Thank God John McCain is running so that I have an old, white guy to vote for:
Four years ago, my college roommates and I saw Hillary Clinton speak. It was in Boston during the Democratic National Convention, and the four of us—all in our early 20s—swore that if she ever ran for president, we'd quit our jobs and work for her campaign. Speaking to an audience of all women, the former First Lady was poised but at ease, confident but lighthearted. She looked comfortable in front of all those women. Her strength was riveting. How quickly things change. Today, I'm a journalist (and no, I didn't quit my job to work for the Clinton campaign), Hillary is no longer the candidate of inspiration and each of those college friends—like nearly every other young person I know—has been sold on the Obama rock-star brand. Yet while the fear of betraying the "universal sisterhood" doesn't have the same impact for twentysomething women as it does for our second-wave feminist mothers, we remain conflicted about the candidate so many love to hate.
Ah, betraying the universal sisterhood. Those who like big government have, this time around, unified around their message. Because each of their two messengers preach the same message, their followers can worry about more esoteric things, such as whether having the first female candidate or the first African-American one is the better historic precedent. Change, right. Those of us who don't like big government are stuck with Mr. McCain, who does not always stay on message. The fact that he looks like me is not exactly a comfort.
