The Compass

Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Opinion

Losing my voting virginity felt so good as I exercised my right to elect the next president of the United States, or at least get them half-way there, for the first time. The exit pollster was eager to inform me that Barack Obama was leading votes all across the board, as I left the Suwanee voting precinct. Apparently, citizens in Suwanee shared a similar preference with the rest of Georgia as Barack beat out "Billary" Clinton by a landslide. I was curious to know if Georgians voted for Barack because he's the better Democratic candidate or if gender is a factor. Most of the young women I've talked with agreed that a woman simply isn't ready to be president, or women are too emotional for such a duty.

Comments such as these make me wonder if women are setting themselves back a few decades by mentioning this. Since the Women's Suffrage movement of the 1820's, women have been striving to let men know they are capable of anything. So by women implying Hillary can't handle the job simply because she is a woman, is it fair to say women can't handle being the president of a multi-billion dollar company or a successful entrepreneur?

On the other end of the political spectrum, Georgia showed favoritism towards the "good ole' boy" Mike Huckabee. It's pretty safe to say that Georgia Republicans approve of Huckabee for his Southern Baptist morals and down home, fun personality. I wonder if the majority of Georgia Republicans were bias towards Mitt Romney, a man of the Mormon faith. After all, Romney did pledge to boost the economy in the south through the textile industry. John McCain, on the other hand, apparently isn't conservative enough for most Republicans. Ironically, McCain has been far ahead of all the Republicans candidates, even while lacking "true conservative" morals.

With Romney dropping out, conservative Republicans might turn their interest quickly to Huckabee. I highly doubt this will impact the McCain campaign, but I suppose it's worth a shot.

By November, we'll probably be looking at the match up of John McCain versus Clinton or Obama. It's obvious that Republicans want to go face to face with Hillary rather than Barack; however, who's to say Hillary's campaign will eradicate at this point of the election. If anything, Republicans should fear Hillary being nominated by November, considering the Clintons have great experience on the campaign trail, much more than McCain.

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