Why Gloria Steinem is Wrong in Her Attacks on John McCain

"Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], 'What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?'" -- Gloria Steinem speaking to Clinton supporters in Texas as quoted in a New York Observer article.

Negative campaigning in politics is not new. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams traded barbs on who would be more qualified for the office of the Presidency. However, I'm not sure if it ever got to the point of degrading any of their military experiences like Gloria Steinem did this past weekend. In case you didn't hear, Ms. Steinem degraded McCain's service according to an ABC news article, stating "I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don't think so." Needless to say, Ms. Steinem has not strayed away from controversy and is sure to add to it with her recent comments.

Did Steinem have a point? Does the media treat men different from Woman? Is she generalizing the fact that the media is more critical of women than men? Will her comments backfire or help Clinton?

For the most part, I consider myself to be quite liberal and pro-feminist. However, I find Steinem's comments to be over the line. Degrading someone who was a P.O.W. and tortured is not in the lines of good taste. The biggest problem that I have with her comments is that it will backfire against Clinton and Democrats in general. When we look to the undecided voters, they are not feminists. This type of comment is something that will energize the feminists for Clinton, but it will also energize the military vote for McCain and hurt Hillary's credentials when it comes to the military. This is a problem because Democrats are already viewed as being weaker on defense and military issues. The fact that the comment was made in Texas, which has a lot of Military personnel, makes it even worse. Also, according to a New York Post article, the Clinton campaign quickly denounced the comments because they know it is going to come back and bite them in the butt. This goes to show that the Clinton campaign understand this will not help Hillary Clinton.

However, I think that she was trying to make a larger statement by attacking McCain's POW time. According to the New York Post article, she was using McCain's military service and mocking it to show that the media has a gender bias towards men and the fact that we glorify killing people. In an interview with the New York Observer, she stated "from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people." This point I get. Why is it that a good military leader means that you will be a good civilian leader? Some of the worst President's we have ever had were war hero's including Ulysses S. Grant.

On the gender issue I do see her point, to a certain degree. I do know that women are still climbing an uphill battle in a man's world. Whereas women make up 50% of our nation, their representation in our government is woefully inadequate. I think a good reason for this has to do with two things: 1) the fact that Hillary Clinton is the first major candidate for the Presidency we have ever had and 2) the fact that she is a very divisive person who has been in the public eye for almost 16 years now. In 2012, if there is another female who runs for President, they are not going to be criticized as much as Hillary has because she is the one breaking down that wall. This is always the case. The first person to break down any barriers, whether they are issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., they feel the heat the most. However, once that wall is broken down, the people who follow in their footsteps have it a lot easier.

Overall, I don't see this helping Clinton at all and in fact it could hurt her in the end. However, what I do like about this comment is that it does raise some serious questions. Does the media treat women differently? Do we as a society treat women differently and hold them to a higher standard then men? I think the answer is yes we do. Did Steinem have to mock McCain to get that point across? No, I think she could have brought up the issue without being so degrading. While it is not going to change how I vote, it might affect others in the end.

Niall Stanage, "Stumping for Clinton, Steinem says McCain's POW Cred is overrated"; New York Observer

Jake Tapper, "Clinton Surrogate Steinem Attacks McCain's War Record"; ABC News

Charles Hurt & Carl Campanile, "Steinem Mocks Mac's POW Ordeal"; New York Post