Suggestions of Bill's past infidelity, used to attack Hillary, would imply that Hillary was somehow responsible for her husband's indiscretions. That would hearken back to old gender-roles, which made women responsible for the family and the caretakers of their marriages. In turn, that would seem to suggest that Hillary had failed in that responsibility by stepping outside of the domestic sphere. Of course, the most dramatic example of stepping outside of the domestic realm would be running for the presidency. Therefore, bringing up past problems in Hillary's personal life would open the Republicans to charges that they were engaging in sexism.
The Republicans could face charges of racism is they emphasize Obama's otherness. The reality is that many of Obama's life experiences differ from those of the average American, regardless of race. He does have a tangential connection to Islam, which his opponents have already attempted to exploit, because of the connection Americans make between Muslims and terrorists. However, if the Republicans place any emphasis on the fact that Obama grew up in a largely Muslim country and did attend a Muslim school in his childhood, they face charges of both religious and racial discrimination. The first charge of religious discrimination should be very serious; the Constitution specifically prohibits a religious test for the presidency. However, the elections of the last half-century or more have placed significant emphasis on a candidate's religious nature. The second...
Equating Obama with Islam harkens back to the days of the Civil Rights Movement, when many Americans feared the Nation of Islam and Black Muslims.
Finally, charges of both sexism and racism could be supported by comments that would seem innocuous if levied against a white male candidate. For example, it is customary in political campaigns to suggest that your opposition is fundamentally incompetent to do the job at hand. However, charges that Clinton or Obama are incompetent may be viewed as discriminatory, because they could be spun to suggest that the allegations of incompetence are based on either gender or race. These risks are greater with Obama, because he is the least-experienced candidate. However, suggestions that he is not smart enough to do the job, could be reminiscent of racist stereotypes that maintained the intellectual inferiority of African-Americans. Likewise, suggestions that Hillary is not tough enough to be an effective leader would be reminiscent of gender stereotypes suggesting that women are not as tough as men. Suggestions that neither candidate would be taken as seriously in the international arena would seem to suggest that America could only properly be represented by a white man.
Works Cited
Kuhn, David Paul. "GOP Fears Charges of Racism, Sexism." Politico.com. 2008. Politico. 26
Feb. 2008 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8659.html.
