Politics

No, Ladies, You Don’t Have To Vote For Hillary

Joshua Delk Contributor
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Activist and author Maegan Carberry came on the Matt Lewis & The News podcast Thursday to answer a question both Republicans and Democrats are asking: Do I have to vote for Hillary Clinton?

In her witty new novel of the same title, Carberry answers this question, and reflects on her statement that “when I was 12 in 1992 I thought the day I could vote for Hillary to be president would be the happiest moment of my life.” This is not the case any more for her. Carberry and Matt get to the bottom of what went wrong, and the problems Hillary poses to women voters and all Democrats.

Following the life of fictional journalist Amy Underwood and her boss Penny Powers, who may or not be partially based on media mogul Arianna Huffington, the novel reflects Carberry’s evolving thoughts about the state of the media and the social political environment. But why a novel? Carberry wrestled with the idea of doing non-fiction. “I don’t get to have the kind of respectful, challenging, and nuanced conversations I want to about this country very often. I wanted to have a chance to do something long-form and thoughtful that wouldn’t be boring,” she said.

Gunning at the big question, Matt asked: “Are women obligated to vote for Hillary?” Carberry’s answer was a resounding ‘no.’ “I think there’s a tremendous value to seeing someone in different levels of society,” she said. “But one person doesn’t represent the diversity of a demographic. There are so many kinds of women. Although feminism is largely a white, liberal construction at the policy level, I don’t think Hillary represents all the women of America. The sad thing is that Trump has taken away the ability to effectively critique her.”

The new book is available for pre-order online and Maegan is on Twitter @maegancarberry.

Stream the full podcast here and catch up on the Matt Lewis & The News podcast on iTunes.