Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OTHER VIEWS
Oregon’s veterans
continue to serve
V
eterans Day is one day
volunteer Long Term Care
to honor the service and
Ombudsman. He was recently
sacri¿ce of all who have
recognized for his advocacy
raised their right hand, worn the
for our aging veterans at the
uniform, defended our freedom,
Oregon Veterans’ Home in
and stood guard over our peace.
The Dalles and other skilled
Across our 70-year history,
nursing facilities, receiving the
the Oregon Department of
Governor’s Volunteer Award in
Veterans’ Affairs has witnessed
Cameron October.
generations of service members
A recent appointment to
Smith
returning home and then using
ODVA’s Advisory Committee,
Comment
their hard-earned leadership skills
Kim Douthit, is a Coast Guard
and experience to signi¿cantly
veteran and continues to serve
contribute to our communities.
student veterans in her role as a veterans’
What many citizens may not know
coordinator at Portland Community
is that one out of every 12 Oregonians
College. She is a leader for both our
is a veteran. While our veterans gain
fastest growing demographic, women
great strength from their service, it
veterans, and for all veterans across
is not surprising that many can face
Oregon.
challenges as they reintegrate home. For
While our focus is on our veterans,
those impacted by their service, we must
we also must remember the service and
understand their tenacious spirit and
sacri¿ce of our military and veteran
resiliency. They deserve nothing less than families.
the best in care, resources and support.
Judi Van Cleave of Portland was
There is never a doubt, though, that
elected as the National President of Gold
our learned resilience, idealistic pride,
Star Wives of America. Her late husband
and unwavering dedication to our
was a disabled Korean War veteran.
families, community and each other is
Judi’s signi¿cant service for two decades
stronger because we served in uniform.
with Gold Star Wives of America
Take the recent examples of young
continues to honor our fallen and their
returning veterans from Oregon like Alek families.
Skarlatos and Chris Mintz. Alek captured
Across our team at the Oregon
international headlines for thwarting a
Department of Veterans’ Affairs, many of
terrorist attack while traveling in France
us are veterans and family members, and
after his deployment in Afghanistan with we continue to be inspired by our current
the Oregon Army National Guard.
service members, veterans and their
Similarly, Chris Mintz, an Army
families. We are honored and privileged
veteran, also chose to run toward
to serve them — not just on Veterans’
chaos on the Umpqua Community
Day, but throughout the year. It is their
College campus to help protect fellow
individual stories that make up the
students. He was shot multiple times and incredible fabric of our community.
thankfully continues to recover for his
No matter the branch of service, no
young family and community.
matter the era, no matter who we are or
These stories have made the national
where we live, we stand proudly together.
news, but our local veterans’ community
We are Oregon veterans.
is ¿lled with everyday examples of
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inspiring continued service. Bill Grif¿th
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is a former Navy Corpsman who served
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in Vietnam and is continuing to serve
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his fellow veterans as an award-winning
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Walla Walla VA Medical Center
provides care for all veterans
By BRIAN WESTFIELD
Walla Walla VA Medical Center
O
n Veterans Day, the nation pauses
to recognize and honor all men and
women who took up arms in defense of
America. Our nation owes
veterans a debt of gratitude
that can never be repaid.
It’s our duty — and not
just on Veterans Day — to
remember the sacri¿ces
they’ve made and to
ensure our commitments
to them and their families
are honored. That duty is
important to those of us
privileged to serve veterans at
VA and at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center
(VAWW).
There have been many changes at the
local Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the
last ten years. In 2004, there was a threat that
VAWW would discontinue providing care to
the area veterans, followed by closure of the
inpatient service, urgent/emergent care unit,
and long term care beds in 2008. However,
it positioned the facility to be more aligned
with the transformative delivery model in the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 1995, VA saw a transition from a
hospital-based to a primary/ambulatory care
driven system. Being able to provide access
to VA services through multiple community
based clinics and programs provided new
opportunities for service to veterans. Locally,
these opportunities are evident on the site of
the old Fort Walla Walla with construction
of new medical care buildings to care for
veterans, the renovation of the historic
Of¿cers’ 4uarters by Catholic Charities to
create housing for homeless veterans, and
construction of an 80-bed State Veterans
Home by WA Department
of Veterans Affairs. These
community partnerships to
serve veterans are now being
further perpetuated by recent
legislation allowing veterans
to receive more care in the
local community.
Legislation passed in
Congress and signed into
law by the President last
year, known as “Veteran’s
Choice,” has allowed many veterans to receive
more services closer to their homes in their
local community. VAWW staff is working
diligently to make this a more ef¿cient and
satisfying for the veterans. We hope these
community partnerships will continue to grow
as we join forces to meet the needs of veterans.
