Friday, October 31, 2014

Obama Ramping Up on Women's Rights


Obama went to Rhode Island to deliver a speech regarding the inequality women face in their working lives. He tried to make the speech personal by citing the experiences his mother and grandmother faced while he was growing up. He also said since he was a father of 2 daughters that “this is personal." Then he transitioned into promoting his healthcare from the topic that single women who are working hard need good health care. He claimed that the bill will stay even though the republicans are trying to strike down the bill. In addition to all of the promoting he spoke alongside the democrat’s choice for running in Rhode Island for governor Gina Raimondo.


Do you think encouraging Women’s rights is a ploy to get the candidate selected?
Does it make the democratic party look more favorable?

Was Obama’s plug subtle?    

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Ploy: "a clever trick or plan that is used to get someone to do something or to gain an advantage over someone"

No, it really isn't a ploy. Democrats know their strengths and their demographics. This isn't some new trickery to bring a previously alienated demographic over to their side; this is just reinforcing their position on womens' right.

"Does it make them look more favorable?"
Yes, but in a way that serves to reinforce their own platform. It's not like this is new. Obama has been saying this stuff since before he was president.

"Was the plug subtle?"
From the article - "Though the speech was not billed as a campaign event, Raimondo joined Obama at Rhode Island College and endorsed the women-focused theme of his remarks."
No, but why would that matter in this case?

Jacob Huth said...

While demographically it is clear that women are more likely to vote Democratic, it makes sense that the Democratic party would focus on issues that effect a group of their supporters. I must agree with Ben in his answers to your questions. Certainly a moving speech from an important person will give legitimacy to this Gina Raimondo, however I don't think it's "just a ploy," it's pretty much standard politics as far as I can tell. As to Ben's question "why would the obvious plug matter?" I would attribute this to a general public perception of the candidate. Should this have been billed as a "campaign event" it could be seen as pandering to the female vote, when in fact this is and should be an issue that must be dealt with. While this is also relevant to a campaign, to do this outside, at least in my perception, would show a greater passion for this particular issue. From the original blog post, it would seem that the plug for health care would undermine the issue of women's rights which should be the focus of a speech on inequalities women face in the workplace. While I can't say that I find this shocking or particularly appalling, I would certainly appreciate a more genuine speech that doesn't try to tie in other issues, which I believe is what you were getting at in your question.

Kelsey O'Donnell said...

I definitely see what Ben is saying and I agree with Jacob that these two topics should have constituted two different speeches. I am first off very happy that Obama is ramping up on talking about the of corpse essential topic of women's rights. I am especially happy that he is taking such an approach that will hopefully increase male support by talking about his mother, grandmother, and daughters. By bringing in females that almost all males have in their lives, it, as he said, makes it more personal. I think that it's a little frustrating that Obama brought in his healthcare bill because I think the public is kind of tired of hearing about it. I understand that it's one of Obamas biggest issues and has partially defined his presidency. That being said, like Jacob said I think it could have been a whole other speech. I do think that having the democratic candidate for governor there was an attempt to help the campaign but he's a democratic president so it's clear why he would support her because sadly our country is very party-oriented.

Alex Medwid said...

I think that supporting women's rights in speeches and implementing the according policy are two very different things. If the Democrats speak about women's rights but fail to implement legislation to promote them, I would call that a ploy rather than merely appealing to a demographic.

However, Obama spoke on various policy changes he wished to make in order to promote gender equality (parental leave, day care, etc). This seems more like being appealing to the female demographic than like a ploy.

Obama's plug wasn't subtle but I don't think it really matters. Members of the same party support each other, and Obama's comments amounted to "if you like the pro-equality policy I've suggested, vote for her to get it enacted". Thus I think the plug isn't subtle but it's still acceptable.