Once again, older white women put Hillary over the top, as was reported in Newseek:
It was the "Grandma Primary." Barack Obama lost Pennsylvania mostly because white working-class women over 60 dominated the contest to an astonishing degree, and they backed Hillary Clinton by more than 2-1. T
The loyalty of this voting block surely goes beyond any rational appraisal of the issues. If we accept the theory (and I do) that "reasoning" is as much controlled by emotion (in many) as by critical thinking, then I think the core of Hillary's support here is (drum roll please):
Bitterness!
First let's recall the much criticized...or, should I say, pilloried... statement by Chris Matthews back in January:
I think the Hillary appeal has always been about the mix of toughness and sympathy. Let’s not forget, and I’ll be brutal, the reason she’s a US Senator, the reason she’s a candidate for President, the reason she may be a front runner, is that her husband messed around. [...]
That’s how she got to be a Senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn’t win it on her merit, she won because everybody felt, "My God, this woman stood up under humiliation," right? That’s what happened.
Now, I totally disagree with the statement that her Senatorial win was not based in any part on merit. But I now believe that the point about sympathy for Bill cheating on her is a huge part of what is going on now. And this could hardly have been more clearly demonstrated than by what happened to me Tuesday evening.
I was in Kansas City, having given a presentation at the FBI's Third International Symposium on Agroterrorism. Afterward, I was at my hotel in the bar eating dinner. The flat screen TV was set to ESPN and so I felt safe, my goal being to avoid any news of the results in Pennsylvania. I had decided that I would just wait until the morning and then check the front pages, and online, taking the medicine in one big nasty dose.
That was when the bartender, a white woman who looked t0 be in her late 50's or early 60's, changed the channel to CNN. And there it was, Hillary called as the winner of the Pennsylvania primary. Without really thinking about it, I said: "Geez, I was really trying to avoid hearing that bad news until morning." The bartender replied: "Bad news? I think it's great news. But I'm not supposed to talk about politics at work, so anyway."
I smiled wanly and went back to eating my dinner. But as I ate, I kept wondering what it was that had made this working class woman so strongly support Hillary. Finally, I had to ask. So I smiled at her and said: "I promise not to argue with you or say anything in reply. But I'm curious why you support Hillary, and whether you could sum up the main reason for your support." She thought for a moment and then said:
"With all the hell she had to put up with that bastard husband of hers cheating on her left and right, I just think it's her turn. She's more than earned it."
And so there you have it: Hillary who famously said "I'm not sitting here as some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette"
Hillary who also dismissively said: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas."
And now, somehow, according to the bartender in Kansas City, Hillary deserves to be president "because Bill done her wrong."
You just gotta love America.