Do I support Carly Fiorina because she’s a woman? It’s complicated

Last updated on: August 28, 2015 at 9:14 am by Jane the Actuary

Do I support Carly Fiorina because she’s a woman? It’s complicated 2015-08-28T09:14:50-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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I’m in the middle of drafting a post in which I attempt to resolve, for me at least, the question of whether the circumstances behind Fiorina’s termination from HP have something to say about her fitness for office. Needs work, though, as I’m working through some source material and putting together some thoughts and trying to think it through rather than tossing it off.

But in the meantime: I’m still inclined to favor her over the other GOP candidates. More details on this to come, as well, but:

When Walter Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and when John McCain likewise selected Sarah Palin, the presumption was that they would be able to garner votes from voters who were otherwise on the fence but excited to elect a woman. And certainly Hillary Clinton is banking on support from voters who feel that they want the nation to have its first female president* sooner rather than later, just as Obama surely got plenty of votes from people who were otherwise indifferent or undecided but wanted the feel-good of voting for a black person for president. (*Note the use of the grammatically-correct “female president” rather than our annoying tendency to use “woman” as an adjective.) She has even, reportedly, touted being a woman as a qualification.

(Remember: my pet theory is that the first female president will be conservative, not liberal, in a “Nixon in China” sort of way.)

So: is Fiorina being given attention that she’s otherwise undeserving of, by the fact that she’s a woman? Am I willing to overlook her deficiencies in a way that I wouldn’t if she were a man?

Maybe. But to the extent that it’s true, it’s not a gushing, “I’d sure like to have a woman president,” so much as an identification sort of thing. Fiorina’s a woman. Hey, I’m a woman, too. We have something in common. Sure, she was running a major corporation when she was younger than I am now, but so what? And did you know that she and I both studied medieval history in college? Isn’t that cool?

In the same way — did you know that Scott Walker is a Midwesterner? Even if I knew nothing more about him, that identification would allow me to feel that we had some commonality.

Now, did Obama’s having come from Chicago, or Clinton from Park Ridge, trigger this identification? No – because it’s really more a matter of making one more likely to give a candidate that you already think favorably of, the benefit of the doubt on other issues where you diverge or you don’t know the person’s opinion.

Anyway – a few idle thoughts on a quick break at work. What do you think?

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