What makes you think I’m anyone’s ‘natural constituent’?

The talking heads at MSNBC were just talking, for the umpteenth time, about Hillary’s “natural constituency,” women, and how she needs them (us) to rally to her if she’s to win Texas and Ohio.

Can you hear me, MSNBC? I am a white woman. I’m just four years older than Hillary. I marched arm-in-arm with the feminists. I’ve been a soccer mom, a working mom, a stay-at-home mom. I was born in the Midwest, raised in the Southwest, and have lived in the Northeast and South. I’ve been single, married, and divorced. I’m a middle-class homeowner on Social Security, and I’ll soon be on Medicare. I believe education is the one thing that could solve all the world’s ills. I’m a registered Independent voter.

Now, which of these things suggests to you that I’m any more a part of Hillary’s “natural constituency” than anyone else’s? Yes, I am qualified to be in a “natural constituency” of women, but I could also be a part of McCain’s “natural constituency” of old white folks.

I may be jumping to conclusions, but I suspect I’m not the only woman who resents your pigeonholing. We are not just women. We are young, old, white, black, brown, college-educated, illiterate, natural-born, immigrant, professional, unemployed, poor, rich, and everything in between. Some of us are even Republicans (gasp!).

To MSNBC and your mainstream media colleagues (and the Clinton campaign, for that matter): You go on and on about women being Hillary’s “natural constituency.” That’s a really narrow-minded sexist attitude. You don’t speak of blacks being a natural constituency for Obama (that would be racist), or old white men being a natural constituency for McCain (that would be ageist, sexist, and racist). Why is it okay for you to perpetuate one inaccurate stereotype/generalization (sexism), while you tiptoe around others (racism, ageism)?

Maybe you just have too much time on your hands. I miss the good old days when newspapers had to carefully consider whether a story or opinion was worth the ink and space required to publish it, and when the three existing TV networks had to weigh what was worthy of a precious 60 seconds on the evening news. Today’s 24-hour news networks and Internet news media have way too much time and virtual space to fill, and too often they do it with fluff, endless commentary, and ongoing tales of “natural constituencies.”

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