In 1865, President Lincoln directed us to
care for those “who shall have borne the battle,”
and for their families and their survivors.
Today — more than 150 years later — our
commitment to that most noble mission
remains vibrant and palpable at VA. VAWW
thanks all veterans for their service and sacri¿ce
— may we never forget that freedom is not
free.
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It’s our duty
to ensure our
commitments
to veterans are
honored.
OTHER VIEWS
Hillary in history: What a woman must do to win
I
t’s of¿cially one year until
down by all her battles.
the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Beecher’s
Amazing how time
parish raised his salary to
Àies, isn’t it" Once again
$100,000 a year, and he got
we’re watching debates
an endorsement deal with
featuring what appears to
Pears soap. (“If Cleanliness
be the entire supporting cast
is next to Godliness, Soap
of “Ben-Hur.” Once again
must be considered as a
we’re asking ourselves why
Means of Grace.”)
Gail
Iowa always gets to be ¿rst.
Woodhull was followed
Collins
Once again we’re wondering
by a longish list of other
Comment
whether Hillary Clinton will
women who ran for
make history by becoming
president as third-party or
the ¿rst woman president.
protest candidates. Many of them
“It’s hard to believe there’s
were lovely people, but we’re not
another year,” Clinton said in
going down a path that would
a phone interview, taking the
force us to discuss the fact that the
glass-half-empty perspective.
comedian Gracie Allen ran in 1940
She was on her way to the airport
on the Surprise Party ticket. Or that
during a fundraising swing through
Georgiana Doerschuck ran for the
California, broken up by an
Republican nomination in New
appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s
Hampshire in 1996 on an anti-
late-night show. Her formula for
technology platform, promising that
making it through another 12
if elected, she would immediately
months, she said cheerfully, was
issue an executive order banning
pretty simple: “We’re just getting up all computers. Her campaign was
every morning. Step by step.”
particularly notable given the fact
“It’ll be a long slog,” she added
that Doerschuck was a desktop
with what I believe the entire nation publisher. But really, we’re not
understands is total accuracy. “But
going there.
it’s more fun this time because I feel
We do have to talk about
like we’re doing better.”
Margaret Chase Smith, the ¿rst
We’ve all been here before — a
woman to have her name placed
Hillary campaign and the ¿rst-
in nomination at the convention of
woman-president possibilities it
a major party. “The ¿rst woman
entails. In a way it’s so familiar that
in politics I was aware of was
it’s hard to remember that the whole Margaret Chase Smith,” Clinton
idea of a major female presidential
recalled. “I can remember opening
candidate is new.
up Life magazine and reading about
Clinton is the only woman who’s this woman who was in the United
ever won a presidential primary.
States Senate. I had no idea there
The only others who ever featured
was such a woman.”
as even remote factors were the
Well, there certainly weren’t a
Republican Margaret Chase Smith
whole lot. Smith, who spent much
in 1964, and the Democrat Shirley
of the 1950s and 1960s as the only
Chisholm, who got 152 delegates
woman in the Senate, was the ¿rst
in 1972.
senator with enough guts to stand up
When we look back at our
to Joseph McCarthy and his witch
women-running-for-president
hunt. Her courage made such an
history, we always have to start with impression that some Republicans
Victoria Woodhull, who was the
talked about Smith as a possible
candidate of the Equal Rights Party
vice presidential nominee in 1952.
in 1872. Woodhull still holds what
But the party leaders thought a
may be the record for unsuccessful
much sounder choice would be
outcomes — she spent Election
Richard Nixon.
Day in jail after federal marshals
Finally, in 1964, Smith tried
arrested her on charges of publishing running for president herself, and
an obscene newspaper. This all
she did make it through three
had to do with Woodhull’s attempt
primaries. She campaigned only on
to demonstrate the nation’s sexual
weekends, a home-state newspaper
double standard by publicizing
reported, so “she would not break
an adulterous affair the famous
her record of never missing a Senate
preacher Henry Ward Beecher was
roll call since 1955.” Imagine
allegedly having with a parishioner.
living in a world so quaint that
She eventually left the country, worn a presidential candidate cares
about a perfect attendance record.
And speaking of heartbreakingly
old-fashioned, the paper also noted
that Smith’s “whole campaign cost
$355.”
Smith made history, but she
didn’t make any real dent in the
election. Most people didn’t seem to
take her very seriously, and it didn’t
help that her signature campaign
tactic was passing out muf¿n
recipes. The Republicans, in the
end, nominated Barry Goldwater.
The Democrats’ ¿rst big moment
came in 1972 when
Shirley Chisholm ran
for the presidential
nomination.
Chisholm, an
African-American,
would have been a
double historic ¿rst.
But her party was
in no way ready
to make symbolic
gestures. They
needed a winner! So
they nominated George McGovern.
