Hillary Clinton is, more than anything else, the feminist candidate, circa 1970. So it is fitting that Gloria Steinem, whose career peaked in her youth when she was, very briefly, a Playboy bunny, should be campaigning for her:

[Steinem] claimed that if Clinton’s experience as First Lady were taken seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might “finally admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your boss’s job and take it over.”

Steinem raised McCain’s Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton.

“Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.

McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”

Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.

“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”

To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”

Yes, that's Hillary's platform in a nutshell: George Washington was over-rated. This exemplifies, I think, the dilemma that Hillary's campaign faces. She is trying to convince Democratic voters that Barack Obama is not a serious, qualified candidate, while at the same time arguing that "being a secretary [read, First Lady] is the best way to learn your boss’s job and take it over." It never would have worked in the general election. The only surprise is that the light bulb has gone on while the Democrats are still holding primaries.

Posted by John at 9:41 PM  |    |