No, That’s Not A Good Thing
In yet another tiresome, “but she’s a woman!” column, Marie Coco laments that Americans are only selectively dynastic:
And we don’t like political wives who strike out on their own. Yet around the world, political spouses, widows and daughters are elected with stunning regularity. Indira Gandhi of India; Corazon Aquino of the Philippines; Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua; Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan; Cristina Fern¿ndez, the current Argentine president — who succeeded her husband — all rose to power through family connections.
She goes on to say that any committment to anti-dynasticism is highly selective – just look at our current president. And she’s right, but that doesn’t justify us trying to imitate the countries she lists. Doesn’t it seem obvious that any argument which begins with “our political system should be more like Pakistan’s!” is probably a bad one? I’ll be the first to admit how distressing it is that America seems almost uniquely uncomfortable with women, and wouldn’t mind if we had some sort of informal (or formal) quota for the number of women in the House, but presidential elections are too damn consequential, and Clinton has too many negatives to let her gender tip the balance.
