Nice-girl politics

Rachel Fullmer,\nIt’s funny to me that, although every single article written by Chase Cooper has made me consider writing, it is yours that made me finally do it (Mean Girl Politics, Jan. 15). I feel an obligation to inform you that there are plenty of young, politically inclined, nice-girl Democrats who do not prefer Hillary Clinton for perfectly logical reasons. First of all, I believe that she would be a lot more conservative than she is currently claiming on issues such as the Iraq War, and I doubt her dedication to advancing equal rights for GLBT citizens and making serious changes in our system of capital punishment. She is distinctly different from Barack Obama in her calculated, politically savvy approach to her campaign and positions. Obama seeks to unite partisan politics, while Hillary tends to divide. Her method of listing off issues and promises is unconvincing, and that is as straightforward as I can be. I have followed her campaign and all others since May, and I resent your proposed notion that all women (including myself) who will choose not to vote for her in May are both resisting the election of a female and doing so on trivial matters. If Hillary wins the nomination, I will most likely vote for her, but I have excellent and intelligent reasons for strongly preferring Obama over her.\nYour harsh and self-righteous position, that any woman who doesn’t share your fervor for Clinton must be an unintelligent “mean girl,” is insulting to an equality-loving feminist. I can admit that my candidate has flaws; maybe you should consider that notion as well.