Clinton Is More Than Just a Woman

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‘President Hillary Clinton:’ Get used to hearing that, at least if the presidential election were held today. At the Nov. 15 Democratic debate, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton showed that she could take on the ‘boys’ after stumbling in the previous debate three weeks ago.
The fireworks were unleashed at the very beginning when Senator Barack Obama and Clinton went at it to see who could deliver and take a punch. The results pointed overwhelmingly to Clinton. Not only were her attacks more crisp, with lines like, ‘I don’t mind taking hits on my record, on issues, but when somebody starts throwing mud, at least we can hope that it’s both accurate and not right out of the Republican playbook,’ but she also had the crowd on her side.
The crowd actually booed both Senator John Edwards and Obama when they started to focus their attacks on Clinton. This is an uncompromising situation for both Obama and Edwards; how does one make a point without seeming angry or excessive?
This is only magnified because Clinton is a woman. People are quicker to think that the ‘boys’ are playing a little mean in the sandbox with a girl. People have also accused Clinton of playing the gender card and pushing her husband, former President Bill Clinton, out to defend her.
So did Clinton invoke the gender card at the last debate? Yes and no. She didn’t shy away from the attacks; as a matter of fact, she participated in attacking the other candidates and basically shutting them down. Her best line came after being asked explicitly if she was playing the gender card: ‘People are not attacking me because I’m a woman. They’re attacking me because I’m ahead, and I understand that

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