While still only a faint glimmer in the distance to the majority of Americans, the 2016 election cycle is steadily weaving itself into the motives of those in Washington. Even those who are merely toying with the idea of a 2016 run are beginning to adjust their behavior in accordance.
Be it slowly adopting a hands-off approach to hot button issues as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is doing on immigration, or Hillary Clinton embarking on a speech-giving frenzy in recent weeks, the election is in the air.
The names and demographics found on ballots at the state and federal levels make a bold statement about American societal and gender roles. They also pose a tempting method of easy overcompensation and pacification of today’s “anything goes” societal atmosphere. How easy to console oneself with, “I can’t be close-minded, I voted for a woman.” Alas, you can, and if you vote for a candidate based off of something other than their policy, you most likely are.
As seen in the past two presidential elections, an unfortunate many voted for Obama simply because they felt America was ready for a black president. Let us not be so hasty this go round to toss things like qualifications and policy out the window in an attempt to show the world how developed American society has become. We may now be ready for a woman in the White House, but the entirety of the ideal of gender equality is in the word equality. Not bias or pandering, but treating both genders with the same standards.
Hillary Clinton may be twice as qualified to be the leader of the Free World as the current occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but she has some very real disqualifying qualities. The largest smear on Clinton’s record is in her mishandling and attempted cover-up of Benghazi. Four Americans were killed in that travesty of foreign policy and security, and when brought to testify on it before Congress all Clinton could do was shriek, “What does it matter?”
Well Hillary, it sure matters a lot to the families of the four men who came home in coffins, draped under the flag you took an oath to serve. Also adding relevancy to the scandal is the fact that U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was physically dragged out of a U.S. embassy and beaten by an angry mob who proceeded to drag his body through the streets of Benghazi once they had murdered him. That matters just as much as the administration sending Susan Rice out on a spree of Sunday talk shows with rhetoric that was blatantly false, in an attempt to cover up their idiocy in handling the attack.
The most tragic aspect of the disgrace that is Benghazi is that it was foreseeable and preventable. The responsibility for the incident and subsequent cover-up lands squarely on the shoulders of then Secretary of State Clinton. Please, let us not fall prey to the theatrical antics Clinton has polished over her decades spent in political theater. Benghazi matters, and it matters a lot.
If the GOP is to have any hope of defeating such a stalwart Democratic figure as Clinton, even with Benghazi on her record, they must learn from their fumbles with the last two campaigns. The absence of a clear GOP front-runner at this time is not as foreboding a sign as some would like to think. The longer a candidate is considered, the more scrutiny they receive. Until a viable list of potential candidates can be formed, Republicans must focus on not alienating the female demographic that is set to play an even larger role in this election than it did in the last.
Now is the time for the Republicans to cease with antics such as the pins offered up at the California Republican Party Convention recently which read, “KFC, Hillary Special, 2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts … Left Wing.” This type of blatant objectification and sexism is unfortunately amusing to fractions on both sides of aisle. Let us not forget how Palin was and is treated by the Left stemming from her run for VP alongside McCain. However, for a party like the GOP that is already struggling with the female demographic, this type of behavior will only drive voters towards Clinton and for all the wrong reasons.
The 2016 election cycle is gearing up whether American voters are cognizant of it or not. It is imperative for the success of the United States that voters analyze potential candidates not for their gender, race or how good they would look in the Oval Office. Qualities like character, merit of record, ideology and policy platform must take precedence over any others for voters. Let us not elect a president because the country is ready for leadership by whatever demographic they represent, but because the candidate is ready.
Whitney Greer is a sophomore English major from Medford, Ore.