so i'm with the crowd tonight in quadside and I'm kinda involved in this. I keep occasionally looking up at the big tv... but I also have twitter open, watching the #current tag because i can't hear for beans from where I'm sitting. It's an awesome tracker and average person opinion grabber. though at the moment MOST of the people seem to be Obama supporters.
Posted: November 4, 2008 10:03 pm by Emma Hryniewicz | 0 comments
Tags: current tv, election2008, politics
sooo.. The Last Debate is tonight... and yeah I know they're showing it in I think quadside...but i'm lazy and I don't want to be a type-a-holic.
Personally, I'm going to watch via current.com and put my input in via twitter tonight....Yep, I'm gonna attempt to participate in the "Hack the Debate Project" via Current TV.
I do have something better to do(namely homework) but I think I can balance the two nicely. It's the loveliest thing about internet streaming. I don't have to watch--I can listen.
I also have to start working on my "third parties" fact sheets later so I can deliver those to the Simmons Votes committee. Because hey we have 4 other people with ballot access here in Massachusetts: Green Party's McKinney/Clemente, Libertarian Party's Barr/Root, Independent Party's Nader/Gonzalez, and Constitution Party's Baldwin/Castle.
And then over the weekend I get to continue following bloggingthedebates.com.
Posted: October 15, 2008 8:56 pm by Emma Hryniewicz | 1 comment
Tags: election 2008, final debate night, politics
Everyone's talking politics, however, I'm only hearing about Democrats and Republicans... Why aren't any other candidates being talked about? What about the various 3rd parties? I can't be the only person interested in seeing the views of the other parties. And come to think of it, the only reason I'm actually interested in hearing from the third parties was a guy on the MBTA who saw my tattered Simmons College bag and asked if I was voting and for who and I said I was undecided and he gave me a "Vote for McKinney" flyer. If you're curious, this is the state-by-state ballot access chart. It lists all the parties and marks the major ones that are available for each state. :D
Personally, I've been following the commentaries by the Green Party candidates and the Libertarian party candidate on bloggingthedebates.com which is using voterwatch.org to get all the different angles from politicians, writers, and users. It's awesome.
I love seeing all the commentaries.
Posted: October 1, 2008 8:29 pm by Emma Hryniewicz | 1 comment
Tags: election08, politics, Simmons, what about the third parties?
All,
The appointment of Sarah Palin has stimulated a lot of discussion about its implications for women and leadership. Yesterday Mary Shapiro was interviewed on NECN to give her reactions to the NY Times article
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02mother.html?_r=1&ref=pol.... She had some great clips in the interview. You can see Mary's interview at http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/Will-Palin-pregnancy-affect-voters-/....
We had some very interesting discussions in preparing for this interview and processing all of our thoughts since Palin's announcement which raises many issues regarding women and leadership. I am using the new blog technology at Simmons to share some of my views. I am inviting faculty and other interested members of the SOM community (including our students)to join this discussion. I think that we can have a lively discussion that will help us all better understand how gender dynamics shape women's leadership and career opportunities.
My perspective:
From my perspective, the number of children Palin has should be irrelevant to whether or not she can do this job. We never questioned whether John Edwards would be a suitable VP with two small children. We don’t question whether the fact that Barak Obama has two small children impedes his ability to be President. The more nuanced view on this, however, is that while this should not be relevant in her qualifications to do the job, Palin has drawn on her experience as a mother (working in the PTA, “I am just a hockey mom”) as part of her credentialing and appropriateness to serve as VP. So she has inherently brought this aspect of her personal life into the discussion of her professional life and credibility as a candidate. She and her handlers have opened the door to this line of questioning.
We are all asking ourselves what her choice signifies for the future of women in leadership. My view is that while it is an important milestone to have the second woman nominated for the VP slot as a running mate, her nomination has actually set back the work we have all been involved in terms of strengthening women’s leadership. No matter your political inclination, Hillary Clinton had the foundation of experience to be credible as a candidate for the highest positions in national office – she had an excellent education, graduate training as a lawyer, years of experience practicing law, served on numerous boards of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and had her experience in the senate and as an advocate for key issues as First Lady. She is well educated, well credentialed, and experienced in government at the national and international level. At the same time she was a parent and a wife, but those roles did not position her to be president. In contrast, Sarah Palin has no advanced degrees and limited work experience, and has been operating on a political landscape much narrower than that of Hillary Clinton. While we believe strongly that leadership opportunities need to be made available to women and that the barriers to leadership continue as a challenge for women, the glass ceiling will not be broken by placing a woman with limited credentials and experience into one of the highest leadership roles in the country simply because she is a woman. If she fails, her failure will be extrapolated as an impediment to women many seeking similar positions in the future.
From my perspective, the different perspective that comes from growing up as a woman is one of the reasons we want more women in leadership roles, but ONLY if this perspective is married with the knowledge and expertise required for the position. That is really the bottom line on this issue.
