Decent people have decried anything that hints of racial overtones in the Clinton/Obama campaign. Anything that plays into racist stereotypes must be eschewed, and we need to be careful because we have a racist society with a history of inscribing various, negative attributes to African Americans.
That said, we have just as long a history of sexism, and sexism is just as deeply written into our culture and more deeply written into our language.
Obama’s recent statement, "I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she's feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal," smacked of sexist stereotyping. While I voted for Obama last month and will support the nominee regardless, if he continues in that vein, I will not volunteer for him (and I’ve done everything from Precinct Captain for countless campaigns to regional coordinator for MoveOn in Manhattan, to VIP coordinator for YearlyKos).
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