Letter to Marie

On the heels of my last post I decided to send an email to the author of the column I was responding to. It reads as follows:

Ms. Cocco,

A few points:

* Sarah Palin was the VP candidate. People don't vote for VP candidates. She did not suffer from being a woman, she suffered from being on the same ticket as John McCain in a heavily Democratic year.

* Hillary Clinton did not lose because she was a woman. If she suffered any type of discrimination it was for the color of her skin, with black primary voters -- a sizable Democratic constituency -- voting for her opponent at margins of 90+ percent. In 2000 she was elected to a statewide office against a man despite not even being from the state and won fairly easily. Not the sign of a glass ceiling for her.

* You complain that Clinton as SecState would be nothing extraordinary, but isn't that a GOOD thing? Women have come so far that cabinet position appointments are now routine. I am amazed that you take such a positive development and make it seem negative.

* Women have been elected as governors, congressman, senators, and have served as both supreme court justices and cabinet appointees. Is the new measuring stick that a glass ceiling remains in place until a woman is elected president? Should every demographic group think of themselves as victims until they reach the nation's highest office?

* If the failure to be elected in numbers reflecting their percentage of the population is indicative of discrimination, are then we also to assume that their over-representation on college campuses is a sign of discrimination against men? Or does the discrimination only go in one direction?

* Is it possible that women's comparatively smaller numbers in politics are more a result of their frequent desire to stay home and raise children rather than seek political careers? Is that not at all reasonable? Or is the glass ceiling and discrimination the only possible answer? If so, why?

Thank you for your consideration of this email.

Regards,

Colin

She responded in quick fashion with the following:

Thanks for your note. We have a thoroughly different perspective, as you obviously are aware.

Marie Cocco
Syndicated Columnist
Washington Post Writers Group

Not exactly a point-by-point refutation, but I applaud her willingness to read what I wrote.