I write in dismay about Bob Englehart’s May 27 Press Herald political cartoon that depicts former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley hugging a black flag with one word on it: ambition. The cartoon is a reference to Haley’s endorsement of Donald Trump and implies Haley is endorsing Trump because she is ambitious and wants to secure GOP support for her future.

The cartoon re-ups a tired, misogynistic trope. In the political world (and in other realms) “ambitious” is negative only when applied to a woman. Ambitious men are seen as sly or smart. Ambitious women are seen as selfish and calculating.

Of course Haley is ambitious. She ran for the most powerful office in the world — that takes a hefty dose of ambition. Everyone who runs for president is ambitious. But when Rick DeSantis or Tim Scott endorse Trump it is not called ambition. Ambition is only a negative when women exhibit it.

To be clear, I do not support Haley. She is a dangerous politician. Some of her policies are to the right of Trump. I am the chair of the Yarmouth Democratic Committee and will be happily voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Nov. 5. But depicting women’s ambition as negative impacts both parties (I still remember 2016), and we need to call it out when we see it. Haley should never be president for a lot of reasons, but none of those reasons are because she is ambitious or because she is a woman.

Meghan Casey
Yarmouth