You knew it would happen eventually. Somebody was bound to throw a bucket of water on the bonfire of enthusiasm generated by Kamala Harris’ emergence as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. This time it was a YouGov poll, which according to The Hill, found:
While the respondents said that both Trump and Harris are equally qualified for the job, with 49 percent saying they are, voters are hesitant about the idea of a female president — 54 percent of the country says they are ready for a woman president and 30 percent said they aren’t.
That number is down from 2015, when an Economist/YouGov poll found 63 percent of voters were ready for a woman president.
So far the heavyweight matchup on November 5th is being promoted as “the Prosecutor versus the Felon,” monikers which do not identify the contestants by gender. After all, both men and women are attorneys and criminals. For every Johnny Corcoran there is a Marcia Clark. And for every Clyde Barrow there is a Bonnie Parker.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton deemphasized the historic possibility of the first FEMALE president, and how did that turn out? When MAGAworld declared Harris to be a DEI hire, she embraced both her gender and mixed racial background. In fact, she dared the opposition to keep it up. “Bring it on,” she demanded.
As you know, I believe the 2024 Democratic ticket should be all-female, and I laugh when people suggest voters would not accept that option. Why? Since ratification of the 12th Amendment on June 15, 1804, there have been 55 elections where the president and vice-president ran together. That means there were at least 110 pairings, not counting third parties, in which 106 of the tickets were all-male. I do not remember any complaints about those first 180 years of all-BRO tickets before Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.
There may be, however, a better reason to think about what America has missed without a woman sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. To fully grasp the difference two female hands on the helm of the ship of state could make, instead of a courtroom analogy, I suggest we draw on classical Greek mythology. When you think about the contenders in November, it strikes me as a rematch between Athena and Ares, those half-siblings, who faced each other on opposite sides of the Trojan War.
One need only review the descriptions provided by the website “Greek Mythology Tours” to understand why Ares and Athena are worthy avatars for Trump and Harris, respectively.
Ares is the Greek god of war or rather the representation of the unpleasant aspects of war. These are violence, and one might even say blood-lust. He is almost opposite to his sister Athena, who is represented as logical and strategic. Born the son of Zeus and Hera he was said to be hated by both his mother and father. Ares was also unpopular with the other gods and people. Apart from Aphrodite that is, with whom he had an affair and numerous children.
Athena was depicted as a beautiful, yet stern Goddess in Greek mythology. She could be best described as being calculating – weighing up all the options before making a decision. As such, Athena was revered for her wisdom and unmatched intelligence, especially when it came to matters of war or even peace. This was because unlike many of the other Olympian Gods, who were temperamental at the best of times, she made rational decisions and could also be a good broker of the peace.
Describing American values in ancient mythological terms is not new. What is more representative of the American ideal than the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor and the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol? Both are women.
According to the National Park Service, “classical images of Liberty are often depicted in a female form. The Statue of Liberty was modeled after the Roman Goddess of Liberty, Libertas.” “Lady Freedom,” the 19.5 foot sculpture which adorns the the Capitol dome was designer Thomas Crawford’s third iteration after then U.S. Secretary of War (drum roll) Jefferson Davis, opposed the first two versions because the figure wore a “liberty cap,” a symbol of defiance originally associated with ancient Greek and Roman slaves. Slaveowner and future president of the Confederacy Davis wrote then superintendent of Capitol construction Captain Montgomery Meigs, “History renders [the liberty cap] inappropriate to a people who were born free and would not be enslaved.” (Source: Senate Historical Office) What would have been appropriate was for Davis to replace the phrase “a people” with “people of European ancestry like me.” Crawford compromised, replacing the liberty cap with a helmet similar to one worn by Athena in Rembrandt’s 1657 portrait “Pallas Athena.” Crawford justified his choice by claiming it symbolized not war, put peace through strength.
Since “Lady Freedom” was unveiled on December 2, 1863, and the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York on June 15, 1888, these two women have been a visual representation of ideals that are central to the American experience. November 5, 2024 seems like the perfect time to give “liberty” and “freedom” a female voice.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP