The weekend buzz was Hillary Clinton’s speech suspending her campaign and endorsing Obama. But many of her supporters–particularly older, feminist women–are “devastated and angry,” according to ABC News. Hillary thus “made gender a central theme of her concession speech”:
Bloggers on the right didn’t care for Hillary’s “feminist wake,” as Jennifer Rubin calls it. Power Line’s Paul Mirengoff says, “While Clinton talked about a glass ceiling, the reality is that initiallly the race was hers to win. If there are identity barriers associated with obtaining the Democratic nomination for president, the one Obama faced is at least as formidable as the one Clinton complains about.” I’m with Townhall’s Amanda Carpenter, who says, “The end of the speech made it seem like all women owed her something for being the first female to run for president. Like us girls would never be successful if it hadn’t been for her.” And Hot Air’s Allahpundit adds, “Yup, she’s really pouring on the grrrrrl power near the end here.” American Spectator’s James Antle says, “Clinton alternated between celebrating her best shot at the presidential ‘glass ceiling’ and trying to persuade these women that the causes they believed in would best be advanced by electing Obama.” Michelle Malkin asks, “Can the PUMAs and the Bitter Wimmin Brigade be tamed and appeased?” At Contentions, Jennifer Rubin concludes, “Hillary can’t deliver these people. Her mere presence is a reminder that Obama did her wrong.” Many on the left are gushing over what Taylor Marsh calls the “best speech of Senator Hillary Clinton’s political career.” Bob Ostertag writes at the Huffington Post, for example, “She spoke as the worthy spokeswoman for gender equality. She radiated confidence and appeal. She called us to our better selves. She made us believe that we could move past the divisions that have hobbled us.” But, as The Corner’s Kathryn Lopez reminds us, “The only thing worse than Clintonism may be what replaces it.”
