A latent and lamentable sexism
Having just lost a chance at the U.S. Senate seat she had worked so hard to win, Republican New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson on Sunday publicly offered an interesting perspective on what might have been at play behind the loss suffered by a fellow female member of the U.S. Congress on the other side of the political aisle: Hillary Clinton.
Wilson was one of 13 political experts the New York Times had sought out for comment on Clinton's loss by asking the question: "What Went Wrong?"
In a brief piece entitled "Hermione Clinton," Wilson lays the blame in part on "a latent and lamentable sexism":
She [Clinton] lost because the superdelegates — the Democratic establishment — went against her.
She became a caricature: too smart, too strong, too assertive, too rational, too competent. Think how the young Harry Potter and his male friends initially reacted to Hermione Granger and you get the idea.
Wilson's perspective is interesting, coming from one of the few women in Congress and the only woman veteran. Some might say the words Wilson uses to describe Clinton in caricature could also be applied to Wilson herself: "too smart, too strong, ..."
As of June 23, Wilson will have served as New Mexico's congresswoman for 10 years.
The fact that Wilson chose to weigh in on the issue of gender also brings home this fact: Now that all the electoral dominoes have fallen, having given up her House seat, all of New Mexico's congressional seats come Jan. 1 once again will be held by men.
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