The Reactionary Hillary Machine

For some reason, the Hillary campaign feels compelled to respond the French election by drawing a distinction between Ségolène Royal and the Senator from New York.

"Other than the fact that they are both women, they don't have much in common," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director.

Are you kidding? Who was even making the comparison in the first place? I suppose it's of passing interest that both of them are ladies - but you'd have to have popcorn between your ears to imagine that Royal's failed shot at the French presidency reflects anything good or ill about Ms. Rodham. But of course, there's more. All things Clinton come with incessant spin:

Clinton advisers said that, if anything, Royal proved that a woman must run with a focus on her credentials. Clinton allies saw the race as evidence that the New York senator is running the right kind of campaign, a substantive one -- even if it means she is sometimes accused of lacking charisma.

"Hillary Clinton offers a very different kind of choice than the French faced," said Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist. "Hillary Clinton is well regarded as strong, smart and a leader. Her experience says she is ready to see the country through changes with a steady, substantive and sure hand."

Such assertions don't become true by virtue of their constant repetition. But the fact that these operatives cannont restrain themselves from postioning the matter of Hillary's gender signals the fact that, yes ma'am, it will be used constantly in the months ahead. Furthermore they infantalize the public by assuming that voters are incapable of looking past "identity" politics as strenuously defined by those on the Left.

This may get me in trouble, but I suspect the Republic would endure, and somehow stagger forward through history under the helm of Mr. Obama or (shudder) Mr. Edwards, although their party is certainly not my first choice. And objectively speaking the United States may be long overdue for a woman president. But Hillary Clinton is a lousy candidate on her own merits, regardless of her glands, and despite the reactionary spin of her hit squad of advisors.

Something tells me that will bear constant reapeating.

Tags: Hillary Clinton