Hillary and Bill Clinton were present at the creation of the Democratic Leadership Council, which showed how to beat Republicans at the game they had perfected, the politics of populist plutocracy convincing common people that a government run by money could work for them. That required a “red shift” to the supposed national center, counterproductively close to the Republican right and the techniques for milking the corporate cow.

After Howard Dean’s positive test, Barack Obama decided to cultivate grass roots in every state. That allowed him to limit indebtedness to the corporate plutocracy that is strangling our democracy. He will need continuous pressure to persist in that course, but it’s a start.

Some Clinton supporters felt more comfortable with her ability to work the system from within. But corporate plutocracy is patriarchy with deep pockets. Besides sexism, it supports, for example, a Federal Reserve that privileges capital over labor (where most women live); the private health care insurance sector (where most women can’t afford to participate, especially when they’re old); and a short-sighted, profit-dominated globalism favoring the thriving military-industrial complex that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against.

Obama’s success strikes at the hierarchical heart of patriarchal politics. Clinton’s financial and managerial dependence on plutocracy’s practitioners limits her ability to oppose many partners of patriarchy.

There’s a consolation for Clinton’s crew: Obama’s election will enhance the prospects for feminists to base their political careers on more democratic, grass-roots support.

Sue Salm

Blue Hill