By AMY Z. QUINN
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Alice Paul, OG suffragist and Jersey Girl nonpareil, would not vote for John McCain as some protest of how the Democratic primary played out. Women's rights and the struggle against racism were -- are -- too inextricably linked to think she'd hold a grudge against Barack Obama.
Neither should we.
Hillary Clinton always said, and I believe her, that she would enthusiastically support the Democratic nominee -- even if it wasn't her. I told someone Wednesday that there are two sure ways to anger a woman: Ignore her or underestimate her. What I wrote about in "Damn Right I'm Bitter" was mostly about how Clinton's candidacy and supporters had been continually minimized and underestimated in the primary fight, and how her victories were ignored.
And sure enough, from Jeff Toobin on CNN talking about "tone" to the editorial finger-waggers at the Inquirer to everyone who got the "rained on his parade" memo, people were just scandalized by the fact that she didn't prostrate herself in humility before Obama's "divinely ordered" victory. She -- and by extension, everyone who yearns to see a female in the Oval Office -- is begrudged even a moment to savor her own historic achievements. She is refused, after 30-plus years of service to the country and the party, even the chance to, in her own time and in her own way, see her own dream deferred. I agree with Susie Madrak -- Clinton deserved her moment.
Do Obama supporters believe that Clinton's female backers don't grasp the significance of his win, or that we ignore the pride in our country that should come of it? I'll cop to shedding tears of joy seeing that report on ABC in which young black men -- the kind of guys I'm too often reading about in Jeff Deeney's columns -- talked about waking up Wednesday morning feeling like, at long last, The Dream had come true.
Again, stop underestimating us.
I don't think a vote for McCain is the answer, and a write-in for Hillary may be satisfying in the short term but potentially disastrous overall. I am not encouraging anyone to support McCain instead -- especially women who care about their reproductive rights. A vote for a Republican president is still a vote for a Republican president, who will likely have the opportunity to nominate at least one Supreme Court justice. The value I place on my reproductive freedom far outweighs any bad feeling I'd carry from the primary campaign.
Uh oh, am I voting with my vagina?
RELATED: The Hillary 1000, which exists in part to tell HRC supporters Why A Vote For McCain Is Not A Protest Vote For Clinton.
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Thanks to all of you for the love and links. Annie Heckenberger gave over her whole screen, Will Bunch took the gentle tweak I gave him with class, as always. We felt the old-school Blinq love from Dan Rubin, and CQPolitics.com gave us a nod.
