At Monday’s MSNBC-hosted town hall event, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said she would strive to make her hypothetical administration “look like America.”
Clinton was asked by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow whether the former secretary of state would follow in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s footsteps and pledge to make her Cabinet 50 percent women.
There is some irony in asking a potential female president to take directions from the male head of a country and trying to push it as feminism.
But anyway, Clinton responded by saying: “Well, I am going to have a Cabinet that looks like America, and 50 percent of America is women, right?”
The audience applauded. But did they think about her statement? (I’m thinking no.) If Clinton wants a Cabinet that “looks like America,” she is going to have to institute a lot more quotas than just sex.
I highly doubt that she plans equal representation for the 41 percent of Americans identify as Republican or Republican-leaning. Thirteen percent of Americans are black. Will Clinton make sure 13 percent of her Cabinet is black?
One percent of Americans are American Indian or Alaska Native. Will Clinton make sure one percent of her Cabinet is American Indian or Native Alaskan? Is that even possible?
Seventeen percent of Americans are Hispanic. Will Clinton make sure 17 percent of her Cabinet is Hispanic?
Five percent of Americans are Asian. Will Clinton make sure 5 percent of her Cabinet is Asian?
Eight percent of Americans under 65 have a disability. Will Clinton make sure 8 percent of her Cabinet is disabled?
Twenty percent of Americans are Catholic. Will Clinton make sure 20 percent of her Cabinet is Catholic?
Twenty-two percent of Americans are unaffiliated with any religion. Will Clinton make sure 22 percent of her Cabinet is unaffiliated with any religion?
Nearly 6 percent of Americans follow a non-Christian faith, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and others (maybe Scientology?) Will Clinton make sure 6 percent of her Cabinet represents these religions?
Nearly 70 percent of Americans don’t have a college degree. Will 70 percent of Clinton’s Cabinet not have a college degree?
If Clinton really wants to go down this route (she can’t leave out races or members of the LGBT community now can she?) she’s probably going to have to double up on some of these categories, because a typical presidential Cabinet only has 16 positions, and additional Cabinet-level positions. That’s a lot of statistics to fit into a couple handfuls of people.
I’m not sure where she’s going to find a disabled transgender Native-American Buddhist, though.
This is why committing to such a quota is absurd — because you can’t stop at just one group. If you’re going to create quotas for women, why not quotas for races, religions, levels of income and education or sexual identity?
Of course, it doesn’t matter. Clinton got her applause line from the people who are already supporting her no matter what. I don’t expect to see any genuine calls for her to include more quotas in her Cabinet.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
