Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Life

Why Women Are Gaga for Hillary

There’s been a sea change in the way the public feels about Hillary Clinton since her run for president in 2008. Back then we had respect for Clinton and knew she is competent and trustworthy, but we didn’t deem her worthy of the same giddy excitement as her then-competitor President Obama.

Now, six years later, we are gaga for her. We LO-OVE Hillary. The Daily Beast has a story about Hillary super-fans, women who cover their cars or bodies with her face or spend their days tracking her every move on their blogs. They might be more expressive than others, but the nearly $6 million already raised by the “Ready for Hillary” Super PAC suggests they are not alone.

Writer David Freelander points out that Hillary-fever isn’t because of any bold policy program put forth by the potential candidate, but rather her personal story as a hard worker and, perhaps more importantly, a survivor. One fan called her Rocky Balboa. “She gets knocked down and gets right back up again, she keeps going and going. She taught me that if someone tells you you can’t do something, you get right up and prove that you can.”

So why the sudden widespread change of heart about Clinton?

The survivor narrative is a strong one, but it isn’t exactly new. Clinton has been through a lot for a long time, and in public too. But the difference between 2008 and now is that she is that didn’t just survive, she triumphed. She is no longer seen as a wonky walking pant suit, but a globe-trotting, glamour sunglasses-wearing, Lady Gaga dancing, bad ass.

Her story gives hope to women everywhere that we have another chapter to look forward to, the one that comes after the period during which we stepped aside for our husbands’ careers, and that chapter is our chance to shine. Basically, President Hillary means that women’s hard work can pay off too.

Also, a “Madam President” would be a much-needed literal and symbolic victory for women across the country who are fed up with the stalled gender revolution in the States. Even if history tells us that female heads-of-states don’t always lead to more women-friendly policies, we would at least be given reason to hope. And hope, as our current President Barack Obama showed us, can go a long way. Well at least during an election.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.