps you want that in a president. I don’t really think I do though. Yes, that eliminates a lot of otherwise candidates. Too bad, in a sense. Not like many of them won’t be eliminated anyway. The pursuit of power at the expense of accepting marital infidelity - that is a problem to me.
Now someone who is divorced - it would give me pause, as there’s no way to know where the blame fell, and here you clearly have a person who is ambitious and looking to carry power if they’re running for president, but who couldn’t keep their marriage together. But I would be much more accepting of voting for Hillary in particular if she had left him after one of his affairs. At least, that’s what I say now…
So much for a short answer, after all. Guess you know your audience.
Comment by Step — Tuesday, 18 March 2008 @ 1:13 pm
I agree that she should have left him during the Lewinsky scandal, if not before. It would have defused criticism that she is only married to him for the purpose of acquiring power. It would have made her more palatable to me, as well. Despite my wife’s assertion (and it’s a good one) that I do not know what their marriage is like, or what feelings are in their hearts, I cannot believe that the marriage is anything but one of convenience and power brokerage.
What will be interesting to see is if she loses the nomination, will she then divorce Bill? If she stays with him, that might also defuse criticism of her as power-hungry because at that point there is, again, no reason to stay other than for love. On the other hand, she probably has hopes for becoming Majority Leader of the Senate one day (if she doesn’t become President), and divorcing him might cause problems there.
Comment by greypilgrim — Tuesday, 18 March 2008 @ 1:20 pm
It’s a good assertion that we can’t know what their relationship is really like. Nonetheless, when choosing the next leader of our country we have to make decisions based on the best evidence we have. Unfortunately, people in those positions are required to have their life open to the public in some ways. Marital infidelity and the response to it is definitely one of those ways.
I hadn’t thought about what could happen after she loses the nomination (pardon me, if she loses it). Honestly, I hate to say but it’s too late for me to care. I feel like we now know what she is made of and what she stands for, and it is unlikely that will change much. That is, her character is defined and it is not a character I can support at all.
Perhaps I would feel differently if I interacted with her or knew her in some manner. Probably not much, though, knowing my own personal belief set.
Comment by Step — Tuesday, 18 March 2008 @ 1:34 pm