The reason Hillary Clinton has such negative image problems is that when she was the First Lady in Little Rock she helped pass legislation to improve the ailing state school system and extend education for 4-year-olds. This hit the big boys in Arkansas right where it hurt them most, in their pocket books. Their hatred of her became vitriolic and they formed a Republican committee to taint and discredit her image.
While our homeless veterans and mentally ill are eating out of garbage cans to survive, right-wing Christian radio has spent millions to billions of dollars duping hard-working Americans to vote time and again with the wealthy, who are laughing all the way to their banks. Newt Gingrich suggested to Rush Limbaugh and other mean-spirited conservatives to repeat “words” like sick, pathetic, welfare, crisis, traitor, cheat, steal, bizarre and radical over and over to brainwash their audience. Let’s not forget that during this time Newt was having an affair and served his wife divorce papers while she was recovering from her illness. Read Molly Ivins’ books, god rest her witty soul. I am so sorry that she is not here to witness what is happening.
Two hundred years ago it was a rarity for a woman to be able read and write. One hundred eight years ago a woman could not own their own home. Eighty-eight years ago a woman could not vote. This was my grandmothers’ generation – one was half Native American Sioux, the other an Irish immigrant. They could only dream of having this opportunity to vote for the first woman president. I have a 4-month-old granddaughter and can only imagine what it would mean for her to grow up watching a compassionate woman leading this country.
Half the people on Earth are women; we have been the largest minority in history. Let us show the eyes of the mothers of the world that we care enough about their children to elect this expert on health care, education and women and children’s law, who has already visited many of these nations.
What woman is behind Hillary who has her strength and fortitude? Condoleezza Rice and Nancy Pelosi say they’re not interested. There is a very good possibility that we won’t have a woman president in my lifetime if she can’t do this. Won’t that make those big boys proud as punch; they will continue spewing hatred and negativity into your minds. Is it any wonder that depression is an epidemic in this country?
Won’t Barack Obama still be a young man in eight years after he gets more much-needed experience?
Margaret Parypa, RN, Portland
This article appears in Mar 27 โ Apr 2, 2008.








Let me understand–Clinton is compassionate because she is a woman.
Her negatives are the result of a vast right-wing conspiracy run by rich, white men?
Obama is qualified to be president if he is eight years older and Hillary is president first?
Hillary is the ONLY woman out of the 150 million in this country who can be president?
Sorry, but for most of us, Clinton lacks authenticity. Perhaps because I lack a uterus I am unable to discern the acclaimed compassion and experience beyond the ‘help’ she provided in ‘improving’ health care and education for four-year-olds in Arkansas twenty years ago. But, I’m tired right now, and before I ‘mis-speak’ I guess I’ll sit back and watch as she proves she can be as hard, under-handed, and down-in-the-mud as any man. And at that point, I have to ask, why not a man?
Voting because of gender is as unthinking as voting because of race or party affiliation.
Once again, the Democrats eat their own.
Hill-Billy has no one to blame but herself for her abysmal image problem. No transparency
(Library papers,no Tax disclousures) lies and distortions ( latest Bosnia “sniper” fairy tale), an arrogant belief she and Billy have a ‘divine right” to the White House, suspect land deals in Arkansas, gutter politics, defending and standing by Billy-Boy as he cheats with an employee who is Chelsea’s age, a cold and icy demeanor, Strenght and fortitude ?….wake up from your hallucination Margaret…she will never win the Presidency, period
Should we as a country let Hillary win because she is woman? What about personal charachter, charisma and the ability to pull together the wounds created by the current adminsitration? In my mind she comes up short.
I will not favor her with my vote simply because she pretends to talk for veterans never actually being one herself. She is my age but never faced the draft like I had to. Yet, she voted to send 4000 vets to an early grave. I can forgive alot but not that.
Jeez, and here I thought she was disliked because she is a cold, souless, dead eyed political whore, with an aging hyena cackle, who would throw daughter Chelsea into a boiling stew pot in a heart beat if it would increase her chances of becoming President by one or two percent.
Hillary is a walking blivet. A blivet is ten gallons of shit in a five gallon bucket.
well said Jens