No one has ever asked Rudy Guiliani or Fred Thompson why they’re not “likeable.” No one ever asked them “how they do it” or “who does your hair.” No one has created an avalanche of press coverage over the response, or given us breathless updates on the woman who dared to ask this supposedly groundbreaking question.

To me, this is the gender equivalent of the “is he black enough” question that Obama faces, from many of the usual suspects. Exactly what is the right quantity of “black?” Exactly how “female” must Hillary Clinton be? Does she show it by crying, silliness, frivolity, or that little laugh? It really comes down to, is Hillary Clinton a “real woman?” Of course she is, and she should have the courage to be who she really is, no matter the consequences.

These questions are being asked by people who, only a decade ago, listed “working moms” as a serious social problem, right alongside drug addiction, unemployment, poverty, and gangs. Their worldview is seriously skewed. They are wrong. There is no contradiction between professional accomplishments and being female. Those who think otherwise should be confronted directly, not reaffirmed in their sexist assumptions with a Butterfly McQueen moment.

I bet the guy who polled that staged cry-fest is proud of his recomendation.

Sad

“Jesse Jackson’s ’88 campaign won 13 primaries and caucuses and 29 percent of the total primary vote,” recalls Steve Cobble, a top strategist for the campaign who remains one of the ablest analysts of U.S. politics. “Jesse Jackson’s ’88 campaign also put more people into caucuses than any other campaign, won 1,218.5 total convention delegates — the highest total ever for a runner-up — and pulled in over 7 million votes overall. And Jackson’s ’88 convention delegation in Atlanta was easily the most diverse group of delegates ever to attend a national convention.”

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/261474

And while I’m at it, I’ll even say it was nice to see her give the electoral finger to the punditry. The speed and effort that the Cool Kids put into burying her after Iowa was almost enough to make me pull for her yesterday.

This is a cheap trick that cannot be repeated. What’s next?

I kind of wish I was old enough to know if this is what it was like to see a man walk on the moon.