NYT: June 4, 2008
For Clinton’s Women Fans, Mourning and Anger
By Leslie Wayne
If there is any city where Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has a fan club, it is New York -– home of the well-paid and highly educated women who have been her backers and donors every political step of the way and who made up the base that helped get her elected junior senator from the state. So if Tuesday night was a bittersweet evening for Mrs. Clinton, it was even more so for these hard-core supporters, who came to cheer her on and pledge their fidelity, as Mrs. Clinton gave her final primary night speech at Baruch College in Manhattan and hedged on whether she would stay in the race.
But with reality bumping up against hope, many of these women left the event both proud of their candidate, yet deflated by the near-certain knowledge that she will not be her party’s nominee in the fall. While they enthusiastically applauded her fighting spirit and her determination to stay the course, they also knew that her campaign may be quixotic -– and some expressed painful disappointment.
For many of these women, it was not just a matter of politics, but of identity. Older, more affluent, and often business-minded, Mrs. Clinton’s live audience last night resembled a more mature version of the cast of “Sex and the City.” Still, while they may be wearing Donna Karan and look as if life has treated them well, many said her struggle to gain the nomination -– and the insults they believe Mrs. Clinton has endured along the way -– mirrors their own struggles in life and in the corporate world.
Two women, who asked not to be identified, sat in the bleachers behind Mrs. Clinton talking about how unfair the party has been to Mrs. Clinton. One worked on Wall Street and the other had lived in London and Hawaii. Both had given the maximum $4,600 to Mrs. Clinton’s effort and now, while they said they would support Mr. Obama, were not enthusiastic. “If McCain were pro-choice, I’d be thinking about voting for him,” said one of the women. And don’t even get these two started on Howard Dean and the powerful role played by the superdelegates and party elders in picking the Democratic nominee.
One thing was clear, these two donors did not go home and write checks for Mr. Obama.
Others said they are frozen in emotion....
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/for-clintons-women-fans-mourning-and-anger/