Let's get other views on the table and have a fun and informative discussion -
Posted: September 3, 2008 8:16 am by Deborah Merrill-Sands | 8 comments
Tags: gender, leadership, palin, politics, women
First of all I wish to apologize for the length of time in between posts. I have several pieces in the works that I am currently editing. However tonight, after watching her speech at the Democratic National Convention, I feel impassioned to write about Hillary Clinton.
I know many people have many differing and passionate opinions about Hillary. These opinions range from the creditable to the ridiculous. Analysts pick at her pant suits, her cleavage, her spouse’s indiscretions, and, although not directly, her gender.
As a woman, it is my ardent wish to be able to point to a woman, or even better- women, and say, “I can do it. She did it.” That is why I voted for Hillary in my primary election. I want to believe that a woman is capable of being elected president, not just running for the office. I want to raise a daughter in a time where that feat has already been accomplished. I want to be paid equally. I want to be treated equally. I want to have high expectations of my talent and abilities. I want to be able to achieve whatever I dream to achieve. That is NOT possible in this America. A woman can run, but she cannot win. A woman can run, but not without being nitpicked about her clothing, hair, and mothering abilities- all things which have absolutely NOTHING to do with her ability to perform a job.
Unlike some women across the country, I believe that Hillary is a credit to her gender. We need women like her who stand in the face of criticism, nay saying, history and push for the future of women. Without women like her where would the gender be? Not launching a legendary and landmark presidential campaign. Who else would be doing it? I don’t see any other willing and viable candidates.
I can recognize and appreciate that the feelings Hillary arouses for me are aroused in another marginalized population in the United States for Obama. As a result of the convention that is taking place I am now a willing, and even enthusiastic supporter of Obama. My desire, however, will remain for women across the country to realize the critical importance of Hillary Clinton to our gender and to our history.
Posted: August 27, 2008 12:14 am by Katherine Swanson | 0 comments
Tags: DNC, Hillary Clinton, politics
I didn't see the debate, but heard much about few were taking too much of air time. Chris Dodd's site had this clock and I thought it was interesting to see the visual presentation on length of time each candidates talked.
Posted: November 16, 2007 10:37 am by Shino Ito | 0 comments
Tags: clock, debate, democrats, politics, presidential candidates, talk clock
There has been some discussion over the past few months about political trophy wives in the media, specifically Fred Thompson’s wife, Jeri Thompson, and I can’t help but add my two cents to this debate.
Jeri Thompson hails from Naperville, Illinois, not far from Wilmette. She went to DePauw University in Indiana and spent about ten years living “in sin” with a boyfriend and not doing anything particularly “career oriented”. In the late 90’s she met divorced senator Fred Thompson and they started to date. At this time Jeri was working on a website about Tennessee politics and her relationship with Fred catered nicely to this venture. He is 64 and she is 40. They were married in 2002 and he is now running for the presidency.
First and foremost I would like to state that I absolutely hate when people bash large age gap couples. Are they happy? Is it what they want? Good! Go mind your own business! How does her being younger affect anyone other than her and her significant other? Plain and simple, it doesn’t affect anyone else. Leave them alone and let them just be married. Many people argue that its “creepy and weird”. My response is that while it might seem “weird and creepy”, it’s creepy to you and not to them. At the end of the day they are the ones that are married. All of America is not in their marriage. It is him and her and if it works for them who are you to say anything negative about it? All of America is not privy to their personal life and so why do we even care? Are we jealous and angry or are we simply grossed out? Well, here’s what… it doesn’t matter what we think. It’s their life to live and as the old adage goes; if you have nothing nice to say why say anything at all!?
It has also been proven time and time again that potential first ladies sway an election about as much as a still day sways a kite. There is no conclusive evidence to prove that first wives, or husbands, sway elections. Personally, I do not find her to be that outrageous compared with things other political wives of the past.
The term “trophy wife”, as Jeri is referred to, is also grossly misunderstood. Trophy wives are not simple, young bimbos that sit in their husbands shadow and shop all day long. Granted some do shop all day but the traditional definition of a trophy wife is a women that is younger AND accomplished in her own right. She’s nice to look at but she also has a point of view and something to say and why wouldn’t an older man, like Fred Thompson, be attracted to that? Jeri Thompson is no fool. She is educated and there has been pubic discussion about her role within the campaign and her political prowess. Contrary to popular belief that says you cannot be young, beautiful, and also smart it is possible and she is one example of it. While I would not exactly label the term “trophy wife” as being “empowering” per se I would go as far to suggest that it isn’t as negative as some would have you believe, although popular culture might suggest other wise.
Finally, I would like to address one point that has been bothering me for some time. This is the sort of the common, stereotypical thing to say but I think we should take a moment and consider what would happen if Bill Clinton was 14 years younger than Hillary. I think public out cry from some would be much different however, I would like to state and I would feel the same way I do about Jeri Thompson. If there happy and the relationship is satisfying to them, who cares!?
Posted: November 12, 2007 10:01 pm by Katherine Swanson | 1 comment
Tags: age, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, Jeri Thompson, politics, relationships, trophy wives
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