Judge them on the content of their character

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2016/02/16/judge-them-on-the-content-of-their-character/

You’ve heard the hype: Democrats have a lock on social justice. When it comes to including marginalized members of our society and advancing racial minorities and women, theirs is the party of inclusion.

Don’t believe it.

If you need proof, look around. The Democrat debate stage couldn’t get more wrinkly or white. Clinton is an establishment candidate. So was Martin O’Malley. Evan Sanders, a lifelong politician, is in many ways establishment.

While the Dems talk the talk, it’s the Republicans that walk the walk, sometimes in remarkably flashy boots.

This election cycle, our options included Carly Fiorina – a strong business leader who energized young women in a way Hillary can’t manage. Ben Carson, the black brain surgeon raised by a single mother in Detroit, may not win the presidency, but he has been an inspiration to many. And Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are duking it out for second place just now. Both, no matter what you might hear from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, are Hispanic.

I’m going to cut Matthews some slack for attempting to erase Cruz and Rubio’s ethnic heritage. So much of this year’s identity politics doesn’t fit the liberal narrative, and the media are confused. ABC cut Fiorina out of the pre-New Hampshire Republican debate, despite her having won the same number of delegates in Iowa as two white guys, Christie and Kasich, and one more than Bush. Yes, the three men were allowed to join the forum.

Then again, the establishment is often dismissive of smart women.

Just a few weeks ago, an old liberal poet, Eileen Myles, was propped up to talk politics in The New York Times Magazine, recognized mouthpiece of the liberal establishment. When asked about Carly Fiorina’s candidacy (Myles ran for president in 1992, calling herself the first openly female candidate, whatever that means), Myles said, “She is sort of a joke candidate.”

It seems dismissing the accomplishments of a notable woman is okay if you’re an old liberal and the dismissee isn’t.

On Bill Maher’s show, 81-year-old feminist and Clinton activist Gloria Steinem explained away Hillary’s inability to connect with younger women by saying, “when you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys?’ The boys are with Bernie.” Apparently, in Steinem’s world, young women don’t actually use their brains when they are hunting mates.

And then there was former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who last week relegated to hell any woman who wants to be free to choose a candidate other than Hillary.

The insistence of aging feminists on gender-based ideological rigidity is so offensive, especially considering gender diversity is all the game the party of Roosevelt has got. Not so with the Republicans.

Yes, this year, Republican party is proving to be the party of inclusion. Even here in the Bay State.

In a trio of quiet special elections determining candidates for state representative, Democrats nominated nothing but white, baby-booming men.

In the Brockton Democrat primary, Gerry Cassidy beat out a pair of women, both City Councilors, both women of color. Sadly, no Republican candidate offered herself up in the contest, so Cassidy will walk through the general election March 1 unopposed.

In Fitchburg, Republican voters chose Dean Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant who serves as the City Council chairman. Tran is the first person of color ever elected from either party citywide in Fitchburg. He’ll face Stephan Hay, also a city councilor, also a middle-aged white man.

In Peabody, Republican primary voters were offered a choice between two young, politically experienced women. Stephanie Peach won that tough battle. Now, she faces yet another baby-boomer guy, Tom Walsh. Walsh has served before, but after serving himself a few too many times at the table of the special interests, he left politics under a cloud of ethics violations.

Peach and Tran won’t seek votes from identity politics. Both would rather be judged on the content of their character, and neither believes their identities are as important as solid conservative philosophy.

The Republican party’s message of equality and freedom for everyone is, conversely, empowering.

The times they are a-changing. And I am encouraged by the diversity of candidates and of ideas coming from the Republican party at every level of government.

Wendy Darwin Wakeman is resident of North Andover and board member of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. Read her past columns here.