See You At The Impeachment

The Right’s decades-long smear campaign against Hillary Clinton succeeded not because of the effect it had on conservatives but because it tapped into liberals’ and moderates’ unacknowledged sexism and convinced them that Clinton was unlikeable and unworthy. Sparrow’s description of Clinton in his essay “See You at the Impeachment” [August 2017] is a perfect example.

Instead of crediting Clinton with being confident and knowledgeable when she spoke, he was conditioned to see only “her smug condescension.” Instead of understanding the degree to which she has devoted her life to civic duty, he believed she was a “terrible candidate,” on par with an inexperienced, amoral billionaire.

Was she truly “as uninspiring as an Ohio dentist”? What magic combination of attributes would a female candidate need to have to inspire the Left and still be palatable to the middle? Was it not inspiring to watch Clinton debate Donald Trump? She stood unflinching amid lies and personal attacks to give remarkable performances. I’ve rarely witnessed such ability and grit.

The race between Trump and Clinton was an egregious display of double standards. Sexism is rooted so deep in our country that even voters on the Left were either blind to it, engaged in it, or simply uninterested in speaking out against it.