Wilson says sexism contributed to Hillary’s loss

Hillary Clinton’s exit from the Democratic presidential primary this weekend prompted an interesting opinion piece published in the New York Times from New Mexico’s Heather Wilson.

In the brief letter, the Republican representative of the First Congressional District stated that the Democratic nominating system favors the most liberal candidate — Barack Obama in this instance — but “there is a second reason Hillary Clinton lost that some are reluctant to openly acknowledge: a latent and lamentable sexism. She lost because the superdelegates — the Democratic establishment — went against her.”

“She became a caricature: too smart, too strong, too assertive, too rational, too competent,” Wilson wrote. “Think how the young Harry Potter and his male friends initially reacted to Hermione Granger and you get the idea.”

Clinton put a more positive spin on her loss in the speech she gave this weekend conceding the race and announcing her support for Obama. She focused on the state contests she won and her success in mounting the most credible presidential campaign by a woman in American history.

“You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States,” Clinton said. “And that is truly remarkable.”

Wilson lost the U.S. Senate Republican primary in New Mexico to Steve Pearce last week by about 3,000 votes, or 2 percent.