Notice a pattern here"
While Carly Fiorina hasn’t been
doing very well on the Republican
side, she is their ¿rst serious female
presidential candidate since — umm
— Michele Bachmann" Let’s do
the party a favor and say Elizabeth
Dole, who ran brieÀy in 2000. Dole
had been a Cabinet of¿cial twice
and ran the American Red Cross.
While she was pretty clearly not
going to beat George W. Bush for
the nomination, many people did
think she’d be picked for the vice
presidential slot. Instead, Bush
chose Dick Cheney.
Yes, one of the running subtexts
in this story is really, they couldn’t
have done worse. Another is that
when it comes to women winning
political of¿ce, there’s a long line of
wives in the cast of characters. Dole
is married to the former presidential
candidate Bob Dole.
The ¿rst woman governor,
Nellie Tayloe Ross, won a special
election in Wyoming to succeed her
husband in 1925. The ¿rst female
senator was Hattie Wyatt Caraway
of Arkansas, who was initially
appointed to succeed her husband.
Debbie Walsh of the Center for
American Women and Politics
says 25 of the ¿rst 60 women to
win congressional elections were
widows who ¿lled their husbands’
seats.
Clinton’s historical heroine is
Eleanor Roosevelt, the ultimate
example of a wife who achieves
enormous political power without
ever becoming a candidate herself.
When the question of whether
Hillary would have risen to
presidential status if she hadn’t
been married to Bill comes up, her
fans tend to argue that if she hadn’t
gotten married at all, she’d probably
have gotten to the same place
quicker on her own.
“I’ve heard that,” Clinton said.
“Who knows" Life is
so unpredictable.”
Another rule for
women running for
high of¿ce is that
they have to give the
appearance of being
very, very quali¿ed.
That would seem
to be a given, but it
doesn’t necessarily
work the same for
both genders. The
pollster Celinda Lake says that
voters expect female candidates to
prove they’re up to the job, while
they’re more likely to assume the
men are quali¿ed just because
they’re on the ballot.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons
— besides family responsibilities
— that women tend to wait longer
before they run for of¿ce. Even
now, Debbie Walsh of CAWP says,
women who get elected to state
legislatures tend to be “older than
their male counterparts and less
likely to have children under 18 at
home.”
But it gets worse: a study Lake
did for the Barbara Lee Family
Foundation showed that women
also have to demonstrate they’re
likable. “Voters will vote for a man
they think is quali¿ed but don’t
like. They won’t vote for a woman
who they think is quali¿ed but
don’t like,” Lake said. “It’s another
double-bind for women.”
You will remember the famous
moment in 2008 when Clinton was
asked what she would say to the
voters of New Hampshire “who
see your résumé and like it but are
hesitating on the likability issue.”
“Well, that hurts my feelings,”
Clinton responded, adding, “I don’t
think I’m that bad.” Feel free to
bring this up the next time someone
says that debate moderators treat
all Democratic candidates with kid
Clinton is the
only woman
who’s ever
won a
presidential
primary.
gloves.
And then, of course, Barack
Obama interjected, “You’re likable
enough, Hillary.” It was supposed
to be a joke, but it sounded
supercilious, and may have helped
seal the deal for Clinton in the New
Hampshire primary — the ¿rst
major party presidential primary in
history to be won by a woman.
“I don’t sense the level of
either novelty or resistance that I
encountered in ‘07-08,” Clinton
said. Although there was a recent
event where she took questions
from children, and one girl asked
what Hillary would do to end
gender stereotyping.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to get
elected president,’” she laughed.
But so far this time around, no
men have gotten up in the middle of
a speech to yell “Iron my shirt!” like
someone did in New Hampshire
eight years ago.
“Not yet,” she added. “Who
knows what will happen. I still have
a year.”
Clinton — the wife of a
former president, with the longest
résumé in the room — is a perfect
transitional ¿gure, whether she wins
or not. Maybe there had to be a
heroic Senator Smith with a muf¿n
recipe, too. Maybe — and this is
taking a really huge jump — there
also had to be a “Ma” Ferguson,
who became the ¿rst woman to be
elected governor of Texas in 1925
after her husband was convicted of
¿nancial corruption.
We de¿nitely needed Jeannette
Rankin, the ¿rst woman ever
elected to Congress, who managed
to destroy her political career
by voting against World War
I, resurrect it, get re-elected to
Congress and then destroy it again
by voting against World War II.
Good grief, maybe people will
look back in 50 years and say we
needed a Sarah Palin before there
could be President X, who brought
peace to the Middle East and
reversed climate change after ¿rst
winning public attention with her
astonishing moose-hunting skills.
Try to think positive. The bottom
line is that as we move forward,
we never quite know what pushes
history along.
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